# Male Dog Psychology Question?



## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

We don't have dog parks here so Rocky has only met other dogs while out walking on leashes. Of course he has Chelsy to interact with but she is 13 so she doesn't really count! 

Today we had a small play date with a neighbor dog. Jake is a 2 year old labrador/ dobie mix that is incredibly hyperactive. This is the kind of dog the never stops bouncing up and down on the fence, on people, etc. He makes Tigger look like a sloth. The two dogs had met on leashes before and got along just fine. 

Rocky went up to the fence and they sniffed noses and Rocky did a little play bow and wagged his tail and was all excited about going in to play with Jake. As soon as he got in the fenced yard, Jake leaped on top of Rocky and started to hump him.

I realize that this is natural dog park type behavior but it totally freaked Rocky out. He took off and ran around the yard with Jake after him. Jake pounced on him and started humping again and Rocky ran up to the gate and begged to be let out. After about ten minutes we put Rocky in the yard again and the same thing happened. Then my son went in and started throwning a ball for the dogs. This time Rocky asked to go back in and chase the ball. As soon as he went in the fence and ran for the ball, Jake tried to jump on him. This time Rocky puffed up all his hair and stared at Jake and growled. 

Jake was oblivious to this warning and tried to jump on Rocky again and Rocky kept growling at him so we took Rocky out of the fence and on a long walk instead.

Should we have let Rocky keep growling until Jake finally got the hint and stopped the humping? I didn't want it to escalate into anything else and end up with bloody ears. Would they have eventually started playing together? They said that Rocky was the first dog Jake did that to and that he plays with the other neighborhood dogs just fine. I think Rocky projects a submissive air and is just learning how to 'be a man'. 

We have had our female chows get in terrible fights with each other so we have made a point of never letting Rocky get in situations where he would be in a fight. Maybe we have made him too woosy


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

Uno is a humper which is quite embarrasing sometimes, hes been "asserting" his dominance over my neighbors golden for 2 years now, I thought it would go away eventually, but it doesent, so now I carry a squirt bottle with me to remind him to behave. While humping is normal, when it inrferes with play and even offends the owner of the other dog, its time to set some boundaries.


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## JayJayisme (Aug 2, 2009)

Humping is definitely a way for a dog to express dominance.

Jake needs to be calm BEFORE you introduce your dog to him. I don't let my dogs play with others until they are calm. Sometimes that even means making them sit and wait outside the dog park fence until they have calmed down. They get it after awhile and now they automatically calm down before we even get there. Of course, creating this environment will depend on the cooperation of Jake's owner.

It would also really help a lot if Jake's owner would take him for a nice long brisk walk immediately before he is introduced to your dog. He is obviously very high energy, some of it needs to be burned off before he meets your dog. It will be very difficult to control this behavior in a dog like this unless they are given a good, consistent outlet for some of their excessive energy.


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## Guest (Dec 26, 2009)

JayJayisme said:


> Humping is definitely a way for a dog to express dominance.
> 
> Jake needs to be calm BEFORE you introduce your dog to him. I don't let my dogs play with others until they are calm. Sometimes that even means making them sit and wait outside the dog park fence until they have calmed down. They get it after awhile and now they automatically calm down before we even get there. Of course, creating this environment will depend on the cooperation of Jake's owner.
> 
> It would also really help a lot if Jake's owner would take him for a nice long brisk walk immediately before he is introduced to your dog. He is obviously very high energy, some of it needs to be burned off before he meets your dog. It will be very difficult to control this behavior in a dog like this unless they are given a good, consistent outlet for some of their excessive energy.


You sound a lot like Cesar Millan. Are you a fan? You speak of using the exact same approach Cesar uses.


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## Guest (Dec 26, 2009)

Unosmom said:


> Uno is a humper which is quite embarrasing sometimes


And so is my Gunther. What Gunther does at the dog parks is that he must be the first dog to greet every new dog that comes into the park, and the first to hump the new dog. When he starts to hump, I immediately leash him and move him away from the area. Or I distract him with a frisbee or a ball.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks for all the input. Unfortunately "Jakes" owner is an unexperience dog owner and not really sure what to do with this very hyperactive dog. She has asked me how I trained Rocky because he is very calm and will respond to hand signals and sit so quietly next to me while we talk that sometimes I forget he's there. I've mentioned possible obedience schools to her. This is one of those dogs that spends so much time bouncing in the air you can't get it's attention long enough to teach it anything. I think a lot more exercise is definetly what it needs. 

