years ago i remember seeing a doco by a credible canine specialist (memory out of action right now, name evades me), who after spending many years with wolves studying them, described pawing behaviour as a natural sign of acceptance and affection, he had natural wild wolves doing it to him of their own accord. i have a lovely GSD (short for germ shep) gal who whe cuddling (her sitting) will push against me with her paws on my belly (front on cuddle) or on my shoulder. her claws dig in deep when she does this, i think that is a natural reaction for the paw when extended (pushing into human flesh soft therefore needs to extend) but remember this is all my theory, not proven. dont you just love theories, i have a new one weekly, ahh, the human mind, so beautiful
