Do you Hug your Dog?

[ParNone]

I really never gave this much thought, until I saw it on another list and they were discussing about a hug, being interpreted by the dog as a dominant posture. I’ve always hugged Murph and Maddie. I love to pick them up, put my arms around them and kiss’em on the top of the head or rest my cheek against their face. Neither has ever protested this and Maddie actually gives me a kiss back on my nose. I notice though that Oz doesn’t much care for it. I can’t exactly pick him up, so I usually try to wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him on the nose. He usually struggles. He much prefers to sit beside me as I scratch him, so maybe he is interpreting it as a dominance issue.

Holding their face in your hands, supposedly is interpreted as dominant too. Oz doesn't much care for that either, whereas M&M are perfectly fine with it. So I wonder if he's looking at all this affection I'm aiming at him, as me trying to dominant him? Is trying to hug him then any different than trying to pin him on the ground? Should I not try to force him to accept hugs or should I be working with him to accept them?

Anybody else have this issue?

Par...

[robinh]

Wow that's a good question - never thought of the dominance idea before. I hug my dogs too. Max loves it - he rubs face with me. Molly kind of struggles (she tends to be very alfa-ish and Carly just stands there. Maybe that's why!

Very good question! I'll be interested in the answers.

[lovemyshiba]

I'll be interested to hear the answers too, but I hug Kito and Abbey all the time. Kito I can pick up and hug, but I have to get down to hug Ab, and she hugs me right back, and gives lots of kisses!!

[slleipnir]

I never thought of it that way either. I hug my 2. Zeke loves it, Jo puts up with it she doesn't seem to mind unless she wants to do osmething else lol

[Brie]

yup, it's a sign of dominance. I'm reading a book by Patricia McConnell , PhD. is an animal behavorist and she just recently wrote a book called 'The Other End Of The Leash' and she does talk about why people hug dogs and why dogs see it as a sign of dominance. I really recommend this book, I think it's a must have for any dog owner.

[tikeyas_mom]

my siberian husky is to big to pick up and hug so I hug her around the neck all the time.

[K9karen]

I squish Cody's face all the time and smother him with kisses all over and he loves it! If he's laying with his head between his paws, I can lay right in front of him, eye to eye, nose to nose and he just licks me. Never ever thought of it as dominance, just abounding love and affection. (on both our parts) :)

[oodlesofpoodles]

I hug and Kiss all my poopers. Even the boarding dogs. And Riley will even dance with me.

[Dakota's Mommy]

I love giving my girls hugs and kisses. They know who's boss though! They've never challenged that with me or Brian. Yep, we're huggers and kissers to our girls, and our girls kiss us back!

[tikeyas_mom]

Dakota's Mommy I was wondering do you ever have any trouble with your female dal and dane fighting?

[primabella]

Mickey ALWAYS gets hugs :p

[Rachel]

Tucker loves to give and get hugs. He can't get enough. Hannah on the other hand even resents a pet on the head, unless she is tired. My tired girl will consent to just about anything.

[tikeyas_mom]

Tikeya LOVES giving kisses as well big wet ones right on the smakers. lol. SHe has always love kisses. Oscar isnt as lucky. lol He always has stuff stuck to his beared when he digs or eats or sniffs the ground. EVERYTHING gets stuck to his beard. so it is nasty to give him kisses lol :p

[Logan]

We all hug all three of them a lot!!!! :)

[Cincy'sMom]

We hugand kiss our dogs and they give hugd and kisses back. Cincy and Spot aren't quite has used to giving hugs back as Sadie is, but they all expect hugs from us willingly

[anna_66]

I hug all of them!

Now that doesn't mean that they like it, but they put up with it because they love me & they know I love them:D

[ellensy]

yes i do!.....when i wake up early in the morning, before i go to school and before i go to sleep at night :D

[ParNone]

Hi ya'll!

I went ahead and ordered The Other End of the Leash. Thanks
for the recommendation Brie! I'll be interested to read the details
about this hug thing.

Par...

[RubyMutt]

I hug Ruby all the time! She loves it, she just smothers me back with kisses :D

[Dakota's Mommy]

Dakota's Mommy I was wondering do you ever have any trouble with your female dal and dane fighting?

