Hugging stresses your dog out?

[connda]

This is hardly news as has been pointed out by many over the years. BTW, when I was very young I ran over to a neighbor's dog and hugged it and it bit me in the face just under my eye. I don't do it anymore.

Embrace your dog, just not literally

To Hug or Not?

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I’ve been guilty myself. That picture of me and Stella is the most glaring evidence. I’m all this is great. She’s all please just let this be over soon. Look at her face, the eyes, the way she’s actually leaning away from me. Her ears are pulled back, too. That’s another sign. You don’t have to believe the picture, though. Right after that shot was taken Stella started to wiggle her way free of my loving arms.

Nobody wants to be a party pooper, but here’s the bottom line. Dogs and humans don’t exactly show affection the same way. We drape our arms around the shoulders of people we like. To a primate (including human primates) nothing says you’re special like a hug. To a dog, it can feel like a threat. Watch what happens when a dog drapes his head over the shoulders of another dog. Trouble. That’s not to say dogs don’t learn to tolerate our hugs; they do. But it doesn’t come naturally to them.

11 things humans do that dogs hate

Hugging your dog

While you might love wrapping your arms around a furry canine friend, most dogs hate hugs. We as primates think hugs are awesome and express support, love, joy and other emotions through hugs. It’s totally normal to us to wrap our arms around something and squeeze, and it only means good things. But dogs did not evolve this way. Canids don’t have arms and they don’t hug. Rather than camaraderie, if a dog places a foreleg or paw on the back of another dog, this is considered an act of dominance. No matter your intentions with hugging, a dog is hardwired to view the act of hugging as you exerting your dominance. Many dogs will tolerate it with grace — the smiling face of the family golden retriever with a child’s arms wrapped around it comes to mind. But some dogs will feel threatened, fearful, or just flat out loathe the feeling — and in fact, a child grabbing a dog for a hug is why many dog bites occur.

Excellent post. And as pointed out, hugging is a sign of dominance. The problem however isn't with the dog but the owners. I'm sure there are those out there, probably a majority, who will fall in line with the "well dominating your dog will cause it to be uncomfortable so you should refrain from doing so." However, like I asserted in the post above, every family member (pack members from your dog's point of view) should be dominate to the dogs in the family. So a hug is simply a form of dominate behaviour that your pack willingly accepts. There is no stress in submission, there is only stress when there are no clear boundaries regarding dominate/submissive roles in your family/pack unit. The author of the article, and others like it, sound like they are unable to delineated 'stressed behaviour' from submissive behaviour. My dogs are submissive to me. Most dogs in my village don't have a clear dominate/submissive relationship with their owners and probably would show clear signs of 'stress' if hugged by a family member. But there IS a difference. The article's author does not delve deeply enough to bring this to light.

By the way, this is exactly why I don't let any dog jump on me or attempt any other sign of physical dominance. If it offends my hosts, so be it. I've smacked down more than one dog in front of it's owner, most who have no control over their pets.

Its true that dogs do need to be trained and yes dominated because that is the only way to have safe dogs and its what they want and need. But this does not go down well with Thai families, any more than trying to get a reasonable ideas across to your kids/close ones in important ideas like:

"Stop, STOP". "For the millionth time wear your bloody helmet, look at the scars on your leg from last time"!

"why are you shouting at the kids again?"

"I just don't want them to die or be hurt"

"We are all going to die tomorrow"

"I told you not to let the dog run in the street, its not safe"

"Why are you always complaining?"

"My fault again! bugger it, grumble, grumble".

There is no winning in Thailand, if you want to continue with western ideas of sensible behaviour, you have to go with the flow and do the best you can as frustrating as it will be. MPR is the only way to stay sane.

Agreed.

[Jingthing]

The pup thickens!

Mr. Cohen said he believed dogs might look anxious in the hugging photos because they didn’t like having their pictures taken, or because a person was trying to pose them or get their attention. But Mr. Cohen, who also does canine massages, said he thought dogs could be comfortable with a hug when there was familiarity and trust.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/science/can-you-hug-your-dog-yes-but.html?_r=0

[dick dasterdly]

If you hugged my dog, my dog would probably bite you, showing you that she is stressed out. When I approach her (and my male) they'll let me know when they want physical proximity. They butt up against me. If you hug your dog, who is being submissive to you, the pack leader, then a hug is a sign of dominance that they are accepting.

But most people treat their dogs like little human beings and there is no clear sense of who is dominating whom. More than likely, most home owners are being dominated by their own animals and don't even know, so yeah, most dogs who live with owners who don't clearly define the dominate and submissive roles in a family or 'pack' relationship probably do have a stressed out dog who doesn't understand why a submissive member of the family is hugging (dominating) them. Then families wonder why 'Skippy', the friendly little doggie who 'monkey shines' everyone's leg ("ahhh, isn't that cute?") turns around a bites the family's children or one of their friends.

Everyone is a family unit needs to be dominate to the family dogs. When they aren't? You have stressed out dogs, especially if they are hugged.

A touch simplistic?

Much as I agree with you (and Cesar Milan) that dogs need to know that the family are the 'pack leaders' - otherwise one of them will take over the role - its a bit more complicated IMO when it comes to hugging.

My one dog that loves to be hugged (by me) has no concept of hierarchy... Obviously you won't believe me, but I can only assure you its true.

He's a bit odd/lacking in all doggy skills - but it works for him. I've had to sort out fights (and not all of them dominance issues) amongst all the other dogs - he's the only one that has never been attacked. It could be argued that he's so submissive that there's no reason for him to be involved in fights, but again, its not that simple as he ignores warning growls (food/space on the sofa) even before I put a stop to the growls. And I'm not always around to put a stop to the growls that must also happen when I'm not there.

Dogs, like us, are all different. There are a few that love to be hugged. Edit - more accurately, love to be hugged when they're in the mood for a hug .

Edited April 29, 2016 by dick dasterdly