My husky puppy Nanook never wants to be around me unless it's what HE wants and i want him to love me. I thought Huskies were supposed to be loving and affectionate?

Welcome to the world of huskies. Huskies are loving and affectionate on their own terms. They are happy go lucky goofballs, but I would not classify them as loyal in the terms that you are thinking of.

Could also be that he is still young. Bonds don't form miraculously out of nowhere. They take time.

He is 12 weeks old today. Amd he only comes to and listens to me.

Not all breeds, or even individual dogs for that matter, show affection the same way. Some love to cuddle and follow you like a baby duck, while others may just show it with a quick lick before doing their own thing. None of my dogs are overly affectionate, but that doesn't mean that they don't love me. And you know, that's what I love about my pups. They don't need to have my constant attention and can survive a few hours of me focusing on something that doesn't involve them.

Over time, you'll learn what behaviors your pup will do in order to show his affections towards you, just keep an open mind and you'll be surprised at how much your pup loves you.

Perfectly normal feeling.

It takes a few months for the bond to kick in and be obvious. Huskies require a lot of reading between the lines. If a Lab or a German Shepherd is the standard for affection, a Husky is a hard pill to swallow.

You'll probably notice this classic trait too: they love strangers more than you

seattlesibe wrote:

You'll probably notice this classic trait too: they love strangers more than you

Yes.. yes they do lol.

It's perfectly normal. My huskies don't show affection the way you're thinking of, most won't follow you around nor will they constantly need you around to be happy. Doesn't mean they don't love you. Just spend time with him, he will bond with you over time, but he may never crave attention from you.

oh he follows me EVERYWHERE hes not a cuddler but he likes to be at my feet or at least be watching me. He is sad in his kennel or away from me.

he lways wants me to rub his tummy too
and he is shy to strangers unless its little kids or babies

It's perfectly normal for them not to be cuddlers. Just like people, some (like me) don't like people to hug them. Some dogs don't want people to cuddle with them.

actually right now he is in my lap smothering me with licks. its when the rest of my family is home that he gets ornry.

Okay.. so your first post said he never wants to be around you but now you've said he follows you everywhere, lays in your lap, etc. So I'm pretty sure he wants to be around you.

I've called my 10 month old's physical affection very "proximity" oriented.  The only time he is ears back and tail wagging and leaning and rubbing and wanting to be petted or messaged is when one of us returns home or he hasn't seen us in a few hours.  And this last 5 minutes TOPS. This is very Lab like affection.

Otherwise, he's very proximity oriented. Never on us, but near us. Never touching us, but close enough for us to touch him.  Not on our lap but under our feet.  On the sofa but at the other end.  

The only other "sweet" type of physical affection he shows is licking my beard incessantly when I'm sitting in the shower

Loki loves me, He races up and down the house when he is let in at night then comes and tackles me. He tries to lay on my face and roll around on me while I try to sleep, he tries to eat my foot or my hand or my stomach or anything to annoy me. And then, He gets bored of me and he could care less if I am calling him unless I have food. He ignores me 80% of the time after the first 10 minutes of being in the house. Always investigating everything on his own little adventure. He just has a short attention span. :)Give it time he will be more focused on you when he is older. :)Does not mean he hates you, He just only has so much time to pay attention to you when there are differnt things like that evil sock and the plant and his nap. :p

But if he is always following you around, licking you, laying in your lap, ect ect I am not sure what you are worried about?

sorry if i seem a bit blunt but i mean this in good humour-but i think that you might be confusing your dog with a boyfriend! i mean, you took possession of him but he is an individual in his own right. he might listen to different music to you if he could choose and he might not like your music but it doesnt mean that he doesnt like you. he might be happy with the relationship between you the way it is already and maybe you cant see that. i reckon most people take on a dog because they love them and want to care for them but i doubt in most cases that that is the dogs motivation for wanting to be with people..even if some are a little curious about their human carers, they ultimately might not really want to be with people but patrol an area in the wilderness oblivious of humans altogether...as some people would prefer to live also. as i said already, he is a dog and not your boyfriend so i wouldnt expect the same give and take that you might expect from a human that you were living with. we are all different animals and i think that as long as our nature is transparent and well meaning then it will be easily translated across species. what your saying sounds a little like "i think my fish dont like me"! ...and that is plain silly.

i know very little experience with huskies as i have had my puppy for just over 2 weeks but i have had many breeds of dog and i think a lot of what we interpret as affection from animals are more often than not just little ways of them communicating something, need for food, warmth or just to get someone to scratch them when its easier for them to just lay back and enjoy it.

its 4.18am as i write this because my puppy wants to chew me as i try to sleep...so i wake up because she has woken me and im here in the living room keeping her company until she sleeps..but i dont imagine its my company she wants but instead wants to know she can sleep securely with someone to watch over her.

if your puppy is happy then he will be happy with you being there..to keep him happy.

now i can go to back to bed because bobi is sleeping..though i know she'll be on the bed in 5 minutes trying to have her weird whiny, grumbling badly timed doggy conversation and arm chewing session as usual : /

My husband and I battled this same question for quite a while. Now that Q is a little older we are seeing a much more affectionate side of him. At this point, there's no doubt in my mind that our dog loves us. And like one of the comments noted, our husky loves everyone else exponentially more than us! LOL!

seattlesibe wrote:

Otherwise, he's very proximity oriented. Never on us, but near us. Never touching us, but close enough for us to touch him.  Not on our lap but under our feet.  On the sofa but at the other end.  

This is the perfect way to describe it and how I feel its like for most huskies! They show their love by being near you but not on top of you!

Kenzi attached to me very fast and didn't seem to care a lot for my husband but the longer we have her the more balanced her attention and affection has become. She gets different things from us. She gets hugs and food and cuddles in the bed from me, but she gets rough play and back scratches from my husband, but most of the time she does her own thing in her own space and chooses which one of us to come to based on her needs of the moment. Unless she needs to go for a car ride, then she will go to anyone willing to role down the window.

Be careful what you wish for. Loki follows me everywhere and whines if he knows I leave him. He seemed aloof for the most part the first few weeks. Even at the shelter this weekend when I left him for 10 minutes with my fiance he was wimpering and would not sit while strangers oodled over him. I appeared and he went to sleep. Maybe he is shepherd husky mix afterall.

At least he is fine when I go to store or work. He goes right to jail when I tell him. But at times he seems more attached to me and only me then my lab or shepherd mix ever did.

I actually prefer the way that Huskies show affection. I feel crowded by most dogs, but my guy gives me space when he's investigating everything else. I don't feel like he's hopeless without me, which is nice. They have a loyalty to you, but it's not in the way that one would expect. I still have to admit though, I feel cheated on when he oodles over strangers. lol.

It makes me wonder if on the list of bullet points describing the breed there should be something of the effect: Not recommended for emotionally insecure, needy people.

seattlesibe wrote:

It makes me wonder if on the list of bullet points describing the breed there should be something of the effect: Not recommended for emotionally insecure, needy people.    

LOL. So true. xD

techigirl78 wrote:

At least he is fine when I go to store or work.  He goes right to jail when I tell him.

Ha, is "go to jail" go-to-bed for Loki? That's incredibly funny.

my pup is actually as he gets older wanting to cling to me the same way my other dog does.