Lap Dog

[Carol and Banjo]

I was looking forward to having a puppy to "snuggle" with while sitting around reading, watching TV, etc.  Banjo prefers to stay on the floor and has little interest in sitting on or next to us on the couch.  He's happy to lay at our feet or somewhere nearby.  He loves a good belly rub and enjoys those full body massages (who doesn't!?) but he is just not a "lap" dog.   I've never had a dog I wanted on the furniture and now that I would love to have him up there he isn't interested!  To be honest....it almost hurts my feelings! LOL!     Can anyone else relate to this?

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Yes, Peri is not a lap dog. She prefers the cool hardwoods or marble by fireplace in summer and the rugs during winter. The past few months she has become more loving. She will lay on our feet and follow us everywhere. But she doesn't like being held very long.
Oh and Peri is a year next week...

[Jamie Petro]

When Wrigley was 4-6 months old we would beg her to sit on the couch with us, but as soon as we'd put her up there she'd jump down. At that time she was not very affectionate at all simply because she was all puppy. That all changed when she was about 8-10 months old. Every day we would see less puppy nipping and more kisses and cuddling. Now she is a little over a year old, and I cannot sit on the couch without her on top of me! So, there's still hope for Banjo to be the lap dog you wished for.

[Steve D]

When we first brought Max home at a little over 7 weeks he was happy to cuddle on the couch. Within a few days time he would get up at the first chance and go lay down somewhere on his own (but always within eyesight). This did kind of hurt my feelings. I wanted him right next to me. Now at 4 1/2 months he has started coming back up on the couch. Laying close or on me. Seems he is once again enjoying being close. The same is becoming true with Elphie as well. So I would suspect with Banjo it might just be a stage he is going through. Tweenagers! I would not give up on having a lap dog just yet :)

[shelly]

Yes! Tori actually started out a big cuddler, then kind of became more independent, but I kept up snuggling her and even got down on the floor cuddling her whenever I could. She now will cuddle with us on the couch and (I can't believe I'm saying this) on our bed (I would have NEVER in the past let my dog on the bed I SLEEP in), but she usually doesn't seek out a cuddle too often unless it's past her bedtime. She does often come up on the couch now tho' while we're watching tv and lay her head on our lap and let me pet and hug her.....She's more of an independent woman now. LOL Keep up with the quick cuddles and affection I think sometimes they need to learn that it's okay to cuddle... Good luck! He's getting so big so fast!

[Julie Savolt]

My husband didn't want Barley on the furniture. He would have a fit when he saw Barley snuggling with me on the couch. I just started by saying "up for loving" and giving him a treat when he came up. Now my husband snuggles Barley as much as I do and Barley has never come up without being asked. Maybe try giving Banjo a command and treating when he comes up. Start with short amounts of time and maybe he eventually want more.

[Tina J.]

I really believe with Boo, she's just too warm to snuggle. She'll sit on the leather couch, but not the fabric one for more than a couple minutes... She prefers the front entry, where there's cool tile... I'm hoping she'll sit with me more, on my sofa, after her summertime haircut...

Tina J.

[Laura & Chewie]

Chewie has always been quite independent...he didn't even have to be in the same room. Of course, he never turned down a belly rub or a good massage and was always excited to see us if we had been gone. Now, at 10 months, I notice he seeks us out if we're in another room and gets up on the couch with us more frequently. He definitely is more affectionate and I anticipate that will continue to grown more as he matures.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Darwin was initially pretty independent and didn't like to cuddle. But for the past few months, he has become much more of a "lap dog". We now have "cuddle time" every night and he loves to hop on the couch to snuggle. He is now almost eleven months old, so he was really independent until around eight months of age. Perhaps once he bonds to you more and has a bigger attention span, he will like it more.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Both Guinness and Murphy like to snuggle for a while, but then they get hot. The puppy goes and lays on the nearest bathroom floor, and Guinness on one of the beds. They do always want to be where they can see me. It's pretty funny to watch them "jockey" for position on my lap.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I checked to see how old your Banjo is and see he's quite young. My Lucy was never a big lap dog either when she was very young. She loved us being on the floor with her (often then she'd play in our laps), and sitting on the couch with us, but she was always busy and never could RELAX and enjoy a good snuggle. It wasn't until she was just over 4 months that we noticed a difference in her snuggle-ability. She's grown much more QUIETLY affectionate with age (she'll be 5 months old next week). She's even slept between my husband and me in bed (something we allowed one time when we were on vacation with her... normally she sleeps in her crate at night).

I too have found that Lucy prefers smooth, cool surfaces, like tile, over the warmth of the leather couch. Once she puts in her time on the couch, the invariably goes to the tile to relax.

Don't let Banjo's aloofness hurt your feelings... he will come around sooner or later. Just be patient and show him lots of love and affection.

[Carol and Banjo]

"Snuggle-ability"! Love that word!! Banjo loves for us to be on the floor with him....he really doesn't want to be up on the furniture with us. Funny little guy...it cracks me up because both my DH and I NEVER allowed pets on the furniture....I guess we've mellowed with age. I'm so glad to hear from everyone that it seems their dogs eventually enjoyed cuddling with their people. We'll look forward to Banjo's mellow days and for now enjoy his puppy craziness! He has a MAJOR case of the ZOOMIES today!!!! Must be the rain!

[Deanna Marsh]

My mother-in-laws dog was not a lap-dog until she got to be about 10. mos old. Now she's constantly on her lap, just keep trying.