My dog, Bailey, was not a cuddler as a puppy. in fact, he’d rather be 100ft away playing with something dead in the grass (yay). Now at a year and a bit, he loves his cuddles. Give him all the cuddles. Definitely depends on the dog

 

Finn was not a cuddly puppy, somewhere just short of the two year mark he started seeking out cuddles when it suited him. He will let me do almost anything to him but I still wouldn't consider him cuddly.

 

Hey everyone!
My boyfriend and I have a now 12 week old puppy who we think is pretty amazing. Fenrir has awesome focus for her age and can be very alternative during training sessions and already knows a lot of tricks and important commands.
The only thing we can’t seem to figure out is she doesn’t like cuddling…at all. She tends to turn most interactions into an immediate opportunity to nip at us or bite. She is, slowly, learning bite inhibition and not biting as hard or as often but still the lack of wanting to cuddle without biting is a bit confusing to us.
Im a long time dog owner, but this is my first shepherd. Is it common that they don’t want to cuddle? Had anyone else experienced this and worked through it? Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance!

Also here’s some pictures of Fenrir. Just for cuteness sake! View attachment 587770
View attachment 587769

I wasn’t sure what’s the best way to update this post for people but oddly enough, after reading all these responses I am figuring out my dog is very affectionate by GSD standards.

She lets me pick up her front half for a hug, she crawls into my lap if I’m on the ground, she begs to get in bed with us, so I guess she’s super affectionate.

The problem I’m realizing is she’s bitter big while affectionate. I can’t understand why she wants to be with me and “cuddle” only to get bit 1 second later. I guess this is just average puppy hood but man am I looking forward to her loosing those puppy teeth and figuring it out that I hate being bitten. My hands and legs can only take so much!
Thanks for all the stories and replies! It’s been so helpful!

 

Our GSD is our first and cuddling was not on his agenda when he was a pup. Now that he's 2+yrs old if he's tired he will lay at our feet or get on the couch and lay his head on our lap for petting. However when he was a puppy if he was awake all he wanted to do was squirm around and chew on us. Luckily he never chewed on furniture, shoes or anything else he could reach but he never wasted an opportunity to chew on us if he could. Those needle teeth were deadly sharp and our arms and hands were scratched and punctured for months.

 

Max was born Feb 4th. Total lacknof cuddling after 10 weeks and The nipping was insane!

Hes settled down a bit, doesn't want to be repeatedly petted, but as others have said, he's a shadow. Everywhere you go, he will follow.

Tons of personality to make up for the lack of cuddleness at this point in their lives!

 

We have our black gsd for 13 months now when she was at puppy stage she had a lot of energy, I think it’s good that your gsd isn’t pushing for cuddles right now, it is good for gsd to have some independence but give it time by 6-9 months our gsd started putting her head on my lap wanting massages and cuddles. Our gsd come usually around night time when she is low drive she would flip on her back for cuddles and attention. So I say give it time your gsd will come for cuddles in the near future.