Do dogs love hugs? It would seem not. This simple, affectionate gesture could have a decidedly opposite effect on the animal
A hug can offer many benefits at no cost. But Do dogs like hugs too? It would seem not. This simple, affectionate and positive gesture could have a decidedly opposite effect on the animal by feeding stress and anxiety.
The Dr. Stanley Coren, professor specializing in canine behavior at the University of British Columbia which suggests that we limit this demonstration of affection towards our 4-legged friends to a minimum. While it is absolutely spontaneous and natural for us, a simple hug can do more harm to our dogs than anything else.
According to the study, published in Psychology Today, hugging a dog means squeezing him, making him feel trapped preventing him from giving vent to an innate instinct: to flee!
This conclusion was confirmed after analyzed 250 photos taken from the web which depicted dogs of different sizes and breeds as they were being hugged. We have thus seen that, precisely in a moment that is so pleasant for us, they, on the contrary (in about 80% of cases) showed strong signs of stress which manifested themselves with gestures such as: lowered ears, half-closed eyes, head turned away from the person he was embracing and more.
But what could all this concretely mean? Let's think for example of a dog that already starts from a certain stress base, here in this case the animal may also react violently to the hug. Generally, fortunately, this does not happen as the dogs' first instinct is certainly not to attack but rather to escape from any dangers.
However, it is better not to pull the rope too hard, remembering to demonstrate affection for our dog with other kinds of pampering that leave him the space and freedom he deserves.
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