Luckily my son's new boxer mix dog is a great role model for Rocky. He is almost 4 years old and just spent the last two days at our house. Rocky and he got along great, sharing toys, water bowls, beds, and people. There was no humping involved from either one of them!


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## JayJayisme (Aug 2, 2009)

LabbieMama said:


> You sound a lot like Cesar Millan. Are you a fan? You speak of using the exact same approach Cesar uses.


Sorry, no. I can count the number of his shows I've seen on one hand and those were at friends homes and other places since I don't even get the Nat Geo channel at home.

Admittedly, the first time I saw his show I thought to myself, "Hey, someone is finally talking about some of the same things that I have always done with my dogs over the years." But I'm not a fan, don't have any of his books or DVDs, and like I said, I've only seen a few episodes of his show. 

Why, is Cesar Millan controversial or a bad name among dog enthusiasts? I really have no idea what all he does or what is reputation is so I have no idea. Do you disagree with making a dog calm down before introducing it to a social situation? Doesn't seem like rocket science to me. :wink:


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## Guest (Dec 26, 2009)

JayJayisme said:


> Sorry, no. I can count the number of his shows I've seen on one hand and those were at friends homes and other places since I don't even get the Nat Geo channel at home.
> 
> Admittedly, the first time I saw his show I thought to myself, "Hey, someone is finally talking about some of the same things that I have always done with my dogs over the years." But I'm not a fan, don't have any of his books or DVDs, and like I said, I've only seen a few episodes of his show.
> 
> Why, is Cesar Millan controversial or a bad name among dog enthusiasts? I really have no idea what all he does or what is reputation is so I have no idea. Do you disagree with making a dog calm down before introducing it to a social situation? Doesn't seem like rocket science to me. :wink:


I agree with some of Cesar's teachings which promote calm, assertive leadership and making a dog calm before entering into any situation especially a new and exciting situation. The doggie daycare where I send my Gunther every week wants Gunther to be calm before he enters and I agree with that.


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

Gee two of my dogs are humpers ugh! My one $ and 1/2 year old chocolate lab female we call her the dominator and the youngest here of the bunch the male ori~pei! He is two now and is more of a humper than the lab! Funny though we know the lab being female is doing this to show her status in our pack of 4 dogs, and the little guy he humps her when she is being silly like this! UGH! Like a train! Well we do say stop to them and yes we also use the squirt bottle and this is the biggest threat to them of all! They see the bottle and immediatley stop! So it really works well on them! Now they just need to completely stop this nonsense it does get very annoying! So I am a fan of the water squirt bottle! Something so simple yet so powerful! So effective!:wink:


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## Todd (Jan 13, 2010)

first off, let me say i can speak about this issue with experience. arent i lucky:biggrin: my dog is a "humper" (a female by the way lol:biggrin and I have discovered that the best solution to the problem is to merely let the dogs take care of it themselves. humping is all about dominance within a pack, and you need to leave the dogs alone and let them sort out the hierarchy themselves. i have found that if you just let them figure things out unassisted, they soon recognize their roles, and are fine thereafter. 

so in conclusion, id just let them figure things out themselves like a pack would do in the wild. the only way that id intervene, is if one of the dogs seems to getting hurt. 

it was only the first time they played off leash together, so it'll take a few more play dates to set the hierarchy. just be patient. good luck:smile:


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## geisthexe (Jan 19, 2010)

Personally I would have had you both introduce the dog outside of the neighbors yard, you must remember it is Jakes territory and he is going to do his best to prove his dominance over his area. 
If you would have introduced outside the yard it would have been natrual area so the dogs would have sniffed and shown they can be put together. 

I am not understanding why you were not in the yard with the dogs? 
What if the dogs would have gotten into a fight? 
Anyway! 

The next time you both get together a for a play date try taking them for walk together first. Just around the block to give them time to be together w/o so much jumping. Then put them in the yard for play time. It is a great way to help calm and lesson the desire to want the distraction so much. 

Also try doing some basic obedience together in and outside the yard .. it helps you both to work with your dogs and movates for a possitive and good owner.


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