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  1. #1
    Senior Dog zd262's Avatar
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    What to do about the humping??

    In the past year or so, Bubba has started to hump other dogs more and more to the extent that it is no longer enjoyable to have him off leash at a park where we might encounter other dogs because he does it so frequently. I'm not sure what has changed that has made him more into this behavior than he used to be (he's about 3.5 now). He loves other dogs and you can tell that most of the time he wants to enter into play, but isn't sure how. But it has just gotten to be such an annoyance. I can tell when he's about to do it and I tell him "leave it" and he listens about 50% of the time (his leave it is generally pretty good, but he's usually pretty over excited when he's about to hump), otherwise I just go take him off the dog. Put him in a sit/down/sit/down and make him stay then I release him to a different direction. Or if he keeps doing it we leave the area. It's sort of sad because I can then distract him with fetch or something in another area, but you can tell that he wishes he could have a fun time with other dogs and sort of watches them enviously. Or am I just putting more human emotion into it then actually exists?

    We very rarely encounter situations where the dog he tries to hump corrects him and the other owner is okay with allowing it to continue while Bubba gets corrected. Also since Bubba is 80 pounds a lot of time Bubba can swiftly get them pinned and they can't get up.

    For the most part we don't encounter tons of other dogs, but occasionally we see them at the park we frequent or the best place to go swimming has other off-leash dogs. And at the place we board him when our regular dog sitter can't watch him he is in the "blue group" instead of in the "green group" with the good players because of his humping.

    Any advice?

    Edited to add: he is neutered
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  2. #2
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    A wild idea - I gave Oban a great big teddy bear when he was 9 weeks old and he started humping laundry lying on the floor. I encouraged him to "get Poppa." He's still intact at 11 years old and has never humped anything but Poppa. Maybe, maybe, directing to a toy would help Bubba? He's much older but, worth a try?
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  3. #3
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    why not go through a round of obedience training with him to enforce you are the boss so he listens 100% instead?

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by JenC View Post
    why not go through a round of obedience training with him to enforce you are the boss so he listens 100% instead?
    Umm that would be a good start, but it might take more than that. Mulder had a UD (advanced Obedience title) and was still a humper his whole life. The problem was he wouldn’t hump while he was in “working” mode, but once he was released to play he would still hump. I could tell him leave it, but then he would, and would start up again a few minutes later ... we never did “cure” him of it. It was like he would either not play (and not hump) or play and hump. He couldn’t figure out how to play without it. He mostly only played with our girls though who had no problems telling him off about it. Sass humps when she is excited too, but only her mother and sister as she is a bit shy around strange dogs.
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
    Sassy (HIT Jamrah's Blonde Ambition, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015

    Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009

    And remembering:

    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
    Mulder (Coventry's I Want To Believe, UD, RN, WC) 5/26/1999 - 4/22/2015

    And our foster Jolie (Windsong's Genuine Risk, CDX) 5/26/1999 - 3/16/2014

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  5. #5
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    Yeah, I don't think it will ever STOP but only 50% listening isn't a good thing. Jed's intact and lives with an intact bitch and when she's in season and I tell him NO he stops. You want that kind of commitment to listening!

  6. #6
    Senior Dog zd262's Avatar
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    Thanks for the suggestions!

    Snowshoe - He never ever humps other than random dogs at the park so I don't know how I would get him to start doing it at the house if I wanted to encourage it? And then if I did I would be afraid of the results haha

    Jen - He really is a pretty good listener, this humping leave it is a hard situation for me to train for because it happens in the highest of excitement situations. But of course we continue to work on obedience every day and will continue to do so! I think the reality might be what Anette said about "It was like he would either not play (and not hump) or play and hump. He couldn’t figure out how to play without it." It makes me sad, but other than that he has a pretty peachy life. And I guess when we board him it's not my problem to deal with haha.

    Annette - Do you feel that Mulder getting correctly told off helped at all? I always felt like if Bubba got proper telling offs from other dogs then he would understand more, but it is very rare in the normal pet dog encounters to find owners who allow that and dogs who do it. Also, Bubba does not discriminate by age, size, or sex, I can't put my finger on what exactly floats his boat haha.
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  7. #7
    Senior Dog
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    Quote Originally Posted by zd262 View Post
    Annette - Do you feel that Mulder getting correctly told off helped at all? I always felt like if Bubba got proper telling offs from other dogs then he would understand more, but it is very rare in the normal pet dog encounters to find owners who allow that and dogs who do it. Also, Bubba does not discriminate by age, size, or sex, I can't put my finger on what exactly floats his boat haha.
    Maybe a little but only with the dogs he lived with who told him off on a regular basis. It certainly didn’t generalize to new dogs, and most of the time, if he was told off, he would immediately back off and play bow as if to say “I was just kidding”! at which point the dog (usually girls) would seem to forgive him. Aww ... this conversation is making me miss the big guy! His last attempt at humping that I remember came at age 15!
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
    Sassy (HIT Jamrah's Blonde Ambition, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015

    Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009

    And remembering:

    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
    Mulder (Coventry's I Want To Believe, UD, RN, WC) 5/26/1999 - 4/22/2015

    And our foster Jolie (Windsong's Genuine Risk, CDX) 5/26/1999 - 3/16/2014

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  8. #8
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    A wilder idea, take a big teddy to the park, rub it on a dog he likes? So it smells like that dog? It's tough but I think owners of dogs he targets might help you. Wilder yet idea, as I say. ??
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    Castilleja's Dubhgall Oban, the Black Stranger of The Little Bay
    Oct. 15, 2007 - June 13, 2021
    Oxtongue Rapids Park. Oct. 2019 Hidden Content

  9. #9
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Some dogs do it because they are over-stimulated (no, not THAT kind of stimulation!). Some dogs bark, some do zoomies, some spin in circles, etc. It's hard to train a dog when they are not 100% there mentally. Even dogs with Utility titles - the highest obedience title you can get - have moments where they cannot listen and how they express that varies from dog to do (stressing up, stressing down...). Or maybe your dog has learned that humping sparks attention from the other dog, so the humping is actually being reinforced. The more reinforcement the dog has received, the more they will do it because it works.

    I would suggest calming protocols and not allowing him to play until he's below threshold. You can try to do tricks and little obedience exercises to get the right part of his brain working before setting him loose. In most dogs, it's obvious when they get into hump zone, so BEFORE he's in that place, redirect and send him back when he's using his brain again. For this, have him leashed and do a lot of practicing leave its. Don't jerk him, just use the leash to guide him as you lure him away with a tasty treat under his nose. And, the key is, not allowing him to play when he's in that mental space.

 



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