# Dogs are for Hugging



## stafinois (Jun 16, 2010)

So says two-year-old Sydney...














































And just Harry alone...


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

stafinois said:


>


This pic actually made me say "awww" out loud, which is quite the feat, as I'm not big on kids. 

What a happy-looking kid, and what good dogs! The pit's a little bit, "Okay, you can let go anytime" in some of the pics, but I love how he's not even trying to pull away. The mal actually looks happy to be hugged, especially in the first pic, haha.

My niece (two years old) has a pit "sister," and these remind me of the cute pics my brother and his girlfriend get of them.


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## stafinois (Jun 16, 2010)

Grant looks miserable in almost every picture that I take of him. It's just his expression. He loves his little girl!


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## Stephie (Apr 29, 2010)

Such cute pictures! As said above, they look so well behaved. Most dogs get sick of it after a minute of being squeezed by little ones!


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## Papilove (May 20, 2010)

Those are adorable! It does look like Grant is saying aw geesh, here we go again, mmmmmmmmmmmmmkay little one, get it all out, and look at that big sap over there just lapping it up. You lap dog you. LOL


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## stafinois (Jun 16, 2010)

Papilove said:


> Those are adorable! It does look like Grant is saying aw geesh, here we go again, mmmmmmmmmmmmmkay little one, get it all out, and look at that big sap over there just lapping it up. You lap dog you. LOL



It's funny because Grant is the one that REALLY loves her. Harry is the one that gets sick of her and takes off pretty quickly.


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## MrsBoats (May 20, 2010)

I may come off as being a complete, heartless jerk for saying this but I would totally discourage little kids hugging dogs. I don't allow people to hug my dog even though he is a total social butterfly. Dogs really don't like being hugged by people...you can condition them to tolerate it but they don't really like it. I'm worried your dogs may say enough is enough someday and take it out on the little one. I'm not just making this stuff up....Patricia McConnell talks a lot about hugging in her book The Other End of the Leash and her blog -

http://www.theotherendoftheleash.com/tag/hugging-dogs

http://www.theotherendoftheleash.com/dogs-and-kids - it is discussed in bullet #3


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## stafinois (Jun 16, 2010)

MrsBoats said:


> I may come off as being a complete, heartless jerk for saying this but I would totally discourage little kids hugging dogs. I don't allow people to hug my dog even though he is a total social butterfly. Dogs really don't like being hugged by people...you can condition them to tolerate it but they don't really like it.
> 
> I'm worried your dogs may say enough is enough someday and take it out on the little one. I'm not just making this stuff up....Patricia McConnell talks a lot about hugging in her book The Other End of the Leash and her blog -



I think that it really depends on the dog. I've read McConnell's book, and I've been to her seminars. I'm not convinced that all dogs dislike the attention in small doses. You haven't seen the way that the Mali just melts into a hug from one of his people.

Besides, it's not like she just sits around hugging them all day. Both dogs are both well socialized, supervised, and trained. The AmStaf is a therapy dog that accompanies me to work where he himself works with children. Believe it or not, I'm an experienced and responsible dog owner.


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

Great pictures and wonderful dogs! 

I personally find a great deal of information in Patricia McConnell's books, and would never recommend anyone hug an unknown dog, but I'm sure the OP knows the dog's temperaments and the child both. I allow children to hug my dog if they ask, but will admonish them for throwing their arms around him spontaneously. He loves children a great deal more than he likes adults and has no problem laying back in their arms with a silly grin on his face and his tail thumping like mad.


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## MrsBoats (May 20, 2010)

I had a feeling that wasn't going to go over well. But, my first rottie was also a TDI registered therapy dog and he didn't like being hugged by kids or adults. Since he didn't like it, I didn't feel I should make him endure being hugged by people. 

I was just stating my opinion because I saw the expression on the Amstaff's face...he's didn't look like he was too keen on it. 

Nothing to see here....


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

I thought of _The Other End of the Leash_ as well, but noted that Grant is a library dog and therefore should be extremely used to kids and their behavior... and that neither dog is restrained and could easily move away if Sydney was annoying them. It all looks pretty safe here. 

I don't let kids hug my dogs, though. Neither of mine has snapped at a child or anything like that, but they are obviously unnerved by children moving too quickly/vocalizing loudly or by any stranger reaching over their heads. You have to know your own dogs... and of course, supervise them closely when they're with kids, no matter how bomb-proof they've been in the past.


