Why does my dog hump other dogs?

[PennyForTheGuy]

It's very embarrasing. He's a Golden Retriever, 2 and a half, castrated. He humps other dogs he meets out on walks, and our other dog, a spayed Labrador bitch. He doesn't do it in the house, or to objects or people. Only when he's out, this includes playing in the garden with our other dog. I've just put it down to excitement, and perhaps dominance. Anyone else had similar with their dog? Any tips on correcting it? I'm finding that shouting "stop that you dirty bugger" at him isn't proving very effective.

my birch used to do it with other dogs,usually other bitches.It was a dominance/ excited thing .She also used to hump me when I paid attention to other dogs which was really embarassing,must have been a jealousy thing.She's 12 now and doesn't hump anything now ,poor old girl.
Don't have an answer other than distraction like using a toy or something.

Oh God, he doesn't hump me!! Probably doesn't fancy me enough! I can imagine how embarrassing that was! yeah, I think it's dominance/excitement. Wish he'd pack it in tho.

As long as the other dogs don't object, what's the problem?

I used to have a fairly "humpy" dog, and he was castrated, so he wasn't causing any problems, and he never seemed to get other dogs angry by doing it, so I would just leave him to it ...

We used to have a rabbit which would try and hump the dog..... Now that was quite funny to watch!

Re the dog's behaviour, I don't think there's a lot you can do although I'm sure animal behaviourists would have some suggestions. Are there any animal trainers you could talk to if it bothers you that much?

Good luck!

We had a rabbit that humped the guinea pig.

Back to the dog. No, most dogs he humps don't object. I actually wish he'd get a good couple of snaps as he might then stop doing it. It's just that I find it really embarrasing. He often does it when I've stopped to have a conversation with another dog owner. There you are, talking about the weather, and out of the corner of your eye you can see him firing away on all cylinders. Not literally, as I mentioned in my first post, he's had his pockets picked. I find it bothers the owners more than their dogs.

I've been told it's a dominance thing too. Our bitch does it to my younger ds a lot but to noone else. It's always at times when they are playing together on the floor and she's excited. I'm sure she thinks ds is a litter-mate and the rest of the family are the big pack leaders who deserve a bit more respect!

he does it because he is a dog with animal insticts surely-dont mean to sound flippant

A water-pistol? Give him a quick squirt - or the "keep him on a lead, walk him past other dogs, say "NO", give him treat when he doesn't hump" thingy

Yeah, I'd feel a bit bad keeping him on a lead though, as my other dog doesn't need to be on a lead, and I'd feel mean letting her off and not him. They do so love to romp and play. I have thought about carrying a choke chain, and throwing it at him, not enough to hurt him, just to clip him, and perhaps give him a bit of a shock. This was recommended to me by a dog trainer whose methods I'd always shunned as being a bit harsh. It might also work when my dog is rolling, which he does a lot too. He rolls in wet grass, mud, fox shit (although fortunately he doesn't find enough of this to do it too often) he also rolls on objects on the ground. Being a Golden Retriever and light coloured and long haired, he gets bloody filthy and it's so annoying. This trainer also recommended a choke chain to stop the dogs pulling. I'd never liked them, but have recently started using them and they are pulling less.

It sounds like excitement or misdirected play to me - my two bitches do it to each other when playing.

Personally I would avoid choke chains for pulling problems as they can cause long-term damage, and there are much more effective ways. Your trainer's methods have been superceded by kinder ones.

Have you tried clicker training? My approach would be to try to replace the unwanted behaviour (mounting) with an alternative one (say, a playbow instead). Chucking a chain at your dog risks him associating the punishment with the other dog and potentially causing aggression towards it, as well as generally making him nervous over time.

With the lead pulling, if you don't have time to train a good heel (and it can take a while if it's an ingrained habit) you could try one of the non-pull harnesses like the Walkezee which doesn't rub under the dog's 'armpits'.

I really recommend this book for help with your dog's 'issues'. It also explains why the methods of the dog trainer you met are not the most effective answer and can have unwanted side effects too.

Just seen your post, 2labs. Thanks for that. Might rethink the choke chains. Are the walkeeze (I know I haven't spelt that right!) easily bought? i.e. most large pet stores?

Hey, just looked at the book link. Are you suggesting I'm a complete idiot?!

Have just ordered the book, and the suggested accompanying read 'How dogs learn' which should be interesting. I will bill you shortly. Only kidding! I hope they help, I do love my dogs, but get frustrated with their antics at times.

Well I must be a complete idiot too as I've got the book . I haven't seen the Walkezee in shops - but you can get it from here .

Alternatively the Kumfi Stop Pull is in petshops and also quite good, though the padding on the straps can slip so if the dog uses it for long periods you need to check it's not rubbing and adjust it. The only harnesses I'd really avoid are the ones with thin or unpadded straps. To be honest different dogs seem to respond better to different harnesses so it might be a matter of trial and error. I know lots of people find Halti headcollars good but personally I'm not a fan as I always think it affects the dog's body language.

One more link for doggy questions... \link{http://ccgi.doglistener.co.uk/cgi-bin/DGLforum/YaBB.pl\this

Good luck with the pooches.

oops, fluffed the second link - here

Marvellous . Being shown up by your dog.

He shows me up all the time, although he's not as bad as I think. Was talking to another dog owner the other day, and not only did her dog hump their other dog, he also humped their visitors! LOL!! At least my guy doesn't do that!

Mind you, most of the visitors I get would probably enjoy it!!

you call your dog your guy?

Amongst other things. Is it really so weird??

I take it you don't have one. A dog, that is.

Ahhh, so if I had one I'd be in love with it and call it my guy, is that what you're insinuating?

I do not have a dog. I have a cat and I am in love with her. Maybe she could be my little gal.

Go for it. Wonders... If you're not a doggy owner, why the name 'Pointydog'?? Shouldn't it be 'Pointycat'? By the way, I have a cat too, so am not anti-cat or anything.

Just a thought but did you ever think about training your dog? If you took it to training school to start with, and taught it to obey you and actually listen to your commands, like sit and leave etc, you wouldn't have inappropriate behaviour now, cos when you told him to LEAVE IT!!!! he'd just do it. Does make it so much more difficult when not only has he learnt the bad behaviour, but he's learnt to continuously get away with it cos you can't teach him otherwise.

Cos hes a man and will try to shag anything that stands still for it!!!
Have you tried squirting water at him?

Message withdrawn

Mellowma - LOL (sorry)
omgtherestwo - I'm with you on that! He's not bothered by the water!

Now,Dawnybabe, WTF?? I don't like the tone of your post. Who's to say I haven't trained him or taken him to training school? He does respond to sit and leave. I have just had to come to accept that he likes to hump, it's habit/excitement/dominance. He's not the only dog to do it, others I know of do too. I don't let my dog get away with bad behaviour, he's a good dog, just has this unfortunate habit. He's still young and will probably grow out of it.

omg....