Did your pup snuggle with you while young? Argo is 10 weeks old and will snuggle only when exhausted/right before passing out. It seems like if he is near us he wants to only play. I'm guessing this is just part of being a puppy.
Snuggling has always been a part of our relationship. Ever since she was a puppy Holly has liked to chill out before bedtime by snuggling up to me. As a puppy she would curl up on my lap. Nowadays she will curl up against me if I sit on the floor, or just lie across my feet.
I think snuggling is naturally a "tummy full and at the end of the day" thing. When full of bouncy puppy energy, a snuggle is a bit boring. You can train your dog to snuggle though - like anything else. My OH has trained Charlie to an exceedingly high level of cuddling. Fully trained cuddle dog is Charlie.
I miss snuggling, my last lab was a really cuddly boy right from when he was tiny - he would sit on your lap and he continued to try and do that when he was fully grown. Ripple doesn't do snuggles or cuddles, I would appreciate any advice on how to train him to like being cuddled.
Piper will only snuggle when wrecked (although she'll snuggle with Rocco anytime) hated being carried anywhere pre vacs. she's an extremely sociable independent wee woman, which will probably come back and bite me in the ass when she's older!!! she's very affectionate though xx
Saba (4 months)is not a snuggle pup. He loves to lie on my feet, and will sometimes sit on my lap if I'm on the floor, but otherwise he's content with head scratching and tummy rubbing. He will completely relax on the floor, and is happy to allow us to stroke, massage, or otherwise touch him. We have never encouraged him onto the furniture, and he is not allowed upstairs into the bedrooms
Jura has always been a snuggly puppy from the day we brought her home. She's nearly 8 months and still really snuggly. Going back many years Sam our old lab only snuggled when he was feeling unwell. Personality wise he was completely different to Jura.
Oban only snuggled with me when he was sleeping till he was about six months old. Waste awake time snuggling when you can be wreaking havoc? No way, Oban had his priorities.
Thanks for all of the replies. Our last lab was very snuggly and pretty calm from day 1. Argo is just different and I think we need to learn to stop comparing them so much. It's hard though!
My dog was bred from a working kennels..he'd had been living inside the breeders home though as he couldn't be imported to us in The UAE until he was 5 months. And we'd asked for this as he was coming to us as a pet.It took,him a good while to warm to us....cuddles were scarce! I wouldn't let him up on the couch either so that didn't help.....I feel that he became slightly more affectionate after he was neutered. It that might have been because he had to have his tail docked at the same time and he and I spent a LOT of quality time together getting it to heal!Hes 3 now,he sleeps on our bed ,lies on the couch.....( I'm trying to type this on the iPad with him lying on my arm ) And he's the best cuddler ever! But only with us,he's very dismissive even of people he knows well! X
Pongo has never been a snuggler, even when little. As he has got older, he has got a bit more snuggly - round about 18 months he started to put his big head on my lap to fall asleep on the sofa, and he now LOVES my fluffy slippers and will use them as a pillow as long as my feet are inside them. Otherwise, he'll tolerate being manhandled into a cuddle in pretty much any position - he's a patient boy - but after ten minutes or so he'll unwrap himself from my arms and flop down on the floor next to me instead. I suppose I'd like more cuddles, but it does mean that the ones I do get are very special! Rosie
It's really easy. You just associate cuddles with food, and then gradually fade out the food. Obviously, if your dog really doesn't like cuddles, then it's not going to work all that well. But if your dog doesn't mind cuddles, but it just doesn't occur to him to come for a cuddle, then it is easy to associate coming for a cuddle as an amazingly positive thing to do. You do have to work with what your dog is ok with - Charlie is very much ok with sitting on people, but he doesn't like being hugged. So his cuddle position is sitting on someone. We played around with the armchair and footstool so it was comfy for both person and dog. We just lured him into the arm chair with a treat, then gave him a few treats. At first, when the treats ran out, he'd then jump down and go about his merry mischief making. But my OH was diligent at the cuddle training, did it every night, and soon Charlie would hang around for a bit (for a delayed treat). Then, he'd settle down in the cuddle (more treats appeared for that). Now, he flings himself into cuddle position - it's quite impressive, he can take a flying leap from across the room and land on the cuddle human without hurting them - and goes to sleep. It's one of the most successful things he has ever learned. Mind, you have to train your house guests to sit still if the dog goes to jump into cuddle with them - they soon learn it doesn't hurt, although 30kg of dog flying through the air does take a little getting used to though. Here he is in action: image by julieandcharlie julieandcharlie, on Flickr
Thank you Julie - lovely photo. I think I will get OH to work on that once the madness of Christmas is over, it looks like his idea of training .
Yes, it was my OH's idea of how dog training should be. Particularly the bit where I have to get up to top up his wine glass - he can't move, you see. He'd disturb the dog.
Ella's a natural snuggler and has been from day one. My friend has two labs, a snuggler and a non-snuggler but she has found that the non-snuggler has become a little more affectionate as he's got older
Doug likes a bit of a snuggle Midge doesn't do them its for wimps Rory= king of snuggle. Midge has relented as she's got older and will now tolerate a snuggle and was once caught on my OHs knee. She has since denied this happened. One friend saw her everyday for 10 years and she still does not acknowledge her in any way, Sue could never quite believe it. Midges is funny though I don't think she had any time for me until she was about 2. I have recently discovered (after 12 years)that she may actually like me. I went into hospital unexpectedly for a week and she was devastated. She was so glad when I got back she would not leave my side and had to be in physical contact. Since this I have cuddled her more and she seems to find it comforting. I think despite her I don't need cuddles attitude she secretly loves being snuggled.