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## stafinois (Jun 16, 2010)

MrsBoats said:


> I was just stating my opinion because I saw the expression on the Amstaff's face...he's didn't look like he was too keen on it.



Grant looks miserable in almost every picture that he's looking at the camera. Everybody has always commented on that


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

MrsBoats - just as a clarification, I was directing my post more towards these statements



MrsBoats said:


> I would totally discourage little kids hugging dogs. I don't allow people to hug my dog even though he is a total social butterfly. Dogs really don't like being hugged by people...you can condition them to tolerate it but they don't really like it. I'm worried your dogs may say enough is enough someday and take it out on the little one.


Which makes it sound rather as if you believe children should not hug dogs, end of story. Which was why I had to bring up the fact that I know my dog, and I know how he reacts to children and to hugging. He enjoys it and has no problem with children OR hugging, and so I allow it. Like stafinois said, it really depends on the dog.

When you say not going to go over too well, do you mean it to be directed towards my response?My apologies if my tone is coming off as slight hostile - not my intentions at all!! I have read all (or most) of McConnell's books and follow her blog and believe that her theories are often accurate and eye opening.


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## MrsBoats (May 20, 2010)

Equinox...I wasn't referring to your post.  I don't believe people (kids and adults) should bear hug dogs...end of story. Dogs think they can sniff our crotches to learn about who we are and they think they can hump our legs to exhibit dominance or whatever. We don't like that and we correct them for it. Dogs will correct hugging they don't find appropriate with growls and if that warning isn't heeded, they may use teeth. 

Lars is very friendly to the point of being obnoxious...but, I'm not sure how he would tolerate one of my nieces or nephews putting him into a headlock hug. I'm won't set him up to fail by seeing what he will do. My first rottweiler was my learning dog...one of my friend's little kids was standing a little too close to him once outside. Sam, who was the therapy dog later in life, spun around quickly to look at a noise and caught her face with his open mouth. It wasn't a bite...but he scratched her face by accident. She was at face level...as this little one is. 

Sure, it depends on the dog and the kid. But dogs are animals, not remote controlled stuffed dolls and kids are unpredictable. Maybe it's because I own a a breed that gets more than it's fair share of bad press because they are put into situations like this and things go south fast. It only takes a second for something bad to happen...and it can happen to even responsible dog owners. 

So, sorry I said something and like I said...nothing to see here.


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## DJsMom (Jun 6, 2008)

Oh great pictures! And little Sydney is absolutely adorable - LOVE the smile!!

As far as kids hugging dogs ... It does make me somewhat nervous when anyone has their face up close to a dogs face, & I absolutely cringe when it's a small child, it's all I can do not to physically reach out & move the child. That comes from having my not-yet-3 year old niece bit in the face by a large dog - don't know the circumstances, I'm sure there were a lot of "should/shouldn't haves" behind it but that didn't help after the kid had to have 3 surgeries to her little face & still has scars now in her adult hood.


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## stafinois (Jun 16, 2010)

MrsBoats said:


> Lars is very friendly to the point of being obnoxious...but, I'm not sure how he would tolerate one of my nieces or nephews putting him into a headlock hug. I'm won't set him up to fail by seeing what he will do.



I don't let my niece and nephew hug my dogs, either. Nor do I allow it of kids at work. Dogs often treat their own children very differently than they do with kids they do not live with. 

For anybody concerned, here are Grant's expressions when he's not being hugged. He's not winning any Most Enthusiastic Photography Model awards anytime soon.






































I am curious, how many of you in the "No Hugs Ever" camp have children of your own? I can tell you that my opinions changed drastically after I had a child. I would have said the same thing before Syd came along. Now my thoughts are that if a dog can't handle hugs, it shouldn't be in a home with a toddler. Unless you keep them apart 24/7, if the dog lives with a youngster, it's going to get hugged at some point.


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## MrsBoats (May 20, 2010)

I don't have children and that's by choice...and I'm 38 so I'm older. And, yes I'm married. If I had little kids, I also wouldn't probably have high drive working rottweilers in the house because I wouldn't have time to work/train them...not to mention they would lose their minds in a pet household. If I had children, I would probably get a rescued rottweiler who had been fostered with small children...or have a lesser drive rottweiler. Would I strictly manage their interaction together? Hell yeah. Little ones are taught don't touch a hot stove...you can teach them to appropriately interact with dogs.

