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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Older dog appears to be in love with puppy

32 replies

carbuckety · 10/09/2018 15:29

Our old boy is entire. He is not aggressive and has never ever to my knowledge attempted to shag anything other than the sofa occasionally. When we fostered rescues he never tried anything. We have a puppy now who is 5 months and in the las 2 days the older dog has been constantly humping him! It's driving me nuts. Puppy getting no peace. I've tried 'no' 'leave it' and separating them but he cries! but what can I do? Vet advice was that at 6-12 months puppy should be neutered but he's only 5 months. Any advice in how to stop older dog? He's usually well trained but he seems to be incapable of hearing me. Will it pass.

OP posts:
Original poster
carbuckety · 10/09/2018 20:21

Bump

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ISeeTheLight · 10/09/2018 20:22

You could neuter the older dog?

adaline · 10/09/2018 20:38

So you're happy to consider neutering a small puppy, but not to just get your old boy neutered?

HomeOfMyOwn · 10/09/2018 20:58

Provide seperate areas for them to give pup a rest and only have them together supervised. Remove older dog from room whenever he tries to hump puppy. Consider neutering older dog if it doesn't stop. Don't neuter puppy very young just because you've got an older dog who you don't want neutered.

Is puppy male or female?

DeadCertain · 10/09/2018 22:10

Did the vet check for a possible UTI in pup if you have been for advice on the behaviour?

Singlenotsingle · 10/09/2018 22:13

I hope the puppy's not a girl? I bet it is. That's why the old boy's so interested. A puppy can be ready to get pregnant at 6 months, so watch out!

Original poster
carbuckety · 10/09/2018 23:53

The puppy is male. The older boy is almost 10. We discussed getting him neutered when a puppy but because he showed no aggression or any dominant male traits our dog trainer and vet said to wait until a year and see. We did. He stayed totally uninterested! So we left him entire. Even when we fostered younger female not old enough to spay he had no interest.

When we decided to get a new puppy we again wanted a male so we discussed with vet and they said see how it goes and decide. Advised that around a year best age to minimise any health risks either way ( cancer related). So we would rather not neuter puppy yet. The older one could be done but his health isn't great and I'd rather not put him through general anaesthetic unless we really need to.

But older dog driving me insane! He won't leave puppy alone. I'm being very firm saying leave it and separating them a lot. But it seems a shame as up until now they've been lovely cuddly friends.

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Original poster
carbuckety · 11/09/2018 00:15

Our vet has said that neutering may not be necessary for puppy ( in terms of personality) but that if we did around a year is best age. Our first male dog was neutered because he wasn't quite so laid back. I have nothing against neutering ( all our cats are) but this older dog never seemed to need it. He has excellent recall and simply was never aggressive nor interested. We had assumed he would be neutered when we got him but vet basically said no need. Maybe a mistake! I dint leave them alone except the puppy in a crate so he's safe!

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Heratnumber7 · 11/09/2018 00:41

The older one could be done but his health isn't great and I'd rather not put him through general anaesthetic unless we really need to

I'd say you need to

Original poster
carbuckety · 11/09/2018 08:21

heratnumber7 well it's only been a few days so it may wear off! If he persists we will talk to vet about him and ask again about age range for neutering puppy. At the moment I'm just trying my best to distract and separate. I thought as an experienced dog owner and fostered I'd thought of everything when we planned new puppy. Clearly not!

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geekone · 11/09/2018 08:27

Dogs don’t only hump as a sexual thing they do it as a dominance thing. Your bolder dog won’t stop if you get the younger one neutered. The first thing my Male dads dog did was mount my new puppy. It shows who is boss. Puppies do it all the time to other puppies in their littler. A lot of puppies hump their beds or curtains etc anything fluffy even before they have any actual sexual desire and that is normally to show you this is their bed and they are the boss of the bed not you.
You just have to be firm completely remove the older dog every time he does it. He will soon get the idea.

geekone · 11/09/2018 08:28

*older not bolder

geekone · 11/09/2018 08:29

Don’t neuter your new puppy too soon. It all depends on size and they need the testosterone to grow and get stronger. It also stops fear aggression. I have a Giant type dog and we are recommended to not neuter until after 18 months. Only small dogs are fully mature at 6 months.

