I'm home all day with my girl. She still manages to bond with my husband. She looks forward to when he comes through the door in the evenings. In the mornings, he's up with her to do the first morning toilet relief routine. He takes her outside for a walk before work if it's dry out. If not, he tosses a toy with her inside while supervising her play with the cat also. This while he catches up on some readings and such is their morning routine. All the while, I'm just sleeping in. She also hangs with her daddy (curls on his lap or against him on the couch) or doing her own thing or chase the cat in the evenings when we're all home doing our thing after her evening outting.
During the day, if it's nice out, I also take her out for a walk. I am the one giving most of the treats. She still managed to bond with her treat-stingy father. He does do the evening feeding because she expects it of him.
She does not necessarily run from one of us to go to the other. Her favourite person is not human, it's a cat. She runs to the cat on call. She doesn't care which one of us leaves the house if we're not taking her along with us, but she does care when any of us returns home to greet her. But when we're out, she does whine when either of us leaves the car without her, but not so much because she prefers either one of us as it is because she loves going out in general.
So maybe besides cuddle and play, your girlfriend should also be feeding her. And by playing, for dogs, it's not all about tickles and cuddles, unfortunately (for me
). I find myself playing the part of a dog sometimes with the toy tugging and such.
Have her play chase with him too. They generally love that game.
