Humping problem

[snowy1982]

My almost 5 YO neutered male dog has developed a liking for humping over the past 2 weeks. Have never had this issue with him before (excepting 1 towel that he seems awfully fond of) but he is now trying to hump DH's (and last night mine) leg on a daily basis. I can't understand why he has suddenly developed this behaviour. Any suggestions as to why and/or how to stop it (or is this actually quite normal)?

There are as range of reasons why dogs (even neutered ones) will do this. It can be a sign of nervousness, of over- excitement, a need for reassurance, a way of relieving stress or boredom . It can also just be really enjoyable. You say this has only started recently, has anything changed at home or in his usual routine?

Nothing has changed at all that I can see, he is still getting his two walks a day, normal daily routine has stayed the same, being fed the same food, interacting with the same people and other animals.... it really is baffling me. Last night was first night he hasn’t done it in 2 weeks. And that’s another thing, it is always at night after he has been fed and let outside to do his business

He may have done it as a way to engage you in a extra bit of play before bedtime. It's really easy to unintentionally encourage it depending on how we react the first time they do it. If he hasn't been getting the response he's after its likely that he'll stop. You can try not reacting to the humping but instead try to encourage him to play with a favourite toy. If it's happening at a similar time each night (possibly when you've settled for evening) try to start the game before he has a chance to hump. Keep the game quite low intensity as sometimes dogs can hump during play. Let me know how you get on

Thanks velvetdragon, i’ll keep you posted

One of mine has a favourite toy he bonks a few times a week. He doesn't do it to any other toy or people. He's very friendly and sometimes does it to other male dogs it's quite funny, he's only about 12 inches tall but goes for massive dogs, I've luckily not met anyone who's had an issue with him trying to bonks their Dobermans ankle.... He just looks desperate. He was neutered as a pup.

I thought I had it cracked, even though he gets walked four miles a day on a weekend at and almost double at weekends, I was thinking it was excess energy cos DH got a bar thing to attach to bike and had him out on that one day during the week, so he had his walk with me and the exact same distance on the bike where he’d be running. No humping that night, but did the same yesterday and he was back to humping poor DH leg last night.

It sounds like he gets a lot of exercise anyway and upping it will only work in the short term as they just get fitter and then require more to tire them out.

I would try the distraction more. Anything my dog gets obsessive about the only thing that works is to try and get him to forget about it so really have to work as distracting him from what he is doing.

Are you all feeling excitable at the moment? Dogs are pretty sensitive to atmosphere. Mine can't resist a crossed leg with a waggly foot. We no longer sit like that, but haven't trained FiL yet.

Nope definitely not feeling excitable myself I think he must just be going through a wee phase, their strange little things, our other dog had developed a fear of the extractor fan for the cooker, he had taken to hiding behind the couch when we’re cooking, it’s gonna be a nightmare the next couple days

My dog does this if he gets excited during play, particularly with a favourite toy. Or if the kids are wrestling on the floor he will sometimes join in then get a bit...err...over enthusiastic the youngest one shrieks that the dog is dancing again not ideal but like you not sure how to handle it other than dragging him away and distracting

We've trained ours to 'shake it off'. It helps diffuse the tension, which is what non sexual humping is about.

So thankfully the jumping seems to be going away again, only 1 attempt at it all over Christmas. Will just have to keep an eye on it to see if it returns and if I can notice a trigger for it

Oops, humping not jumping

My 5 year neutered male did this with a certain toy. The penguin trying to look like a chicken in Wallace and Gromit. We just removed the toy. Not sure what you can do about your leg. A distraction game? The last 2 weeks has been over the Christmas. Has there been a change in routine or environment?

It seems to have stopped over Christmas. Obvs we were home at lot more so that could explain why it’s stopped. Am beginning to think it has stopped because he got a new strong knotted rope to play with, he seems to bring it in to play at around the same time he had been humping before christmas, so maybe it was just a bit of pent up energy

Our dog has never bothered with inanimate objects. He will sort of half heartedly rub himself on someone's leg whilst climbing over their lap.
He's terrible with other dogs though. We've dog-sat for a friend's dog of the same breed a few times now. They're both male and the other dog is neutered, but it doesn't stop them both humping each other non stop. They're obsessed!
He does it to female dogs too, if they'll let him.