Why are Boxers so clingy

Do Boxers Like to Cuddle? The Cuddly Giant Explained

A popular question that all dog owners have is how cuddly their breed is. I mean, who doesnt love a cuddle with their doggo. So how cuddly are boxers? This article explains everything.

Yes, Boxer dogs do like to cuddle. In fact, Boxers are considered one of the most cuddly breeds out there. Boxers quickly develop strong bonds with their family and love showing affection.

Do Boxers Like To Cuddle?

Simply put, yes boxers love cuddling. Itll be hard to find a boxer that doesnt like to cuddle. This breed is one of the most affectionate breeds out there. Phew!

• If you want a cuddly breed, a dog you can come home to and snuggle up with on the couch, then a boxer will be perfect.

Many owners jokingly call their boxers, giant lapdogs, due to how much affection and physical contact they engage in.

Why Are Boxers So Cuddly?

Once people witness just how cuddly boxers are, they often ask why.

Although Boxers were originally used as working dogs, hunting dogs, and even as bull baiters, they were always great family dogs too.

It comes naturally for Boxers to develop a deep connection with their owners and human family. This strong bond is whats responsible for their outward displays of affection.

For some breeds, this comes naturally, and for others, it doesnt

Popular: When Do Boxers Calm Down?

Do Boxer Puppies Cuddle As Much As Adults?

This is a good question, and the answer may surprise you

No, Boxer puppies are likely too hyper to worry about cuddles or being affectionate.

Any attempt to get close or make contact is usually seen as an initiation of play. Puppies are way too excitable to relax and cuddle, and any attempts will just result in them slipping out from your arms to grab their toy.

Its also important to note that puppies have not yet mentally matured, and the bond between you and them, isnt established or understood.

So, when your Boxer puppy doesnt come to you for cuddles, its completely normal, even despite being one of the most cuddly breeds

Just remember that once your Boxer reaches adulthood, you wont be able to stop the cuddles and kisses!

6 Common Ways Boxer Dogs Show Affection

Cuddles are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how boxers show affection.

Boxers show their affections in many ways including the following:

Leaning up against you:

Physical contact is a huge one, and it can be as subtle as coming to sit right next to you making sure their body is touching yours.

Slobbery kisses:

Boxers are known for being a bit slobbery, and they are also known for being generous with their kisses. So when you pair these two together, youve got a lot to deal with! Dont worry, you can always train against this behavior if its not for you.

Real hugs:

As you already know by now, Boxers are cuddlers and this will be one of their main weapons when showing you some love. You may be surprised, Boxers are known to give actual hugs, its quite funny to see.

Sitting and laying on you:

This is when physical contact goes to the next level. Boxers have a thing for coming to sit literally on top of your lap, and if thats not enough, they like to lay fully down on you to receive their good boy pets.

Being by your side:

Boxers love to follow you around, know where you are, and be with you as much as they can. Some may classify this as being clingy, and that may be accurate, but for them, its a natural behavior to engage in when your bond is strong.

Pawing at you:

When Boxers play and want attention they stand on their hind legs while using their two front paws to box. This is how they got their name. Not only is it a sign to play, but it can also be a sign of affection.

And the list goes on

In general, once you have a strong bond with your Boxer hes going to want as much interaction with you as possible. Whether its cuddles, following you around, sitting next to you, or sitting on you, its all just love.

Boxer Articles on The Puppy MagCan Boxer Dogs Be Left Alone? 5 Tips to KnowMale vs Female Boxer Dogs: The Key Differences

Can Boxers Be Overly Affectionate?

Its all well and good enjoying those cuddles when you want them, but its actually signifying something else, and thats how much attention Boxers require.

Boxers develop such a strong bond with their owners and human family, that it becomes very hard for them to spend time alone.

Boxers are not a breed that copes well when left home alone and this is something very important to think about whether youve already got a Boxer or are considering getting one.

This level of affection and desire to have human interaction requires you to look at your schedule and how your Boxer will fit into your day.

After having spoken to many Boxer owners, one thing theyve all agreed upon is just how much time the owner needs to give to the boxer. This has a direct impact on their overall happiness and health.

Popular: Are boxer dogs prone to seizures? Important info for all owners

Should You Limit How Much Your Boxer Cuddles?

The short answer is no, not really. This would be like trying to discourage a bird from flying! Boxers are naturally affectionate and its normal for them to be clingy, touchy and if this is annoying for you, then the Boxer isnt the breed for you.

A way that may possibly reduce the amount of interaction your Boxer seeks, is to ignore his displays of affection to you, and with time, hell learn that it doesnt trigger a response.

But for many people, thats considered to be extremely unfair. Boxers are this way, and that isnt bad, for the right person.

