# Humping dogs



## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

Ok so i have to ask this question as basicaly I have no idea what I have just been witnessing and whether I should have stepped in to stop it. Anyhow:

So I had a friends 2 1/2 yo black lab visiting this morning, and the two girls played like young dogs do. I had left them in the garden to do what dogs do and sat and watched what was going on.

Other than the obvious problem with not clearing up the few bones that are scattered over my garden (mostly partially buried) they got on I think great. 

As time wore on, the lab was trying to hump my rotti. My understanding is that there is some dominance (really don't like that word) thing going on here. Well becka's reaction was to completely ignore this and go on chewing her squeaky bone or whatever or just carry on walking about.


Now I am confused as to what this behaviour is all about, and what the normal reaction to it would be?

Just interested in the behaviour and on whether I should have done anything about it.

Thought I would add a pic to show they are fine together


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

You handled it correctly. I believe sometimes humping is merely an invitation to play (kind of like a little brother acting super annoying until you give him some attention). If your dog is well socialized, you can rely on her decision to correct or not.


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## Love my lab (Dec 9, 2010)

I have read its dominance too. When we got our pup last year our beagle( God rest her soul) mounted her all the time and I pretty much ignored it, but Kota(beagle) kept it up and little reahven was thinking it was an invite to play because usually the beagle could care less of this bundle of black energy thing we dared to bring home..lol..I however think Kota was letting the pup know she was in charge. That being said Reahven grew and the mounting stopped. haha. So I think it is just something dogs do and if one dog chooses to ignore it in hopes of the other dog backing off that is fine or if the dog finally has enough it will let the other dog know to back off that is fine too. Either way, looks like they get along great and you did what I would have done.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Humping is not an invitation to play most of the time. While dominance theory has been thrown out, dominance itself still plays a huge role in dog on dog interaction. Typically humping is done as a show of dominance either from high status dogs or conflicted dogs who don't know where they stand in the "pack."

From your description, the lab is unsure about what her status is with Becka. Which is why she was humping her. The fact that Becka simply ignored her behavior tells me that she is very sure of her position, because if she felt her position was compromised by the humping then she would have reacted, either submitting or by challenging (which doesn't necessarily mean that she would attack or anything, she would just counter the other dog). 

I don't allow humping at all in my house. From my experience and what I have learned from dog behavior is that it is considered "rude" in the dog world. Plus you never know when two conflicted dogs will meet, hump and then react in a not so ideal way. I would suggest just going up to them and without a word body block the behavior by "splitting" and walk away. Splitting is a calming signal that most dogs use to calm the situation down between two other dogs. I'm not saying that the situation between these two dogs is so terrible that it needs to settle down, it's just that the hunting behavior shouldn't become habit. 

I


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## Celt (Dec 27, 2010)

Not that I have any training or vast experience but from my observations, there are 3 "types" of humping. One seems to be a come play with me or I'll annoy you til you do. It usually has a happy waggy tail, doggy grin and most of the time is preceded by a play bow or other come play signal.This one can start a game, get ignored, or if "annoying" enough get a set down or worse. The second is more a hierachy thing. This one is the kind that can start a fight rather quickly. It usually starts with the dogs approaching in a "stiff" manner, all puffed up, tail arched and sometimes doing a jerky wag, ears pitched forward and an "intense" stare, usually there's not much actual humping movement at first, more of a grab and clinch thing. The last one is an "oversexed" dog just trying to have fun :0) and generally it starts with typical "flirtations" and lots of "frantic" humping movement. All of these types can start a fight depending on the humpy's personality/willingness to put up with it. I agree with DameMama that it is best to try and stop this behavior because you never know how the dgos' will react.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I have a question! The last rescue that we took in over a year ago and is completely attached to my husband and he to her tries to hump his leg at least twice a week. We stop it immediately, but is this a " I want attention thing, or dominance thing"


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Is there a common context to when she tries to hump him? Sounds to me like an attention seeking behavior at first thought. Has this behavior increased, decreased or stayed the same over the past year? 

Does this dog hump other dogs at all? If so what's the context? 

Celt is right about there being different types of humping, but all of them are technically inappropriate. Even the "let's play" hump scenario is rude because there are much more polite ways to engage in play with other dogs.


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

Interesting responses. 

I am glad that there have been observed different types of humping. I do not think that this is a case of dominance. I do think the most likely cause is attention seeking / trying to play.

