Dogs are the best. They will do anything for you and protect you with their very lives if the need should arise. They’re a different story when you’re in a relationship, though. They’ll often get overly protective and territorial, trying to claim your love above your partner’s. One of the clear signs of this is the dog jumping you when you hug your partner. But where does this behavior come from, and what does it mean?
Dogs jumping you is actually pretty easy to explain. While we may think that hugging is nice for dogs, most dogs don’t consider it to be natural or even fun behavior. While for us it’s calming and a sign of intimacy, for dogs it’s someone hovering over you and grabbing your entire body with their full weight. Does that sound romantic or threatening to you? Yeah, it’s bad for dogs too. And that’s why hugging isn’t a natural way for dogs to show affection.
So imagine your significant other hugging you and your dog watching. Now that dog is thinking “someone is choking boss to death!” And remember, boss is the only person in the whole wide world that knows where all the goodest boi treats are. There’s only one possible response to this: save the human!
Another reason might happen once your dog has already realized that hugs don’t kill people. Then your dog might simply get to the point where he or she wants attention – and giving someone a hug means that person is getting all the attention. At that point, this can only end as a three-way hug or your significant other will have to wait his or her turn as the dog gets all the ear scratches first.
So how do you deal with it? Well, the best way to deal with unwanted behavior is to ignore it. Any response can be interpreted as a reward, which means it’ll only happen more often in the future. And while getting jumped by dogs is nothing short of heavenly bliss, not all people might enjoy your canine friend going straight for second base.
So in short: remember where dogs interrupting hugs come from, and try to ignore them when they react to it. Sooner or later they’ll stop on their own and in the end you’ll have a lovely dog that allows you to hug all the people you want, without trying to get in on that action. And let’s be honest, as soon as your date is out the door you’ll be back cuddling with your dog anyway!
