Missed out on puppy cuddles... Anyone else!?

[Tater05]

I love my pup to bits and can't imagine life without him anymore. He's a 6 month old golden retriever and I love playing with him, walking, training him etc.

But one thing I really feel I'm missing out on is cuddles with him! He's always been a very excited playful boisterous pup and when he was a lot younger he'd always much rather be running about and exploring than being sat in my lap, then we'd always put him in his pen to enforce nap time - he never fell asleep of his own accord outside of his pen because he needed to be taught to switch off.

Now at 6 months I can tell he wants to cuddle, he'll sit on my lap and it's nice for about 5 seconds but he's still really mouthy so he starts biting quite quickly (we are working on this, re direction, getting up and leaving etc) so he's just never able to settle with us long enough.

I'm not really looking for solutions, he's otherwise such a lovely boy and he is starting to calm down a lot to what he used to be like. I'm just always seeing people with their puppies asleep on their laps and it looks like such a lovely phase that we've completely missed. He won't even settle on the sofa next to me as he always gets excited and mouthy there too.

Just wondering if anyone else has had the same sort of experience as us!

Mine doesn’t sit on my knee, he will sit next to me, but not on my knee.
Have you tried putting him on a lead and making him settle next to you ?

I agree with the lead idea - put him on a lead and teach him to settle next to you.

I've put him on the lead and taught settle but only on the floor next to me, never thought to do the same on the sofa next to me! Most people want their dogs off the sofa I think!?

He's currently on the floor next to the sofa sleeping upside down which is lovely, but it took 2 hours to get to that point.

The mouthing could be an over-tired self-soothing thing? If so, try getting a nylabone. You hold one end, he chews the other. That way he can get cuddles with his human and the chewing that he needs to settle. And it's a nice thing to do together.

It was lovely to have mine on my lap when she was little. Bigger now but still a slightly smaller dog. So sweet now when she sits next to me and rests her head on my lap? Settle him next to you so you can easily stroke or pet him.

We've tried that but with yak chews and coffee wood - we had a nylabone and he chewed it in half! It's the closest we get to having him settled with us though, even if it is only for 5 minutes at a time and he has to be in the exact right mood 😆I think it's part of his personality, he can't sit still for long and he's into everything all the time

We have a 7mo labradoodle who's similar. What works for me is rubbing his ears and sshing him like a baby 😂 if he gets too mouthy I stand up and look away from him which he doesn't like. But when the ear rubbing and shhing works he settles right down and goes all floppy with his head on my lap. That said, if he's really tired and wants to sleep, he prefers to do that on the floor so he'll only sit with me for 20-30 mins. It's lovely whilst it lasts!!

Not all retrievers are massively cuddly. Like humans, they have their personalities and show affection in many different ways. My lovely boy is now 3 (black lab). He was never a huge cuddler (dreadful biter as a young puppy which he grew out of at about 10 months), but likes being in the same room as you, has his place on the sofa, looks at you with adoring eyes and sleeps on the bed (yup, that’s a hill I chose not to die on). He is a big mummy’s boy, just not a cuddler.

Get on the floor and cuddle him !

Sods law isn't it, I've ended up with two labs who always want to sit on top of me when I'd really rather they didn't!

Some of the owners of cute puppies snuggled on lap may regret it by time they get to full-size 😆 I didn't do that phase but the bully mutt I adopted clearly did as would climb up on my lap and lean back until being held like a baby, a 33kg one! After my enforced cuddles he'd wander off to his man cave (crate) for a proper nap so I could get the feeling back in my legs. It was quite therapeutic!

My other dogs were more sit next to you with head or front half on lap if they wanted to be close.

@RNBrie Aww the ear rubbing sounds like it really calms him. Mine likes that sort of thing for a bit but it's not long before he'll get mouthy again or sometimes he just gets up and walks off

@Mariposista Your boy sounds so much like mine! He likes being near me and those adoring eyes melt my heart! I think when his biting eases off, which I really hope it does soon, he might be a bit more cuddly.

@DustyLee123 Haha I get on the floor and cuddle him at my own peril, it depends what mood he's in. If he's too playful that's asking to get bitten (would like to stress that it's because he's excited and not aggressive at all!) and if he's sleepy it's nice but he doesn't always want it so I don't want to force cuddles on him.

@DailyDriver I can see that it would be annoying if they ALWAYS want to sit on you. We're expecting him to be over 40kg when he's fully grown so I definitely wouldn't want his whole body on me!

@ScattyHattie I did kind of want a dog that's too big to be a lap dog but does it anyway 😆but yeah I'd probably have regretted it. A head in the lap would be nice at this stage, that's all I'm asking of him!

Hi! Mine was exactly the same. He did sleep on the bed with me and that was the only time at night he wasn't trying to mouth me whilst I sat down anywhere. He'd also rest on my feet whilst I was cooking but never 'got' the sitting together until he was about one.
He's now the cuddliest little Spaniel there is. A ball of fizz and energy but now hecters me when it's time to relax on the sofa, and really wags his tail when it's time for snuggles. Melts my heart. Dogs are brilliant.

I'd imagine it's more his temperament/personality than something you missed because of training. E.g. there are greyhounds who spend their whole early lives in kennels that end up cuddly once rescued into a home.

My nine month old pup isn't cuddly. She's very playful and would much rather play than be stroked. And she's very independent. Doesn't blink if I leave the house. She is bonded with me though, I wake up to her laid next to me in bed. She is so happy when I get back from being out. She doesn't follow me like a shadow but more often than not settles in the room I'm in. Loves to play together.

I was a little sad that she wasn't more overly affectionate but now appreciate that she's a really easy dog. Also, I find her play biting is slowly reducing and she enjoys physical attention more, but I just know she'll never be a hugely physical attention-craving dog.

I was a little sad that she wasn't more overly affectionate but now appreciate that she's a really easy dog.

Mine hit me if i dare to stop giving them chest rubs!