Ironytheoppositeofwrinkly · 11/09/2018 08:31

If it's a male dog humping another male dog, it's a dominance display. 'Correcting' the behaviour by separating them time and time again isn't likely to make a difference as far as I'm aware, as we had a similar problem with female dogs when i was a child. Iirc the only solution is to get one of them neutered. Obviously it's not an option to neuter the puppy yet, so get your older sog done, because if the pup starts to fight back (and he will eventually) it could lead to fights.

Zoe2411 · 11/09/2018 08:33

Most dogs hump if the same sex or older dog in your case for dominance . He's probably just laying the law down and letting little pup know who's top dog ! We have 3 who have all been done but all occasionally try and hump each other's faces for some authority ! Xx

NoSquirrels · 11/09/2018 08:33

I too think it’s a dominance thing. Your male pup is getting older and the dynamic between them may be subtly changing as pup grows and gets toward adulthood. Your older dog is putting him in his place. It can also be a sign of stress.

Separate walks to tire them each out for a while and give some space?

Original poster
carbuckety · 11/09/2018 08:39

geekone I understand that which is why I'm nit keen to neuter puppy until around a year. I think it may be dominance too but he also cries when separated and when occasionally he is frustrated/ jealous he tends to bark once or twice and he doesn't do this. I'm going to persevere with separation and clear rules. Just exhausting! I will try to speak to our old dog behaviourist too ( we've moved since last used iher) to get suggestions. I hate punishing ( which separating feels like) when it's a natural behaviour but obviously it's unwanted.

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MrsJayy · 11/09/2018 08:44

You can chemically castrate your older dog humping can be a dominance thing too I would speak to your vet again.

MrsJayy · 11/09/2018 08:52

Could not Can sorry was a suggestion not an order 😁

fivedogstofeed · 11/09/2018 08:58

He's not trying to dominate your puppy. Really, this is not what it's about.

Is it possible he's stressed by the new arrival? I know you said you've fostered before but a puppy does turn the household upside down - has anything else changed?

Victoria Stilwell's article is a useful readd*

Singlenotsingle · 11/09/2018 09:02

Neutering the puppy isn't going to stop the old dog, if the problem is he's trying to exercise dominance. He'll still want to be top dog. He has to be neutered.

CMOTDibbler · 11/09/2018 09:05

My neutered (and not normally a humper at all) ddog2 will hump male puppies once they are approaching 6 months sometimes (we foster). Being firm with him about it works, but as I say he (and our other dog) are neutered

AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 11/09/2018 09:24

Neutering will not stop humping - it's often not a sexual thing. Mine was neutered a long time ago and I've seen him hump and be humped by other dogs. This occasionally extends to his bed or my leg - the leg was a new thing that came in long after he was neutered.

The only behaviour that neutering reliably reduces is scent marking.

fivedogstofeed · 11/09/2018 10:08

It's not a dominance thing and when you stop thinking this way you will start to see the behaviour in a completely different way.

My neutered boys will occasionally hump each other when a new foster arrives - it doesn't last, maybe only on the first day. A new foster dog will often try to hump one of my dogs when they arrive. There is no dominance involved, just stress.

You say it's only been a few days and your dog has never done this before - it will pass.

Original poster
carbuckety · 11/09/2018 12:37

Thank you all. My older dog is usually very calm and lovely with the puppy and seemed happy to accept him. Puppy is now 5 months and we've had him since 2 months so although he has been firmly put in his place by older dog ( eg when trying to take a toy off dog) they have snuggled up and played very happily. Teeny bit of older one coming up to my DH and pushing in when he's stroking puppy but we always give each special time with each member of the household.

I'm just saying leave it and crating puppy when I need to take my eye off for a bit. Currently they are both asleep at my feet. Bliss.

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