The humping occurs from all angles, front, side, back, diagonally etc. but only happens when they have been quiet for a while. Also according to the owners son she will also hump adults in the garden and house. He has been putting it down to dominant behaviour but I will have to ask him what and how they play with her and what she does to say "hay want to play"

My other reason for not believing it is dominance related is my Becka on more than one occasion pinned tala (the lab) down on her back, again I think in play as it was all with tails wagging and no noise and tala came back for more, I reckon if she was a dominant dog she would not have accepted this. 

Again I might be wrong so feel free to correct me :-O.

If she where my dog I would stamp it out, but in this case I would literally have had to spend all morning with them in the garden trying to stop the behaviour. Once I had seen how they played and that neither was going to eat each other I kind of let it go. Maybe if I get her for longer I will work with her, but how much use it will be ????? if she goes home and back to her normal life of humping the humans!


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

It doesn't sound like Tala is a "top" dog but one who is conflicted in her position. If she's really humping most people and dogs she comes in contact with, I would say that she is struggling to find her spot in life's order. I would also tell her owners that it's really something they should discourage at all costs. What happens when she humps the wrong dog?


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

I don't think this is _necessarily_ something that needs to be stopped at all cost. Well socialized dogs know how to deal a dog that humps as an invitation to play: they may correct it, but often they ignore the offending dog. It's not a big deal.

On the other hand, if the lab does this all the time, to lots of different dogs, AND the owners often take it to a dog park or other areas where it's interacting with unknown dogs, then I'd think about curbing the behavior. But as long as the lab is around well socialized dogs, I'd ignore it.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

We don't allow humping either. It may be dominance, conflicting behaviors, play, etc. It can all lead another dog to react aggressively and I avoid that religiously. Also dogs that think humping is ok may try it with the wrong dog at a dog park or somthing and really get in trouble.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

SpooOwner said:


> I don't think this is _necessarily_ something that needs to be stopped at all cost. Well socialized dogs know how to deal a dog that humps as an invitation to play: they may correct it, but often they ignore the offending dog. It's not a big deal.


Not all dogs in the world are well socialized though. Even harmless humping to entice playing with the wrong dog can cause a fight. I prefer to discourage these behaviors that are rude and reinforce those that aren't. 



> On the other hand, if the lab does this all the time, to lots of different dogs, AND the owners often take it to a dog park or other areas where it's interacting with unknown dogs, then I'd think about curbing the behavior. But as long as the lab is around well socialized dogs, I'd ignore it.


Unfortunately I disagree. The fact that this dog is already humping it's owners is enough to tell me to discourage this behavior every time because it's a behavioral problem.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

DaneMama said:


> Unfortunately I disagree. The fact that this dog is already humping it's owners is enough to tell me to discourage this behavior every time because it's a behavioral problem.


I think you confused two different posts. WhiteLeo has a dog which humps her husband, but the OP saw a friend's dog hump her dog. My responses are to the OP.



DaneMama said:


> Not all dogs in the world are well socialized though. Even harmless humping to entice playing with the wrong dog can cause a fight. I prefer to discourage these behaviors that are rude and reinforce those that aren't.


I don't think we're saying wildly different things. If my dog was the one humping as a play invitation, then yes, I'd actively take steps to fix it. But in this case, the lab is a friend's dog, and the OP's dog handled it fine.

My dog, Mia, has a friend, Copper, who sometimes humps to get Mia's attention. I've never seen Copper do this to any other dog, and I trust Mia to handle the situation. Usually she ignores Copper, but sometimes Mia corrects her . The other owner and I agree to let Mia correct Copper and not intervene.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

my pug humps malia. she is the only dog he humps and the occurrence is two situations...one is going into the crate for when we leave and the other is occasionally, he will hump her when we get ready for bed....she lets him know that he should not do that, so we let her handle it. they live with each other and know each other....so they have their language down pat, i believe...and bubba, yes, is a conflicted dog....his first two years were two years of abuse....there's only so much rehabbing that can be accomplished, i believe.

on the other hand, i would never ever ever allow any of my dogs to hump another dog or another person...as you say, nat, it's rude and there can be so many reasons that are not positive...that, since i'm not a dog behaviouralist...i won't know the why of it, just that it should not be....


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

SpooOwner said:


> I think you confused two different posts. WhiteLeo has a dog which humps her husband, but the OP saw a friend's dog hump her dog. My responses are to the OP.


I took from the OP's second post that this dog was also humping people, but now that I read it again, I'm not sure if that is the case lol. Either way, I see humping other than to produce puppies as a behavior issue...not a serious one but one nonetheless. Dogs that initiate play with humping never had proper guidance as to what is an appropriate way to start play. I personally have stopped allowing my dogs to hump each other even in play and I have noticed a decline in spats...