Boxer Articles on The Puppy MagWhen Can Boxer Puppies Leave Their Mother?How To Help Boxer Dog Gain Weight? 5 Tips

Final Thoughts

Boxers are one of the true friendly giants, and while intimidating in size and appearance, are one of the most cuddly, loving, and affectionate breeds we know of.

Boxers are known for their affection, but theres a fine line between being cute, and being clingy, and honestly, Boxers sail right past the line This means that Boxers are attention-seeking and require their owners to be with them for most of the day.

Whether youre ready or capable of living with a dog that requires so much of your time and attention is something serious to think about. So be sure to make the right decision!

Back to more Boxer articles >>

Why am I so clingy? (9 Big reasons)

When you enter a new relationship, its natural to desire to be close to your partner. Youre in the getting to know each other phase. The closer you are to each other, the better you get to know each other.

Eventually, when both partners are satisfied with each other, things settle down a bit. You dont have to talk and meet as often. You feel secure and at home with each other. Youre in a healthy attachment with your partner.

Your relationship suffers if you deviate from the sweet spot of healthy attachment. If you move to the left and increase distance in your relationship, it strains your relationship.

Straining doesnt mean breaking, though.

Its okay to have some distance in your relationship from time to time because absence makes the hearts grow fonder. But theres a limit to that. If you go beyond that limit, youre like to break your relationship.

Similarly, theres some wiggle room to the right too. You can move to the right and get closer to your partner from time to time. But theres a limit. If you go too far, you become clingy and suffocate your partner.

While you can occasionally move slightly to the left and right of the sweet spot, a healthy relationship is one where you spend most of your time in the sweet spot.

Am I clingy?

When you get closer to your partner, its natural to worry that you might be becoming clingy. Your partner will likely not call out your clingy behavior. So, the best way to know is to look at your own actions.

If you display most of these behaviors in your relationship, youre probably being clingy:

1. Spending too much time together

Partners must have their own lives outside of their relationship. If you spend most of your time with your partner, youre probably clingy. If you make your partner your entire life, its a sure sign of clinginess.

2. Relying entirely on your partner for happiness

Ideally, your partner should be one, albeit a significant, source of your happiness. If you cannot be happy without your partner, that can make you cling to your partner.

3. Seeking constant reassurance

Clingy partners want to hear that you love them over and over. Once you get to a point in the relationship where there are healthy levels of mutual trust, a non-clingy partner may find reassuring their clingy partner burdensome.

4. Seeking constant contact

During the initial stages of a relationship, its normal to talk all the time. However, if that continues even when the relationship becomes stable, it can be a sign of clinginess.

5. Monitoring your life

Clingy partners have to know where you are and what you do at all times. They may stalk you on social media, steal your passwords, and plant agents to keep tabs on where you are.

6. Controlling your life

Clinginess and control are two sides of the same coin. We cling to control. A clingy partner may control and micro-manage every little detail of your life.

7. Feeling threatened by your life

A clingy partner wants you to make them your entire life, too, just as they have done to you. If you happen to have a life of your own outside of the relationship, it can threaten a clingy partner.

8. Speeding up the relationship

When youre with a clingy partner, you may feel like the relationship is moving too quickly. It probably is, and your clingy partner may be responsible for it.

Effects of clinginess

For a relationship to be healthy, there has to be interdependence, not co-dependency or clinginess. We all have a desire for autonomy. We dont want to be controlled. Clinginess takes away its victims freedom and autonomy.

Clinginess is annoying and puts a strain on the relationship. It suffocates and exhausts the other person. Over time, clinginess builds up resentment. And in any relationship, resentment is like slow poison.

Why am I so clingy?

Time for the rubber to hit the road. Now, well get into the different reasons that can contribute to being clingy. As you go through these reasons, the clingy behaviors mentioned earlier will make more and more sense.

1. Insecurity

You either feel secure in your relationship, or you dont. Insecurity in relationships is the core reason- mother of all reasons- for clinginess.

If youre sitting on a tree branch and it breaks or is about to break, youll hold fast to it.

Similarly, when your relationship is about to break, or you think its going to break, youll cling to it.

2. Low self-esteem

Having low self-esteem leads to self-doubt and feeling youre unworthy of your relationship. If you believe you dont deserve your partner, itll be hard to feel secure in your relationship.

Youll constantly look for ways to sabotage your relationship to prove yourself right, i.e., you dont deserve the relationship.

You may also think (falsely) that your partner doesnt like you, even though theyve repeatedly said they do. So, you may get tempted to end the relationship before they do.

3. Fear and anxiety

If you fear that your partner will leave you for whatever reason, this can lead to insecurity and clinginess on your part. This fear may stem from having abandonment issues rooted in childhood or from a third person you perceive to be a threat to your relationship.

