Hug : A Secret Your Dog Won’t Tell You

From a very young age (as far back as infants), we know when we received hugs we are being loved, comforted, cared, and protected. Human is the only mammal that understood this gesture without needing to explain or trained.

Naturally we extend this gesture to our companion dogs when we want to display our affection and care to them. I’m afraid to tell you that…

Dogs don’t do hugs nor welcome them

with the same notion as we do.

Yes, you may argue with me that your dog loves hugs especially coming from you. That’s because your dog is taught to welcome hug as a pleasant gesture. It is a learnt behavior, not dog’s natural behavior.

Natural dog behavior of hug is when they want to display dominance or during mating.

Most dogs can be taught to accept hugs and perceive them as well-intentioned gesture when they are coming from you and your family members but not from anyone else.

Bite Tips:

• If you have a young child, do not encourage your child to hug the family dog even though he has been trained to welcome hug. Children do not have sound judgment of the strength they display to others. So when the dog feels that he’s being trapped, your child has a high tendency of being bitten.
• Most crucially, never allow your children (of any age group) to hug any other dog.
• And don’t encourage others (friends or relatives) to hug your dog either.

So the secret is—Dogs learn to tolerate hug only from the people they love.