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## monkeys23 (Dec 8, 2010)

I do not allow it. At all.

I see it most often as just flat out rude behavior and 9 times out of 10 if I weren't there to stop it you can bet it would end ugly by the dog being humped having had enough.

Scout had extremely rude dog body language when she first came here: humping, pushy, just generally awful. As a result all the other dogs had extremely low tolerance levels for her. Since she's been living with me the past year (six months before that she was with my friend, so she was with the "pack" but not under my care), she is very slowly getting better. Part of this is me and my zero tolerance for any rude crap and part of it is that Lily is very patient with teaching proper doggie ettiquette. I still would never ever leave them alone together because they are GSD mix girls and I would just be stupid to do that, but they do very well together on the whole. I believe Scout's rude body language was a compound result of her early life (first 3 months) in a hoarding situation and the band aid fixes her first adopter had for her messed up dog dependancy from that not so great start instead of working on real socialization and training. She meant well, but boy it was not a good choice for Scout's puppyhood!

I will say, I've noticed that a lot of not so wonderfully bred labs just have zero stopping point with rude behavior. I've noticed a lot of pushy rude, no boundaries behavior in the shelter labs I've worked with. Many times they just would not stop with other dogs even though the other dogs politely gave indication that they wanted them too.

I knew someone who had a rescue girl for a while that was really awful with the other dogs like that, just would not stop and had no boundaries to her "play". When she first got her she was 9 months so she had puppy license with Lily. Bless Lily's heart... she was patient with trying to gently teach that stupid dog for over a year. She was finally just done and decided that dumb dog just needed to die, so obviously they could no longer be together. That dog went to the shelter and was pts for trying to bite the toddlers in that house. She was a screwed up badly bred dog that I believe had crap temperament... I believe that coupled with being pulled from her mom/littermates too early and being passed from home to home as a failed hunting prospect (her genetics were crap, no way she'd have been a hunter.... she just didn't have the drive at all) before landing in a responsible pet home created her horrible dog on dog social skills. Her problems with people didn't start until she was physically mature and I believe that was a genetic issue because she was well socialized and managed in her final home.

Long story short: polite dog on dog body language needs to be learned from other dogs that can properly teach it at a young age. Early life is important.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

good info on this, Tobi does hump generally it's when he's getting tired after playing with another dog, i nip it though as i don't want his pink thing getting stuck out anymore... *not fun getting it un-stuck*

I have another thing that happens kinda like Robins story, If i have my foot hanging off the couch he'll walk over the top of it, bump by it with his chest, and straddle my foot, and then just rest is "little Tobi" on my foot for 5-10 min.... It's really odd... I pull my foot away, he goes back about his business, if i put my foot back out hanging off the couch he does the same thing, and very seldom it turns into him humping my foot.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Tobi- I would say that when he does that grasping thing of your foot, gently and silently lead him out of the room and then block his re entry. Soon enough he will get the picture of "when I hump my owner I get sent out of the room" and stop doing it. You have to be consistent though, do it every time it happens.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

DaneMama said:


> Tobi- I would say that when he does that grasping thing of your foot, gently and silently lead him out of the room and then block his re entry. Soon enough he will get the picture of "when I hump my owner I get sent out of the room" and stop doing it. You have to be consistent though, do it every time it happens.


well it's not really grasping... it's like.. my foot hangs off the couch in just the right height so that it will rest on his belly if he's standing over it... and he just rests his weeny there... my gf thinks it's hilarious, but i'll try walking out and stuff every time, i've mostly just opted not to hang my foot off the couch and it doesn't happen it's just so wierd!! :lol:


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

Thanks for all the info.

First off I will clarify that yes this lab humps humans (I said mum, in my second post but having reread it, it could have been the dogs mum or my mates mum.... ). 

I had a long talk with my mate about the behaviour and pointed out ways in which to curb it, especially with other humans. I also hammered home that if you can not control it then you need to be careful - really careful about mixing her with other dogs.

Unfortunately this is a dog with papers (no lets not start on that old nugget of pointlessness) and he believes she is well bred. I to be honest don't have a clue but I am of the opinion she is seriously undersized which would indicate - not top notch breeding. 

The poor little girl does have a nice temperament but was taken from the litter at 7 weeks (which is normal here) and has only got to play off the lead with my pup. In total there has been 4 occasions (yes in 2 1/2 years). Her owners are also quite old and have never really played with her, except for fetch and I think part of it is definitely attention seeking as she will get a rise out of all humans she does this too. 

I also pointed out that at the moment my girl is young, and there is no guarantee that she will continue to tolerate the behaviour as she matures :-(. 

