Father & son

So cosy snuggling up with my dad....

Eek.. didn't realise his head was so heavy - daren't move though

We don't know whether or not dogs have a sense of family. It is possible, I suppose, that where a pup is retained in the same family as the bitch that whelped it, a mother/child relationship is conceivable. However, where the pup goes to the family of the sire there is no such obvious link. Why should the sire relate to the pup? The pup to the sire? The pup moves away from its mother to a strange pack. End of story.
But here with Gunner and Bugler we see instances where a possible emotional/familial father/son link might exist.
There are other options for the pup to bond with pack members - Jaunty and Bugler, for instance, frequently play rough and tumble together. They are great pals. It would be natural for the two to snuggle up together. But they very rarely do. On the contrary, Bugler will often put the (older) Jaunty in his place. Bugler and Gunner never play together - except in those instances where the pup is trying to play and the older dog 'puts up' with it. But when it comes to snuggling up, Bugler and Gunner are an item. Bugler and Jaunty, or Gunner and Jaunty are never seen snuggled together. As for Pilot in any of those combinations - forget it....
So, does this prove a familial consciousness between dogs? Who knows. Certainly there appears to be a greater degree of ease or relaxation between Bugler (son) and Gunner (father). Who knows what dogs perceive or feel but surely this shows some bond may exist between father and son? It will be interesting to see how it develops as the pup grows up ...........................