My dog is a humper!

devotee

Had my pup for a few months and now he pretty much starts humping anyone's leg who comes into the house - mostly men really but not other dogs! He's only 5.5 months old so is that a normal behaviour for a dog so young? He did start doing that from time to time when he was 3 months old but now it's getting more frequent.
What do I do? Should I get him neutered soon. He's not stopped growing yet so not sure if that has anything to do with it - not had a dog before...
Or is it nothing to do with hormones? Thanks!

suki1964

Its not always to do with hormones - or rather sex hormones, its also a dominance thing. Best way to deal with it is to remove the dog from the leg with a firm No.

You will get a lot of replies saying castration will stop it so go ahead and neuter. I can tell you my dog is neutered and still humps mine and hubbys leg every morning. Castration is not always the answer

If you are considering castration please wait till your pup is full grown - around a year old. This will ensure his muscle tone and bone structure will fully mature

Barneysmom

Keep a spray bottle water by you and give him a squirt every time he does it.

I love the title you gave this thread :cool:

denice37

try spray bottle first but if that doesn't work try a tin with some coins in it, when pup grabs a leg drop it behind him, the fright will stop him. Hopefully!! Good luck lol

devotee

Thanks for all your replies!
Yeah kind of thought that might be the problem as he's not humping other dogs! Need to buy a squirty bottle, been using the big hairdressers one when he barks, so will try and find a smaller one. Does anyone know a good place to find a pocket size squirter?

Lol yeah he is a humper, albeit a very cute one

Raksha

Why do you need to frighten a puppy to stop him doing things? Some of these techniques can also lead to unwanted behaviours, like hiding from strangers....

Far better to teach him to 'find a toy' so he knows what to do when he wants to play - this behaviour is NOT always about dominance (or sexuality) it is often about a dog whose excited and chooses the wrong way of demonstrating it. Like children, all they need is a little guidance towards the right thing to do.

WeirdoMagnet

It's such a shame that people suggest negative, aversive 'training' methods using punishment - water sprays, rattle tins, etc etc.

There much kinder and more effective ways of training dogs - in this case I'd suggest training an alternative behaviour which prevents him humping, like 'sit' (or fetch a toy as Raksha mentions). He can be rewarded for the sit, with a good boy and a small treat, which means he is more likely to 'sit' than 'hump', and the less practice he gets at humping, the less likely he is to do it. Basically, you will make sitting more rewarding for him.

You'll need to be organised to prevent the behaviour in the first place, so, if you're expecting visitors or the doorbell rings, get a lead on him to prevent him humping, then you can reward the sit. NB. You will obviously need to train a reliable sit in ordinary circumstances before you can expect him to do so when excited.

With the barking, ignore him when he barks, but the instant he's quiet, even between barks, reward him. Then you can start to introduce a cue word - 'quiet' or 'shhh'.

HTH,

Georgie

devotee

Don't think the water spray is negative, it just stops him what he's doing. They use them on puppy classes we attend. And the puppy classes also focus on the positive.
Kind of awkward when it happens in the street, no toys then! And he doesn't automatically start humping ppl's legs when he sees them, it takes him a while, so I don't think it's excitement.

Reds-on-Sea

you can get little 100mm squirt bottles in the bath section at sainsbury's. They're with the travel bottles and are about 99p.

foreign_correspondent

I agree that aversive training methods can be problematic here, and whilst they can work, they can also make some dogs more nervous and wary, which can cause other problems, as other posters have said. Have you tried distracting him?

Neutering can reduce the incidence of behaviours which are generally specific to one sex or the other, such as humping/mounting, as well as scent marking and straying, very significantly:

Castration of male dogs results
in a rapid or gradual decline of
indoor urine marking, intermale
aggression, and mounting of
other dogs in approximately 50
to 70 percent of the dogs after
castration. However, roaming to
fi nd a potential mate is reduced in
90 percent of the dogs (Hopkins,
Schubeit, and Hart, 1976)

Link here:http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/AS/AS-562-W.pdf

More general info about neutering and the benefits of doing so here:

What are the advantages of neutering?
Males

• May reduce some sexual-related unwanted behaviour.

• Eliminates the risk of testicular cancer.

• Greatly reduces the risk of problems with the prostate gland.

• Reduces the risk of some anal and perineal tumours.

• Removes the stress of being a male entire dog in a modern society, where he has to share his territory and isn’t allowed to express his normal ‘male’ behaviour.

loads more info here:

http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/information/atozofdogs/n/neutering/

Good luck! A friend of mine used to have a labrador in the family which used to try and hump his little sister, which was pretty unpleasant, so its a good idea to stop this becoming a habit with him!

devotee

Thanks! I think he's still too young for a chop - I'll bring up the behaviour in the pup class. Funny that he never mounted another dog!