Did you have him from a puppy Would you say he was an Alpha male

This subject is of great interest to me because we have two dogs same age, breed, and sex, yet the one who came to us at 4 months (Bara, was rejected by her first owners) will never allow close hugs and cuddles whereas the other one (Rianna) we had as a puppy is always comming up to me and OH and demanding hugs and liking us.

But, somehow I don't think it's only the puppy thing. Bara is a very 'dominant' dog, if she were in a wild pack in the mountains she would definately be the Alpha female and I think this translates into not being too affectionate. Now, almost 5 years on she is starting to be a liitle more affectionate but only a little

When OH is in the vegtable garden Bara will always be around, but not too close, usually about 10 - 20 Metres away but Rianna will lie right where OH is working (Often on top of seedlings she's just planted )

BTW I know this Alpha male / female theory is considered old fashioned by some people but I can only speak as I observe and our Bara fits the description precisely so I prefer to use this description.

My boys love their hugs and my O/H's dog is a giant but still acts like a pup and wants his share of hugs too. i guess they are all different and they can be conditioned by their environment too. Some owners don't hug their dogs. Each to their own

Oh H don't look at it like that You are the Alpha female in your pack I think that shows in the trainning you've done with her, she respects you and that's necessary to enable her to obey (To come when you call for example) When you're in the garden doing something is she always around but not too close When she is Georgies age I think she'll be much more affectionate, in the meantime you've still got Georgie haven't you

Chip loves a cuddle from his friends, but he needs a few minutes to make up his mind about new people before he'll let them get too personal.
Dale's the opposite. Any stranger can give him a hug and he laps up the attention. However in the house he likes to pick his time for cuddles. If he's not in the mood he walks off and if he is, he comes and puts his head in your lap.

I only get cuddles when I've been out - I think the rest of the time Tilly just "tolerates it" too. She like to roll on her back & have raspberries blown on her belly & she likes kisses, she'll lay with people on the sofa but if they molly coddle her she gets down & would rather spread on the floor.

i think jake sometimes tolerates them, depending on his mood. but most of the time he put his head close into me, and kind of snuggles in and the way he does it i definately think he likes it. he also does a thing where, if im sitting on the floor, he put his front legs over my shoulders and sits down and comes in really close... like he is giving a cuddle... very cute lol

I took the original question to be about facial contact tbh. but mine will instigate an arm around the back of the neck. Syd especially will come and shove his head under my arm when I'm typing or trying to drink a cup of tea or whatever. If I try to keep my arm close to my body he forces his way in, so my arm would be quite tight against his head, he could move away but he waits to get the attention he's seeking. If I reward him by speaking to him or kissing his head his back end goes all wiggly. If I ignore the fact I have a big Dobermann head shoved under my arm he will quite forcefully flick my arm so that it lands on the back of his neck/shoulders and then his face rests against my chest while he waits for his attention. No excitement or bounce just his desire for contact. I can't see how he's just tolerating it when he's the one controlling it. Also they have a huge leather bean bag in the conservatory and if I or the other half lay on that, they all pile in for a cuddle and yes that is arms around them in the spoons position, which they manoever themselves into and vie for who can get the closest. They love us putting our head across their shoulders when in this position, if they were cats they'd purr. They lie back and relax, once they're happy they have the best position they're going to get and start to nod off. I can't say I ever instigate cuddles with my dogs by flinging my arms around them, I either let them instigate it or I invite it by lying on the floor or the bean bag, they do the rest. Milan thinks heaven is sitting on the OH on the floor with his arms around her being rocked like a baby, go figure

Yes, I remember seeing that on dare I say it a CM programme, where the dog would only leap onto the husband and display lots of affection but not to it's owner and he reckoned just like you, that the dog is in fact "taking the pee" out of the husband coz he held no respect for him, whereas the owner had respect from the dog, and CM doesn't like it, he pushes them away when they push themselves onto you for a cuddle!

I take back all that I said, coz this morning Zena leaped on me sitting on the kitchen chair, put her arms around my neck and smothered me in kisses, so I'm assuming she's now back to her normal self and the season has finished, so she does love me afterall then! She follows me everywhere, and always wants to be close by me, licking my feet if she gets the chance or rolling over for a belly rub! Don'tcha just love 'em like this!

Jake tolerates cuddles. He gets a really long suffering look on his face!

Both of my dogs like to get close to me and put their faces in mine. Sometimes the little one can't get enough body contact - it's as if he's trying to get under your skin!

But they only like it when I'm passive - when they're doing the cuddling. If I do it to them they start giving calming signals and will move away.