I hope he listened and that they work with her, but once again I imagine it will be a poor lab that is confined to the yard and retractable leads......


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## Celt (Dec 27, 2010)

imo, humping is a behavior that should not be allowed. I agree it is a very rude behavior. It would be like a person poking another person for attention or a "bully" bumping someone or that creepy person who keeps touching you while "flirting", not a socially acceptable behavior no matter what species. And while some dogs may be "nice" enough to put up with it, there are way too many that wouldn't. Even a dog who usually just tolerates the behavior may "snap" one day, and then someone might get hurt.


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## bernadettelevis (Feb 2, 2011)

i also wouldn't allow it! Fortunately my dog has never humed anyone or anything before.

But sometime ago, we were at the off leash area and there was this ridgeback. He is 9 months old and huge. He ran over to Levis and started humping him. Levis told him 3 times that he didn't like it and i asked the owner that he could please take his dog. Then after another 2 times, Levis snapped at him and got his lip. It wasn't bad at all, but the owner went to the vet and wantes me to pay for it. I told him that i am not going to payfor it and there were enough witnesses who saw the whole thing.

Well, i had to talk to my insurance because he insisted that i would pay for it, but the insurance also said that they are not going to pay for that. So something like this really sucks, and it wasn't even Levis fault, we tried to walk away i blocked the other dog, but he came back everytime...well he really deserved it. Now he's scared of Levis and wont go near him!

I don't know if this is true, but i've heard that if a dog is humped, it is very bad for their hips, especially for young dogs!


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

We don't allow it in our house, but then again, none of them do it. Shade tried it on Rocky when he first arrived here and we stopped it and he's never done it since. The two of them get along so well that neither one of them is dominant over the other.

HOWEVER, I took Rocky over for a playdate with my neighbors male lab mix. Rocky is usually a very submissive guy. As soon as Rocky entered the yard, this dog started frantically attacking Rocky and humping him like crazy. It totally freaked Rocky out and for the first time in his life, he actually backed off and growled threateningly at the dog. Unfortunately the crazy humper didn't get the drift and tried to keep on humping and Rocky started really growling and backing up so we took him home. If we hadn't removed him, I'm not sure what Rocky would have done and I sure wouldn't have wanted him to get in his first fight ever. 

So, some dogs do NOT like to be humped and I agree with Nat......put a stop to it before it becomes an issue.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

DaneMama said:


> Is there a common context to when she tries to hump him? Sounds to me like an attention seeking behavior at first thought. Has this behavior increased, decreased or stayed the same over the past year?
> 
> Does this dog hump other dogs at all? If so what's the context?
> 
> Celt is right about there being different types of humping, but all of them are technically inappropriate. Even the "let's play" hump scenario is rude because there are much more polite ways to engage in play with other dogs.


The humping always happens when I'm sitting on the couch with the other two dogs, one on each side of me. DH is sitting in a recliner and he tries to get her to come sit with him but she always looks to the 3 of us on the couch and starts to bark, at some point in there she will start to hump my husbands leg, we immediately stop the behavior and then she doesn't do it again. I often feel guilty as I think she wants to be included on the couch but there is no room and the two females have had some nasty run ins. It is interesting that they always happen when I am around and not my DH.
I would say that I am the stronger personality in the house and do the disciplining of the dogs.


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

This is very interesting reading. My inlaws 10 year old male unneutered border collie tries to hump my neutered 5 year old male greyhound most times they meet, my boy will growl at him and he backs off but it doesn't stop him trying it again. We also tell him to stop. My dog doesn't seem too bothered by it and we hope as they meet more it will diminish (we've only had our dog 4 months). Not sure whether border collie is just always horny or he's trying to play/dominate as he's actually quite a submissive dog.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

whiteleo said:


> The humping always happens when I'm sitting on the couch with the other two dogs, one on each side of me. DH is sitting in a recliner and he tries to get her to come sit with him but she always looks to the 3 of us on the couch and starts to bark, at some point in there she will start to hump my husbands leg, we immediately stop the behavior and then she doesn't do it again. I often feel guilty as I think she wants to be included on the couch but there is no room and the two females have had some nasty run ins. It is interesting that they always happen when I am around and not my DH.
> I would say that I am the stronger personality in the house and do the disciplining of the dogs.


What do you do to stop the behavior?


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Just have to tell her to stop and remove her from his leg! I haven't tried putting her in the kennel for the behavior.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Do you say anything to her while doing it?