Likewise, anxiety about where the relationship is headed can also lead to clingy behavior. If youre an anxious person in general, then the anxiety you feel in your relationship is probably the consequence of this generalized anxiety.

Another potential source of anxiety in relationships is the anxious attachment style.¹ Attachment styles are formed very early in life. Having an anxious attachment style where youre constantly afraid that your partner will leave you comes in the way of feeling secure in the relationship.

4. Trust issues

If you dont fully trust your partner, youre likely to cling to them. If you fully trust your partner, you have no reason to cling. The branch is intact and strong. You dont need to grip it.

Trust issues can stem from your past experiences with relationships. If youve had negative past experiences in relationships, itll be hard for you to trust your partner.

Trust issues can also arise from having a negative model or template for relationships. Our models of the world are primarily formed in childhood. If your parents had an unhealthy relationship, you may come to believe that thats how intimate relationships are supposed to be.

5. Mate value discrepancy

Not many people talk about this, but its definitely something that can contribute to clinginess. Ive previously explained the concept of mate value. Simply put, its a number out of 10 that indicates your level of attractiveness.

If youre a 5 and have paired up with a 9, youve essentially won a lottery. Youre likely to cling to your partner because you dont want to lose your high mate value partner.

You cling to them so they dont leave. If they leave, you might have to settle for someone at your level.

6. Idealizing your partner

Theres pairing up with a high mate value person. Then theres thinking that your partner is high mate value.

When people enter romantic relationships, they tend to idealize their partners. Its a trick their minds play on them so they can stay in the relationship.

When you idealize your partner, you ascribe more value to them. Since theyre so valuable to you, you feel the need to cling to them just as a child clings to her favorite toy.

7. Different expectations

What feels like clingy behavior to you may seem like harmless affection to your partner. Many people see some degree of clinginess as desirable in their relationships.

This, again, goes back to the relationship template they formed growing up. If their parents were overly affectionate to each other, theyre likely to think thats how relationships are supposed to be.

Meanwhile, you have your own template of how an intimate relationship should be. In your template, being overly affectionate may not be cute but suffocating.

9. Suspected infidelity

The word clingy sounds so dirty. It has negative connotations. No one wants to be clingy. As with other negative emotions and behaviors, its easy to dismiss it as unacceptable without thinking about its evolutionary purpose.

Clinginess can stem from suspected infidelity. If you suspect your partner is cheating or will cheat on you, youre likely to become clingy. In this case, your clinginess prevents your partner from cheating or probing other potential partners.²

By being clingy, you force your partner to spend all their time with you, so they dont get a chance to cheat. You monitor their life to scan for potential threats to your relationship.

If you suspect your partner is cheating on you, this hyper-monitoring can help you gather incriminating evidence against them. It can also warn your partner that theyre being watched, which makes them less likely to stray.

Of course, a better way to deal with your suspicions would be to talk it out with your partner because its a tricky situation to be in.

• If theyre cheating, your clinginess is doing its job to protect your relationship and your interests. You can catch your partner, call them out and cut your losses.
• If theyre not cheating, your clinginess is a false alarm. There are downsides to these false alarms. They make your suffocated partner think you dont trust them, straining your relationship.

Your mind cares too much about you and protecting you from cheating. Remember that reproduction is a top priority for the mind. Losing a partner means losing a reproductive opportunity.

Your fast-thinking, in-the-moment, and mostly irrational mind hardly stops to think about the long-term consequences of acting on these false alarms. Consequences such as straining the relationship and, ironically, breaking it and losing a reproductive opportunity.

FAQ

Why am I so clingy to my friends?

Youre probably deriving too much of your self-worth from your friends. Its the same reason why students cling to their most popular classmates or want to join the coolest group in class.

Why am I so clingy all of a sudden?

Your sense of security in a relationship keeps fluctuating. But in a healthy relationship, it doesnt fluctuate much. If theres a sudden mate value discrepancy (your partner gets promoted) or you find yourself in a weaker position needing your partner more (getting pregnant), you can become clingy.

How do I stop being so clingy?

The most important thing is to have a life of your own outside of your relationship. Having a career, hobbies, and interests allows you to diversify your self-worth sources and not over-identify with your partner. If your clinginess stems from insecurity, its best to talk it out with your partner.

References

1. Simpson, J. A., & Rholes, W. S. (2017). Adult attachment, stress, and romantic relationships.Current opinion in psychology,13, 19-24.
2. Apostolou, M., & Wang, Y. (2021). What makes it difficult to keep an intimate relationship: Evidence from Greece and China.Evolutionary Psychology,19(1), 1474704920987807.