Expert warns dog owners to never hug their pets as gesture can make animals bite

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An animal expert has revealed why we shouldn't actually hug our pets, no matter how tempting it may be. Hugging is often a universal sign to show someone you love and appreciate them, but cuddling your dog might end up having the opposite effect intended.

In fact, it can cause their stress levels to skyrocket and may even make them bite if they feel threatened by the situation, the Mirror reports.

Psychologist Stanley Coren previously wrote in Psychology Today, recalling an incident when a woman tried to hug his six-month-old puppy.

But doing this caused the poor pup to show signs of stress including turning his head away to avoid eye contact.When he told the woman not to hug dogs as they didn't like it, she looked at him with an expression of "disbelief", and argued that there is evidence to suggest hugging your children is good for their brain development.But dogs are of course different to children, as Coren wrote: "Dogs are technically cursorial animals,which is a term that indicates that they are designed for swift running.