dog barking at whoever is hugging me. why?

[Owllady]

I although its just barking so easy to cope with
Why is she doing this?
I can't really be trained not to hug my family ;)

Do you know what type of barking it is? My girl does her "play" bark when I hug people - I think she sees it as a playful sort of position (she initiates play with other dogs by tapping them on their shoulders, or bumping shoulders with them), so it could be that.

Without knowing more it's hard to tell, really. She could think you're being threatened, she could just be looking for attention, or she may have somehow associated barking whilst hugging with something good - are any of those possible?

It's a bark bark bark bark
Same pitch
It's not threatening
She does it if anyone tries to take my daughter out if the room too, though she gets in front of her, so I assumed that was more like herding

No I don't reward her when I hug someone either :o
Though she is cuddled up me so much atm I am over heating, so maybe it's for attention..

My dog does this but with me and my two sons. He doesn't just bark though as has friendly bitten a bum or leg on occasion, even if I'm just hugging a DS when they are going out!

I think he sees himself as the 'protector' (even though he often jumps at the wrong person if there's play fighting going on!)

Once I put on 'dog' voice and tell him it's ok, he'll just continue barking - we've learnt to ignore

Yes she has been known to jump and nip my husband to, or have a tug st his clothes!

It could be attention seeking/ little bit of jealousy. Our dog will insert herself between any two people having a cuddle so she isn't left out. My mum's dog barks if my mum tries to pet any dog other than him; in his case it's just being possessive. He barks, she stops, job done.

The dogs are not protecting and are not jealous.

Closeness, kissing and hugging is difficult for dogs to understand. They see it as confrontational. So they try to calm the situation down and split up the people that they see are acting weirdly. Some dogs and breeds react to this more than other dogs.

Have you seen a dog split up a dog fight? They will stand very still between the dogs that are fighting to split the fight.

This is what they are doing to humans - trying to stop what they see as a confrontational situation.

It sounds very similar to what my dog does when she wants to play. It may be that, or it may be what Nutty suggests. Either way you might be able to encourage her to do something other than bark with some clicker training - get somebody else to ask her to sit / down / go to bed - anything really, whilst you and another family member hug. Lots of praise / reward if she ignores the hugging and does what is asked. Obviously make sure whichever command you use is one she is familiar with and does reliably in the first place.

We did something similar with one of our labs - he would get over excited and bark when DH made sandwiches (as he would always give him a piece of cheese when he was finished). We taught him to go to his bed instead, and he now waits there patiently whenever DH makes sandwiches. Or when anybody else picks up a block of cheese.

MuttDog growls if anyone but me picks up DD - even DH! She also barks if DD squeals (which as an 8 year old female she does, a lot )

We have to fuss he to stop her. She'll also jump up (she doesn't otherwise) if DH and I hug, like she wants a piece of the action!

Thanks nutty muttie, that makes sense
She is a nutty border collie (don't worry she is my third as an adult, had them as children too)
She does seem like she enjoys being mine and my daughter's mum though :o