Dog doing odd behaviour

[EnfysHeulenEira]

Hi :) we rescued a border terrier who was dumped on our farm as a literal baby. She was in a box and then a bag was put over it. It's only because DH was feeding the cows and noticed they were all staring at it.

6 months
later and she's a very good dog, she works on our farm killing rats and mice, but she's a lovely little dog and she lives in the house
she's still doing this weird behaviour: she will come in and then when it's bed time she will take a teddy to bed and then hump it vigorously and then she kneads it like cats make biscuits and sucks on it till she falls asleep.

Do I need to stop this behaviour? Or is it just my dog missing her mum?

This is the day DH found her

Ahh she’s lovely, I would think it’s a comfort thing for her & wouldn’t stop her, she may grow out of it but I can’t see it’s causing any harm.

Oh bless her! It's just a comfort thing, sometimes cos they were split too soon from mum, sometimes cos they are neurotic, sometimes just self soothing.

If it helps... I've a 23kg border collie who has a pink unicorn that's as big as him, he drags it round the house. It's his second one cos the first one he sucked to death.

It's a comfort thing, lots of dogs do it to relax. It's totally fine.

My 5yr old (neutered) Newfie does this every single evening as self soothing behaviour. She has her own single duvet (she kept destroying her beds when younger) and that duvet is her sanctuary 😆 She also humps it and suckles on it. It needs frequent washing to keep the doggy smell at bay, and when I hang it over a couple of chairs to dry, she pulls it off as if to say that's MINE! ! Your little BT sounds fantastic and is absolutely gorgeous. I love hearing of a dog doing what it was bred to do. Sounds like she landed in her paws with you 😃

Our last dog was addicted to socks, but only those that had just come off a human's foot, preferably my DH's. The dog would suck them to death, but thankfully never chew them.

My old (female) dog used to hump slippers until the day she died. She was spayed. Never did her any harm.

It works for her, gets her brain calm to go to sleep, doesn't appear to be causing anyone any issues, leave her be.

Some dogs might suck their flanks or over lick a paw, or hump people or have a mad half hour hurtling around before they can settle, and those behaviours can cause issues and are better redirected to something safer/more appropriate.

And some dogs have a weird little ritual like this that does no one any harm - one of mine HAS to bring a small toy to bed, has to do three spins left and push a blanket around for about 2 minutes, and then he can sleep. He's done this for 16 years nearly! He can't see the toy or his bed now, still has to do it!

She almost certainly isn't missing her Mum at this point (she may have earlier on in life which triggered this behaviour, though I've seen toy sucklers who absolutely did not leave Mum too soon and had a trauma-free puppyhood) this is just a soothing, comforting ritual.

Oh she’s beautiful. It sounds like a comfort thing to me. One of mine used to chew things as he fell asleep. It wasn’t great as he chewed things we would have preferred he didn’t but he outgrew it. Lucky puppy that she was left where she was found by a caring family who have given her a loving home.

Bless her. I think she must have left her mum too soon? When I was small,we had a cat that used to knead and try and suckle. The humping thing is I'm guessing she's reaching adolescence.

She may also be about to get her first season. All normal behaviour, our springer sucks teddies, our sprocker only likes stinky socks, and both ‘make biscuits’ and burrow! No humping here but if she’s around 7 months then teenage years and seasons are in your near future, good luck! She’s an absolute cutie pie!

Awww!!

Thank you all for explaining! X

Its a comfort thing. My 7 stone lab ( not overweight, just a huge field / show cross so long legs and a barrel chest ) has a comfort cushion and if really unwell likes to suck my thumb/ clothing.

Awww!