Nope, they've always got along great! They act like they're best friends most of the time. We've never had any problems between the two of them! We got really lucky!

[Cisco's Mom]

I give Cisco hugs and kisses all the time, but I would think though that you would want to be dominant over your dog.:D

[ParNone]

Hi Cisco's Mom!

I want to be viewed as Alpha through passive means. I don't
really want to dominant my dog. If he views an interaction
between us as a challenge, that's not what I want. So if he's
viewing how I'm trying to hug him, as something akin to rolling
him over and pinning him to the ground, I'd want to avoid doing
it. I don't want to find myself faced with a dog taking up a
challenge I didn't even realize I was issuing.

Par...

[tomkatzid]

I hug my dogs ALL the time. Right now I am in Oregon where my Mother was brought for surgery. I came down to the medical library to send e mails. I am now going outside to look for someone wallking their dog, so maybe I can give a doggie hug and get some doggie kisses. My dogs are safely at home with their Daddy. But I MISS them SOOOOOOOO much.
Katz

[Rachel]

Originally posted by tomkatzid
I am now going outside to look for someone wallking their dog, so maybe I can give a doggie hug and get some doggie kisses. Katz

Katz, you sound just like me....an addict when it comes to doggie love. I do hope your mother's recovery from surgery will be swift and that she will soon be feeling much much better.

[KYS]

Rocky is a big teady bear, I can't help but hug him.
I love giving Rocky and Sheba hugs with kisses,
but I am sure they would not like
a stranger to hug them.

[tomkatzid]

The girls miss katz very much, especially ash-lee, she is such a mommas girl!!!....tom

[kingrattus]

Max walks into my arms or he'll jump onto the couch & put is head on my chest & beg me to hug & kiss him to death... & when ur sleeping, he'll open the door first thing in the morning & step on u & start licking u until u can't breath & at the same time he'll lay on u (he weighs 80 pounds) & lick u... it really sucks when ur in a deep sleep with ur mouth open & Max come up to u & tries to shove his tongue down ur throat, its not only gross but it hurts too!!

[wolf_Q]

Actually my dog hugs ME....lol......."Nebo hugs" are rather scarey...to guests that is! They are actual hugs. He'll get up on my shoulders and wrap his paws around my neck and just sit there like that. It's weird!

But, yes, I do hug my dog. He tolerates it, as long as he's tired.

[gkristian]

Foxy gets huged every day

[Dixieland Dancer]

What's the point of having a pup if you don't hug them? :confused: I find relaxation and comfort in hugging my dogs. It is a known fact that petting and hugging animals is great therapy. Once a month, I take Dixie to the nursing home as therapy for the residents. They seem to look forward to her visit and she just sucks up to all the loving! :D

[ramanth]

Originally posted by wolf_Q
Actually my dog hugs ME....lol......."Nebo hugs" are rather scarey...to guests that is! They are actual hugs. He'll get up on my shoulders and wrap his paws around my neck and just sit there like that. It's weird!

Kia does that! :D She gives me that kind of hug everytime I come home from work.

I have to kneel in order for it to work and sometimes she gets so excited she knocks me down and covers me with kisses. :D

But Kia does not like to be hugged as in me wrapping my arms around her. The Trainer at her obedience class said it was because she doesn't want to feel dominated.

[Kfamr]

Hugging is one of Simba's tricks. I say "Simba, Gimmie a hug!" and he jumps up with his paws on his shoulders and hugs me. I love hugging Sim sim. Nala wiggles away but she's just a pup! so who knows.

[iwuvsmypuppy]

well i always hugged her just for the love and comfort but i never thot that it had to do w/ dominance:confused:

[RogueFerret]

Originally posted by wolf_Q
Actually my dog hugs ME....lol......."Nebo hugs" are rather scarey...to guests that is! They are actual hugs. He'll get up on my shoulders and wrap his paws around my neck and just sit there like that.

My boxer used to do that. It was so sweet!

We all hug Valentine all the time. But my son is the only one that she likes to kiss her. If I go to give her a kiss, she looks at me funny and backs up, but when Jessie (my son) gives her a kiss she wags her tail feverently and lets out a happy 'yap' and is the happiest dog in the world. Go figure! LOL.:)