Struggling to connect with my teenage basset – anyone else?

For background: I grew up with a male basset hound, and my first dog at 19 was a female basset/dalmation rescue who passed spring 2025.

We brought home our new puppy (male basset) this past winter. He will be 1 in November. He is my first ever “puppy,” as our basset hound growing up was a puppy when I was small, my girl was around 2.5 when I adopted her, and my husband had our other dog before we met.

So far, crate training is great, house-training is great, and he is good with our small senior dog.

We are working the basic young dog/basset stuff: boundaries, energy, destruction of any chewable item, selective hearing, etc. More difficult than training my previous dog, but I am hoping consistency helps.

I am just…struggling to bond with him. I have never struggled like this with a dog before.

Yesterday I told my husband I wasn’t sure if I even like him (which makes me feel horrible and terrible and is why I am making this post.)

Did any of you struggle to bond with your young dog? What helped you? Do I just need to push through until we’re past this stage? Is there a book or trainer I can read/watch that could help? Do I need doggie couples’ counseling?

(Also, no risk of rehoming here. I am committed to this doofus. I just want to have a bond with him.)