Giving your hug a hug may actually be making him miserable or anxious, according to UBC psychology professor emeritus and canine expert Stanley Coren, reports the New York Times.
Coren drew his conclusions from a study of 250 random images of people hugging their dogs, where the dogs showed signs of discomfort or stress such as bared teeth, head turned away and a raised paw.
Another article in the Washington Post cautioned against taking the finding too literally and urged for more rigorous testing of the concept.
The story also appeared on Yahoo, Discover Magazine, Vice, Huffington Post, Mother Nature Network, Tech Times, National Post, Vancouver’s Metro News, and Vancity Buzz.