I will agree....Grant does look pretty miserable all the time.


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## DJsMom (Jun 6, 2008)

I'm not necessarily in the "no hugs ever" camp. Really, it is to each their own, I just happen to be nervous. I do have kids - they're all grown now & were raised around dogs. They all have their own kids now who are being raised around dogs & I've always told them not to put their face near a dogs face. Not that the dog would necessarily bite, but may bite out at a fly, or an itch ... & the damage that 1 instant can do is just too big a risk for me to take, especially with a little tiny face.


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## stafinois (Jun 16, 2010)

MrsBoats said:


> I don't have children and that's by choice...and I'm 38 so I'm older. And, yes I'm married. If I had little kids, I also wouldn't probably have high drive working rottweilers in the house because I wouldn't have time to work/train them...not to mention they would lose their minds in a pet household. If I had children, I would probably get a rescued rottweiler who had been fostered with small children...or have a lesser drive rottweiler.



Well, my working bred Malinois hasn't lost his mind yet since I was forced to retire him after moving and having a child. Dogs surprise you. They are a lot more receptive to change and have more sense than we often give them credit for. I'll not seek out another of his caliber, though. No point in wasting such a dog when I have no access to that level of training. For the record, the dogs came before the baby AND the man 




> Would I strictly manage their interaction together? Hell yeah. Little ones are taught don't touch a hot stove...you can teach them to appropriately interact with dogs.



Is that to mean that I do not manage interaction or teach her to appropriately with dogs? I suppose that you do, if you are so adamantly against any hugging. I am not convinced that it's such a terrible thing to certain dogs to be hugged occasionally.

And yes, you can teach them not to touch a hot stove, as you can teach them to not run out into the street. But, things happen and kids get burned and kids run out into the street. Kids are even less trainable than dogs. I hate sounding like all of the people that annoyed the heck out of me before I had my daughter, but it's easy to have opinions on childrearing when you don't have a child. 




> I will agree....Grant does look pretty miserable all the time.



He even looks like that in his puppy pictures. Ones that he looks alert and happy are a rarity! And I assure you, he is a very happy dog. He's just never been a particularly emotional dog. He's kind of like having a big cat.


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## tw1n (May 12, 2009)

It would be imposible to not allow anyone to hug my dog when Luna "hugs" everyone she meets (jumping seems to be the most impossible thing to train). Depends on the dog, and the people hugging.


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## Independent George (Mar 26, 2009)

RE: Huggin - It depends on the kids, and it depends on the dogs. I'd never let a strange kid even get close to my reactive dog, but there are a few (well, one) she knows well that can bear hug her all day. My neighbor has a Golden Retriever who _insists_ on being hugged, to the point where he leans his entire 80-lb. frame against your side until you wrap your arm around him (whereupon his eyes roll into the back of his head and he lets out an emphatic, ecstatic, snort). 

I'd never let my (hypothetical) kid hug a strange dog (or strange kid hug my dog), but as long as they're already familiar and ok with it, it's cool.


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

MrsBoats said:


> Dogs really don't like being hugged by people...you can condition them to tolerate it but they don't really like it.


That is almost certainly true for the vast majority of dogs, but I can say without reservation that some dogs absolutely crave it. My male Rotty used to crawl into my wife's arms to be cradeled like a baby. He'd bury his head in her neck where he would go to sleep. It got more than a little absurd when he was fully grown and bigger than she was, but they both enjoyed it. So who am I to judge? As far as that boy was concerned, little kids could do no wrong.

As for the rest of the family pets of the world, IMO, hugging by little children is just one of the things they have to learn to accept if they want a warm place to sleep and be fed regularly. If they want to be fed by me, at any rate.


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## stafinois (Jun 16, 2010)

Marsh Muppet said:


> As for the rest of the family pets of the world, IMO, hugging by little children is just one of the things they have to learn to accept if they want a warm place to sleep and be fed regularly. If they want to be fed by me, at any rate.



Bingo. A dog that graciously can't accept hugs from the resident toddler is not a dog that would live in my home, period.


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