To not want the dog humping my 7 year old?

[onmybroomstick]

The last few days the dog has took to humping 7 year old at every given opportunity. He's always been her favourite but the last few days it's gone to another level. She's never done this before. She just won't leave him alone, constantly licking him and everytime he stays still does the humping start. He finds it hilarious and thinks she just loves him and wants to cuddle him, doesn't really get why I keep telling her to stop. Why is she suddenly doing this!

On heat? (Whatever the male equivalent of that is!)

Is he spayed/neutered? If not, that may be something you could consider!

This is a dominance thing and nothing to do with ‘being in heat’ or sex.
It’s actually quite dangerous because the dog thinks that it is above the child in the pack pecking order.
Watch the dog carefully from now on.
I would get rid of it personally, though I’m sure that the doggy nuts will disagree.

Dominance theory has been widely discredited, it's nothing to do with packs or leadership.

I take it the dog is female? Is she spayed? How old is she.

Unfortunately dogs often see laughter as praise, so your son finding it funny is almost certainly reinforcing the behaviour. He needs to cross his arms and turn his back. Give a firm "ah-ah" and ask for an alternative behaviour, like sit or down.

Also, has anything changed recently that more have caused stress to your dog? Humping is a classic stress behaviour.

Definitely discourage. Explain to ds that it's not acceptable behaviour for a dog and he's to let you stop her and not encourage by laughing or anything.

7 is old enough to understand that certain situations are not what they seem.

Why it's suddenly changed could be any number of things, hormonal, diet, age?

Dominance theory is complete bullshit. Dogs do this for many reasons such as excitement, stress, anxiety as well as just plain feeling horny. It is behaviour which should be discouraged. Try to work out why first, to see how the situation can be effectively diffused. It may be that distraction in the form of play or a walk is all that's needed, but it could be a sign of deeper stress. So you need to look at what may be causing it.

Our female dog also started doing this when our son got to a certain size, and we were advised that it was to do with her wanting to dominate him. This was a few years ago now but as I recall we had to do a few exercises involving him with the dog to show her that he was above her in the pecking order that including such things as him eating in front of her then feeding her something, it's all a bit vague as it was years ago (check out some dog behaviour websites) anyway with those things and him doing the turning away from her with arms folded etc she did stop doing it, and she never hurt him at all so I can't figure out people telling you to get rid of the dog! Shouldn't be necessary if you follow some steps to stop the behaviour.

I second that the dominance theory is outdated and dangerous to practice.

There's reasons for humping. sometimes it's sexual, some times it's play, sometimes it's frustration and sometimes it's excitement. My female dog gets over excited about one fluffy blanket and will hump that, but take it away and the behaviour stops.

Laughing and standing there is accepting and encouraging it. If a dog is humped and doesnt like it they will quickly growl or bark and move away.

To replicate this, you can firmly and quickly shout "ah ah!" Or "no!" And get your child to quickly walk away.

Alternatively Have a bottle of pennies to shake or a can of compressed air to spray, anything that makes a short sharp noise. (Never ever spray at a dog or continually shake at the dog, they'll learn to fear you, the idea is that it snaps them out of the behaviour, never to punish)

Dominance and pack theory has been debunked.
Could be over excitement? The fact he's laughing etc will turn this into a game.
Join Dog behaviour support and advice on FB and upload a video for expert advice!

Getting rid of a dog because it started humping a few days ago would be a ridiculous overreaction.

In my experience, dogs can take sudden odd notions about things. I´s try to keep the dog apart for a few days and see if the dog has forgotten about whatever it is thinking about right now. If the dog keeps it up, I suggest your son learns how to command the dog to stop, as mentioned above.

My dog does it to me when coming into heat. My sons only three and she's never done it to him. X

All of the posters saying that the dominance theory in relation to this has long been discredited. It is irresponsible and unhelpful to refer to it as credible and gave dramatic advice on that basis.

Just to clarify-dominance theory is discredited. Quoting it is irresponsible

You get cans of compressed air in pets at home (I'm sure other pet shops sell it) it's red, I can't remember what the proper name for it is. (In our house it's just known as cat in a can) or anything that makes a short, sharp noise as PP have suggested, it breaks a dog's concentration, and they usually stop whatever unwanted behaviour they're displaying. My youngest has started humping cushions and we are trying to work out why, but we've got a spray collar on him for now (it also beeps, he gets that as a warning before the citronella spray)

I think some people just have that animal magnetism, tbh. I always get random dogs humping me Luckily, I love dogs! (But not like that!)

The trouble with using aversive techniques like compressed air / noise is that they can cause stress to the dog. Humping is often exacerbated by stress, so the "treatment" actually makes things worse. Far better to use positive / clicker training.

Watch the dog carefully from now on.
I would get rid of it personally, though I’m sure that the doggy nuts will disagree.

I wonder what the dog has next in its diabolical plan for house domination. It needs to move quickly for sure!

Have a distraction to hand. Lovely treats. A favourite toy. Call her away. Get DS to train her at something. And do a certain amount of ignoring.

My boy gets overexcited and can get humpy walking across the room. He often leaps up and grabs my leg, and I ignore and drag him round as though he's a toddler.

Dominance theory has been widely discredited, it's nothing to do with packs or leadership

This. John Bradshaw's In Defence of Dogs is IMO very good on this.

Dory

Dory has an excellent point, actually. OP you should check the dogs Internet hostory for clues. Who knows what she might be up to!

This is a dominance thing and nothing to do with ‘being in heat’ or sex.
It’s actually quite dangerous because the dog thinks that it is above the child in the pack pecking order.
Watch the dog carefully from now on.
I would get rid of it personally, though I’m sure that the doggy nuts will disagree.

This is absolute bullshit, apart from the last part about the 'doggy nuts' disagreeing. I am a 'doggy nut' but I'm also a vet and have an additional qualification in canine behaviour so am fairly well qualified to say that it is absolute bullshit.

Dogs hump for a variety of reasons - stress, excitement, influence of hormones amongst others. A sudden change in behaviour will have a trigger - although it's not the dog suddenly deciding that it wants to take over the world, one 7 year old at a time. Can you think of anything that may have changed in your dog's environment in the last week or so? With any sudden change, the first port of call should be the vet to get the dog thoroughly checked over. Do not use rattle bottles, air sprays etc. They are aversives and can backfire badly. They suppress behaviours but do not deal with the root cause. After the dog has been vet checked and you've ruled out possible environmental triggers you can use treats or toys to train an alternative behaviour if necessary - the dog cannot sit or lie down and hump at the same time for example. You can get your DS involved in helping with the training too.

It is a dominance thing though

Ruby what evidence do you have for that? Dominance theory used to be widely believed and even some professional behaviourists will still cite it but it has been discredited for about a decade now. You might find this helpful.

I don't believe in theories about dogs

I just know from experience with dogs that humping can be a dominance behavioural issue.

My aunt had to have her dog put down, he had started getting more and more dominant with her (humping included) and one day pinned her down when she challenged him.

Dogs (incl. bitches) sometimes jump other dogs and people they want to dominate.

It's not a theory or a belief, it's what you can see when out and about.

I'd be worried if my dog humped my young child. No need to talk about puttiing diwnthe dog, but yes, a need to stop the behaviour.