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.

Didn't mean to sound overbearing PennySweets, but obviously the training hasn't gone quite right in that case cos you still have unwanted behaviour. I would find another dog trainer if I were you, one that can actually teach you what you need to know. But if your dog knows commands like leave and sit, why is he still humping? Surely if you give him the command he has enough respect to obey it, or has he just learnt to ignore your shouting at him cos you don't reinforce it? You could keep him on the lead for a while, and then when he ignores your loud NO you could pull him off, and teach him that you actually mean what you say. If you keep shouting at him and he carries on humping, all you're teaching him is to ignore you!
Have you seen Dog Borstal or It's me or the dog? They recommend squirty bottles or shaking stone-filled bottles and all that sort of thing, and they've had dogs on there that hump all the time. You obviously just need a bit more help on this particular behaviour. And as a dog owner, I wouldn't be enormously thrilled if your dog did that to mine. Also, as a dog trainer, I do know a little bit about it.

I don't remember saying that you don't know anything about it. There seems to be a lot of 'experts' in this section of MN. He hasn't responded to shaky bottles or water, he's not in the least bit bothered by that. I don't know that he thinks too much about 'respect' either. I don't shout at him all the time, when I first said that, it was meant as a joke more than anything. He doesn't do it to people, which some dogs do, it's actually not that much of a problem, just embarrasing. I think it's silly when dog owners get offended by it, after all dogs will be dogs, and I don't just let him carry on, I pull him off. He could be doing worse things such as attacking other dogs, this, as you know, is a common problem, and my Lab in particular has been the victim on more than one occasion. He's a good boy really, just a bit thick.

Watching thbis thread with interest - our dog does this too... Only when the other dog is meeker than he is. Def. a dominance thing I think. Embarrassing tho' Dog training hasn't helped so far.... best dog in the class, different dog outside!

I rest my case. Thank you, hotandbothered.

ah but does it dry hump?

I'm sure he's lovely, and if you're not that bothered by it then don't worry about it. He won't grow out of it though. He's learnt that it's as normal as catching balls and barking, so he might do it forever. You don't have to accept it though. If you don't want him to do it, teach him not to do it. Don't forget he might get bitten by another dog one day that is equally unimpressed, so you might also be saving him from a mauling in the long run.
We're not all experts, we're just trying to help! And not being funny but it's not just dogs being dogs. They don't all do it! I don't know any dogs at my club that do it. Perhaps he's just overly randy or something, I don't know. Either way, with the correct training, it would be easy to stop it just like any other unwanted behaviour, you just need to learn another route. Good luck.

And by the way, hotandbothered, get them to teach you things in your class that you actually need to know at home, i.e. how to stop humping....

I know you will all go crazy...but what about a swift kick in the bollcks whem humping...it would work on my hubbie!!

Would value advice dawnybabe - we're onto 3rd training class! All have said 'he is a difficult to train dog - think we've gone as far as we can with him' He is a rescue dog - the best natured, most gentle, loving creature you could want - but we are struggling with a: barking when we're not there (radio is on, he has toys/treats to occupy him, things that smell of me etc), b: shredding the post but LOVES the postman (don't know why relief postmen wont use letterbox outside house ), c: humping, but oh-so-gently, d: pulling on lead (do use halti now) Could go on...

You need to tell your trainer that these are the things you want to work on. If they can't help you, find another trainer. There is no such thing as an untrainable dog, only trainers that can't train. You'd need specific advice tailored to your dog to stop the barking etc, which is obviously a seperation anxiety of some sort but you'd need to pin point why he does it. You need to distract him from shredding the post, but if you can't just get a metal door cage for your post to drop in to! Humping again is something you need to practice catching him at and teaching him that it is not rewarding behaviour, and the pulling on the lead is one of the most common and easily fixed problems that any trainer worth his salt should be able to show you in five minutes. It just takes a lot of consistent practice to implement! Sorry to hijack this thread by the way....