He hates to be loved!

[bubbly girly]

My 8 month old Cairn terrier hates to be picked up, hugged, kissed, or anything. He is so unlovable. How do I make him more loveable?

[wolf63]

basically just now he is a adolescent male!

Or it is just his personality, you are encroaching on his "personal space". My cat was the same, he used to hiss when I tried to cuddle him. If I didn't put him down he would try and bite me. I gave up in the end.

[bubbly girly]

Thankyou wolf 63! Yeah I didn't think that there was any way to make him 'loveable'

[JjP]

Excuse me? It is a dog, a hunting animal. The best 'love' for the dog you can give is to spend with him 4 hours a day walking, running, playing with a stick, training etc. Once the dog knows his place in the 'herd' (which are the people and the dog living together), the dog will be happy. If you train the dog for picking him up, hugging, kissing it will also work, but don't read it as 'love'. It will be just a trained behaviour.

If you want something to 'pick up, hugg, kiss, or anything', get yourself a teddy bear. To have a dog is a responsibility, not a game with a toy.

[andy-hughes]

It sounds from your post as though you are the proactive one with the affection - maybe he just feels overwhelmed by it all.

Don't try and pick him up, or hug or kiss him. Let him come to you. If he sits near you, stroke his back once, to let him know you know he is there, and then leave him alone. He may develop a closeness, he may not. Dogs are like people - some just don't like physical contact, and if he is that way, you love him, so accept the way he is.

[bubbly girly]

Jjp I DO play with him. I train him once a day. I have a 5 year old labrador and she is very loveable. She bird hunts with my dad. That' a hunting dog!

[orange-gnome]

Thats just the difference between terriers and labs! You will notice a huuuge difference because its their nature, most labs love everyone and are really demonstrative creatures. Terriers are more independant and like to get affection occasionally and usually a certain type. My jack russell used to sit on my lap when he was a baby and love cuddles, but when he got a little older he would just prefer to sit next to you and get the occasional scratch with a big scratching and loving session just before bed time! He hates being picked up too. My big dog I got second, she is a boxer cross who is incredibly affectionate and I found myself completely over whelmed with the amount of cuddles as she wanted! You just have it the other way around!

Terriers are big dogs in little dogs bodies which is what a lot of people don't understand about them, they are working dogs! If you wanted a lap dog you should have researched better and got a bichon or a min dachsy or something. He is not unloving (whether or not you find him unloveable), terriers are just different dogs to labs and you are comparing the two.

[bubbly girly]

Thank you for your kindnes orange gnone. Jjp

[orange-gnome]

I am sorry, I didn't mean to be unkind.... I was just trying to explain....

[bubbly girly]

I didn't say that you were being mean. I thought you were really nice!

[pie+mash]

Stop breathing on him

[happy_face]

or maybe he's actually wary of you and don't know where to stand since you whack him when he's done something wrong like tearing out Lilys bed

[orange-gnome]

Lol... sorry I thought you were being sarcastic!