Question about Cuddling?

[Cynolove693]

Curious to see how many have animals that like to cuddle; all of the previous dogs I've been with loved snuggling up with me, loved the affection.. My current dog though is different, any time I try to hug or cuddle him he growls, so naturally I back off, it's rather disappointing though as I'm just trying to get close to him, express my love, yet he wants nothing to do with it... 

[zootrashcan]

My pup doesn't growl at me, but he just doesn't choose to cuddle or get close at all. He's pretty apathetic about physical contact of any sort, honestly. He won't necessarily avoid it, but he very rarely goes out of his way to seek it out. Instead I give him attention he does like and understand- food, playtime, quick outings.

[Cynolove693]

5 hours ago, zootrashcan said:




My pup doesn't growl at me, but he just doesn't choose to cuddle or get close at all. He's pretty apathetic about physical contact of any sort, honestly. He won't necessarily avoid it, but he very rarely goes out of his way to seek it out. Instead I give him attention he does like and understand- food, playtime, quick outings.

Right sounds similar to my boy, that's the only time hes growled at me, anytime I try to cuddle, he must not be fond of it for some reason, other than that he constantly begs to be petted and asks for attention, it's confusing really.. I don't know why he hates intimacy so much.. that might change though, I've only had him for a year, and he's about a year and 1/2 now, he might start to be more affectionate as our bond strengthens, or as he gets older; only time will tell.. 




He may not like to cuddle but he sure has no issue with trying to mount me any opportunity he sees, although we haven't actually had sex yet.. I'm waiting until we get to know each other more first..

[Cynolove693]

His history is a little rough though, hes a rescue, his previous owners were abusive to him I think because he was very skittish when I first got him.. I wouldn't doubt them asswholes were being cruel to him, when they showed up to drop him off he was in a small cat carrier in the back of thier truck.. it pissed me off seeing that.. he was also skin and bones; very underfed, and it wasn't due to worms or anything like that, as I checked with the vet.. all his previous owners said to me before they left was good luck with him in a sarcastic tone.. some people plainly piss me off..




Hes still slightly skittish, but he's doing better, filled out alot looks healthy, hes a happy dog, just seems to have trust issues, I'm slowly trying to work with him on that, honestly that's one reason I haven't let him mount and have sex, if he growls when I try to hug or cuddle him I cant imagine what he'd do if he was trapped in a tie; I don't want him to hurt himself or me, so sex is irrelevant until trust is built, even if it's him asking for it...




 

[DingoJay]

 Most of my dogs have been quite cuddly except for one, who never sought out affection.  If I attempted to cuddle him, he seemed to be embarrassed more than anything else.  If I persisted, he would wriggle free, stand a short distance away and stare at me.  He was a rescue of unknown history; he was found wandering city streets. 




 I had another one who would be extremely affectionate for 10-15 minutes at a specific time each evening and was pretty much uninterested the rest of the time.  I never did figure that one out.  There didn't appear to be any triggers for it that I could find.  He would let me pet him or whatever anytime, but didn't really get into it except at his special time.




 Another time I had The Corgi from Hell.  He could be in the middle of committing the most awful sort of mischief, but I could pick him up and hold him and he would become a cuddly little angel!  That one had been through about three or four homes before I got him, so who knows what had happened to him.

[battlecrops]

Lots of dogs I have experience with who were not even abused don't like hugs or cuddling.  Of course it depends on the individual but as a whole dogs don't usually like hugs or cuddling where we put our arms around them/etc.  When dogs communicate with each other, when they put forelegs on another dog it's usually an aggressive or threatening signal, so a lot of dogs are wired to interpret similar actions from humans as a threat or something that makes them nervous.  In my experience most dogs also just don't like having their personal space invaded that much.  I cuddle with my dog and cat how it's more natural to them, letting them lie down against me or press their bodies against mine.  Most animals seem much more comfortable with that than hugs.  If your dog doesn't enjoy hugs, cuddles, or having you in his "personal space bubble," maybe try letting him show affection in his own way.  My best friend's dog doesn't like lots of physical affection but he shows he cares about her in other dog ways.

[Dane layer]

My dane and pit are super cuddly,  my mix its on her terms and is random

[Cynolove693]

On 11/28/2017 at 11:20 PM, battlecrops said:




Lots of dogs I have experience with who were not even abused don't like hugs or cuddling.  Of course it depends on the individual but as a whole dogs don't usually like hugs or cuddling where we put our arms around them/etc.  When dogs communicate with each other, when they put forelegs on another dog it's usually an aggressive or threatening signal, so a lot of dogs are wired to interpret similar actions from humans as a threat or something that makes them nervous.  In my experience most dogs also just don't like having their personal space invaded that much.  I cuddle with my dog and cat how it's more natural to them, letting them lie down against me or press their bodies against mine.  Most animals seem much more comfortable with that than hugs.  If your dog doesn't enjoy hugs, cuddles, or having you in his "personal space bubble," maybe try letting him show affection in his own way.  My best friend's dog doesn't like lots of physical affection but he shows he cares about her in other dog ways.

Its Weird because all the other dogs I've been around never had a problem with me cuddling; but my dog does have the tendency to be rather aggressive sometimes [img]<fileStore.core_Emoticons>/emoticons/sad.png[/img]/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" title=":(" width="20" /> 




(Although he has showed sexual interest just one time so far, I now realize that the frequent mounting he was doing before was not sexual, but dominance, as the last couple times I tried to make sexual advancements he growled, and obviously I backed off, I respect his right to decide what he wants ...)




Any aggressive behavior's probably due to the last environment he was living in, because I've never been mean to him, or taken his free will away..




The problem is he doesn't really show affection, he is independent, rather serious most of the time and acts like he doesn't care, it makes me feel lonely  honestly; I've never meet a dog like this, dont get me wrong I love him, I just question wether he loves me, and that hurts...   

[caikgoch]

I think your problem with that dog is much simpler and more basic than you think.      A dog that is not properly imprinted (socialized) will interpret any attempt to hold the dog as an attack (dogs don't have hands so they have to learn to love hands in the imprinting process).     He simply doesn't see humans as potential objects of affection.      It is possible to bring understanding to the dog but it will take a LOT of time.     

[Cynolove693]

7 hours ago, caikgoch said:




I think your problem with that dog is much simpler and more basic than you think.      A dog that is not properly imprinted (socialized) will interpret any attempt to hold the dog as an attack (dogs don't have hands so they have to learn to love hands in the imprinting process).     He simply doesn't see humans as potential objects of affection.      It is possible to bring understanding to the dog but it will take a LOT of time.     

I know a lot about dogs, and realize he hasn't been socialized enough, (it doesn't help he was in an abusive environment before I adopted him) i know that's a big reason why he isnt affectionate; it doesn't make me feel any less lonely though; which is rather a issue as he's supposed to be a emotional support animal and help with my emotional well being.. I may take 30:30's advice and in the meantime while I'm working on imprinting him, I'm thinking about getting another pup, it may actually be beneficial to him having another dog around...