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Yes, we say Kenzie Stop! then remove her from his leg, that seems to stop the behavior and it doesn't happen all the time. We were all in the T.V. room last night watching a movie and she didn't do it. It happens sometimes twice in a week then it won't happen for a month. She does not hump the other dogs.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

Do you use "uh-oh"? It's a good command to keep you from getting angry when your dog misbehaves and also stop the behaviour. I use it when Mia counter-surfs, chews something she shouldn't, digs in the garden, etc. I just say "uh-oh," and Mia goes to her crate for a short time-out.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I remember using those words when Cayenne was a puppy, I hadn't really thought about using words like that since she is way past puppy stage at almost 4 yrs. old but it definitely is a good word to try.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

whiteleo said:


> I remember using those words when Cayenne was a puppy, I hadn't really thought about using words like that since she is way past puppy stage at almost 4 yrs. old but it definitely is a good word to try.


I find it keeps me from getting too angry, no matter she's done. It's hard to say "uh-oh" in an angry, mean voice  A friend has a dog who barks a lot (they live in a forest, so there's lots to bark at), and she's had good success with "uh-oh", too.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

SpooOwner said:


> I find it keeps me from getting too angry, no matter she's done. It's hard to say "uh-oh" in an angry, mean voice  A friend has a dog who barks a lot (they live in a forest, so there's lots to bark at), and she's had good success with "uh-oh", too.


that's true....very true. i'm going to use that. because bubba's feelings get hurt....he's very sensitive to tone of voice....and i don't want him shutting down....uh-oh should be just right.

thanks.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I don't think we yell at her to stop! Nothing funnier than to see a B.T. in front of you with their ears back heading for the kennel as they are "sulking" They do get emotional, there is a reason they are called "4 yr olds in dog suits"


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

whiteleo said:


> there is a reason they are called "4 yr olds in dog suits"


I LOVE it! Totally stealing it!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

SpooOwner said:


> I LOVE it! Totally stealing it!


oh definitely....my widdle boy pug - exactly that.....four year olds in suits. that is priceless.


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## lucky (Jan 8, 2011)

whiteleo said:


> I don't think we yell at her to stop! Nothing funnier than to see a B.T. in front of you with their ears back heading for the kennel as they are "sulking" They do get emotional, there is a reason they are called "4 yr olds in dog suits"


lucky does the whole ears back sulk scene very well too, here is a photo of her when she's in mid sulk :tongue:


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

lucky said:


> lucky does the whole ears back sulk scene very well too, here is a photo of her when she's in mid sulk :tongue:


what IS she doing with her mouth? looks like she's actually pouting LOL


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## lucky (Jan 8, 2011)

magicre said:


> what IS she doing with her mouth? looks like she's actually pouting LOL


Thats just part of her sulk face lol


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

whiteleo said:


> I don't think we yell at her to stop! Nothing funnier than to see a B.T. in front of you with their ears back heading for the kennel as they are "sulking" They do get emotional, there is a reason they are called "4 yr olds in dog suits"


lol

Tobi pouts every once in a while and he's immediately out of trouble, it's horribly sad because he can manipulate me like that... It's weird too because those ears are about the most expressive part of them when they aren't pouting otherwise it's hard to read them!!


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

Forgive me if I've actually missed the answer to this somewhere in this thread, but what do you actually DO if your dog is trying to hump another (or vice versa)? Zio tried to do this to a friend's male shepherd/lab mix (who is bigger than him, btw) and we just dragged him away by the the collar with a stern "no". 

How do you react/stop the behaviour?

Thanks,


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

This humping problem is so common at least for me it is! My male ori/pei breed will do this to the female chocolate lab and I hope I am correct, I spray him with a watering sprayer for flowers you know just the spray thing for watering your plants not the hose that little sprayer and he immediately stops. I think this is correct to do. But then my chocolate lab female does this to certain toys well like only sounds strange large toys . We have this dinosaur stuffed toy that is from petco its one that's indestructible (well its in tact still here) and she will hump this and also blankets only if someone like wraps a comforter or just a throw, she humps it UGH! But the spray bottle seems to work.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

SubMariner said:


> Forgive me if I've actually missed the answer to this somewhere in this thread, but what do you actually DO if your dog is trying to hump another (or vice versa)? Zio tried to do this to a friend's male shepherd/lab mix (who is bigger than him, btw) and we just dragged him away by the the collar with a stern "no".
> 
> How do you react/stop the behaviour?
> 
> Thanks,


I do basically the same thing but I use my body to block the behavior by splitting since dogs understand body blocking as their own communication. There's no need for a verbal "no" if you use an appropriate body block since the block itself means "no" in the language of dogs :thumb:


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