My parent's dog growls at me when I hug him, but he follows all my commands and is very obedient. What do you think of this?

I have a basic question for you, and your response will be so much appreciated. My parents have a White German Shepherd named Zeus.

Since Zeus was 9 weeks old, I have been a part of his life, visiting my parents 3-4 times a week and interacting with Zeus.

Zeus is 6 years old as of this past May.

When he was a puppy, I regularly picked him up, but he never wanted to stay in my arms for long, and would squirm and act restless. I'd end up putting him down sooner than I wanted. Other than that, he was always thrilled to see me when I came over.

At some point when Zeus was full-grown, I'd take to stooping over him, while he was standing, and gently proceeding to hug him around his chest/neck area, but as I proceeded to do so, he'd let out a subtle growl.

My mother has always insisted that this is a "purr" of affection. I'd tell her, "Dogs don't purr. Cats do." I know the sound of a low growl.

In addition to the growl, Zeus's tail would become rigid and horizontal -- though curving up a bit, but always rigid, unmoving. Ironically, this very same dog would obey my every command. He'd come to me at the click of my fingers. I could put a piece of steak on his paw, while he was lying, and make him wait for my command to eat it. He'd get extremely excited when I gave him the signal for playing ball.

To overcome the growling problem, I began giving him a food morsel immediately following every hug I gave him. I'd hug him for about 15 seconds, hear him growl, then follow up with food. It didn't take long for Zeus to associate the hugs with food, so the growling eventually stopped.

I thought the problem was licked until he was at the kennel for nearly a week. Once he returned home, he was growling louder as I simply stooped over and barely embraced him ever so slightly. Once again, I had to retrain him to associate the hugs with something positive (food). The growling problem resurfaces when he comes home from staying at the kennel for several days.

My mother has all along insisted it was a "purr" of affection, though I think she is now convinced it is a growl.

Now get this: My brother moved to town when Zeus was maybe 4 years old, but sees the dog only once a week. The dog goes bananas when my brother comes over, and doesn't seem to know that I exist. My brother plays ball with him but is not as physically affectionate as I am -- I touch the dog more than him or my parents as far as being affectionate and lovey dovey.

I don't know if Zeus would growl if my father stooped over to hug him because my father has never done this. But Zeus has growled about 50 percent of the time my mother has hugged him from overhead.

My brother says he does not growl when HE hugs him. My brother says this is all because Zeus instinctively submits more to males than females, since in the animal kingdom, the male is superior and will not submit to females. I countered this by saying that Zeus obeys my every command without hesitation. My brother then said that kind of submission is on a smaller scale, but something like leaning over close to the dog and hugging him can be perceived as a domination thing, and since Zeus recognizes me as being female, he feels his role as superior is being threatened.

What do you make of all this?

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Ellcee

Thanks for responding. It saddens me that my own dog doesn't want me to hug him; kind of like a parent trying to hug their child, but the child always pulls away. This is distressing, especially since Zeus's coat is so warm and luxurious to the touch. The confusing thing is that he DOES see me as above him in the pack structure (he obeys my every command), yet only for this one particular thing, he dares to growl at me.