Editor: Au contraire, my learned friend McGregor (the Times, May 13).
According to renowned UBC psychologist Stanley Coren, your dog does not like to be hugged. They are primeval animals still, and instinctively want to both watch all their surroundings and be prepared to defend themselves.
That is hard to do when being held by an object bigger than you.
My Lab struggles mightily to squirm away if I hug him, although he worships the ground I walk on. Food for thought, in my humble opinion.
Jeff Laurie,
Langley
