Dog mounting other dogs - advice required

[RoseyPosey83]

Hi,

First time post and looking for advice. We have a 2 year old male standard goldendoodle. He's a big boy at 36kg and has been neutered. He's really good around the house and walking on lead but when off the lead in the park he has a tendency to start mounting larger dogs he hasn't met before. Anything around the size of a labrador or bigger is generally a target!

I wouldn't say he is overly energetic. He does like to play but this is certainly becoming a bit of an issue and pretty embarrassing too!

He doesn't show any other signs of mounting behaviour such as with toys or humans.

Aside from keeping him on the lead constantly during walks, is there any advice or training methods that can be suggested to prevent this behaviour?

Many thanks.

Honestly I'd let him get told off by a couple of other dogs.

There's nothing like other dogs for teaching doggy manners; you wouldn't expect a child raised by dogs to be able to say please, thank you and eat with a knife and fork. It's much the same with dogs raised by humans.

Mine got told off a few times in his youth and it did him the world of good. So long as the telling off is measured and stops the second the offending dog stops, it's entirely normal dog behaviour.

Dogs don’t really need to meet other dogs other than to say a quick ‘good morning’ then move on. If dogs have similar play styles it’s fine but most don’t!

Id teach an alternative behaviour and work on him staying with or coming back to you instead of going after the big dog. Another dog should never be in the position to be stressed enough to ‘tell another dog off’. What if it escalates. This happens a lot.

Reward check ins. Work on focus. Engage disengage is good for this.

I always just interrupt it and put them on lead, they soon work out that if they want to play they can’t do that.

I’d also be looking at impulse control stuff in general, because it’s usually just over excitement.

I wouldn’t leave it for other dogs to correct, some never will, some might over react, you want to be in control of what he learns.

Get an extension lead until he stops the behaviour. My DH drags dogs back to their owners when they harass our female. Not pleasant for anyone.

Put on a long line and don't let your dog get near enough to other dogs. Train your dog's recall and don't let it off the long line until that recall is 100%.
Letting other dogs tell it off is irresponsible and you don't know whether other dogs are reactive or not. Take responsibility and train your dog.

How friendly are you with other dog owners?

I do believe that dogs are much better than humans for regulating play. Where I am, older dogs are great at letting puppies know when their behaviour isn't ok. But it's a very dog friendly area where we talk to each other.

Having another dog (that you know, and the owner) tell your dog to stop is going to help.

I also believe dogs should be allowed to interact and put their own boundaries in place. Training is important but humans aren't dogs.

A well socialised dog will greet politely then move on. Not play. If they’re regular greeters maybe a relationship will form but most of the time not.

Yes offlead dogs should be able to interact but in an appropriate and brief manner.

https://mccanndogs.medium.com/the-trouble-with-dog-to-dog-play-67cf65ecfc68#:~:text=The%20problem%20with%20dog%2Dto,That%20is%20the%20real%20problem.

We've trained our boy to ignore other dogs. He's very very ball driven so when we see others approach we throw his ball in the other direction so he runs to it. Or make him wait until the dog passes before we throw the ball again so he stays with us and watches the ball ignoring the dog. Every time he displays this behavior give a firm no, move him on and distract him.

Not being allowed to play is a very sad and lonely life for a dog. Ours absolutely loves playing with her friends, and other dogs love the interaction too. All well trained with great manners, no fighting or aggression. Puppies grow up interacting with older dogs and learn manners from each other, alongside training from the owner.

For me it's about communicating with other dog owners, great thing about dogs is socialising ourselves with other dog owners.

Perhaps if you haven't witnessed friendly and well socialised dogs playing you don't get it, but it's joyful and thankfully dog owners where I am love the interaction.

On lead is different, with the owner's permission I allow a brief hello but carry on walking.

I don’t think anyone is anti play. They don’t need it but do enjoy it. You just need to pick those dogs carefully WHEN the dog has learnt appropriate manners AND things can be stopped instantly. That’s a safety thing.

My last dog had playmates she and we knew well. One day a lurcher decided the way he’d play was to grab her back leg and twist her down resulting in a big vet bill and two traumatised dogs. Owner said he was just playing and that’s how he played.

She was lucky. No long term damage, physical or psychological. The owner continued to let the dog ‘play’ like that. We kept well away.

@lightinthebox but not all dogs want to play - mine absolutely loves his life and his walks, he sniffs, runs, jumps, we play fetch, find it. He just isn’t interested in other dogs and never really has been, he certainly doesn’t have a sad and lonely life!! He’d be really stressed by another dog trying to mount him or jump all over him.

OP - I would go back to a long line and play some tug or fetch with him with other dogs around to make sure his focus is on you and not them. Then with dogs you know let him interact a bit then bring attention back to you before the humping starts!

One day a lurcher decided the way he’d play was to grab her back leg and twist her down resulting in a big vet bill and two traumatised dogs. Owner said he was just playing and that’s how he played.

In fairness though, that's exactly how some breeds play - it's rough and energetic and from the outside it even looks aggressive. Sighthounds especially can be very rough in their play - the same with beagles and Labradors.

Obviously it's horrible that your dog got injured but it was just an accident.

Yes it is which is why the owner should have been very careful about which dogs his dogs played with. Mine was not looking to interact as we were enjoying a game of hunt the ball at the time.

One of my dogs best friends was a lurcher and so we were all used to rough play. She was part terrier and anyone who has seen them play will know how bad it sounds. But this despite being an accident was a great example of where it can go wrong. Play to one type of dog is not play to another.

Thanks for all the responses so far. The long lead seems like a good idea so I will try this approach.

His recall is generally quite good with dogs he is used to being around and he will come away back to me when it's time to move on. It's when meeting larger dogs he hasn't met before he seems to get zoned in and want to mount them and there is no way of getting him away. Possibly some kind of dominance behaviour but I'm no expert.

He is being dominant. Some dogs can't help but sort out the pecking order. My terrier used to do it all the time and dog's are generally sensible enough to sort it out themselves.

This is a like a thread from the 70's

It is not dominance

Do not let other dogs "teach" your dog - not fair on either dog and dog may also be a shit teacher

I would argue that your dog is not playing but over threshold

Dogs do not need to play with other dog

No dog playing should cause an injury to other dogs - an over threshold dog, a dog with no impulse control a dog out of control may injure another dog. Hence why my dogs never meet and greet dogs that we do not know

OP Keep greetings short and sweet - literally 2 secs and move on before the behaviour can escalate and before you dog gets over threshold

When you have a few dogs that you can meet happily then increase to 3 secs etc but watch the body language very very carefully and be ready to move on before the mounting starts.

We found having some cheese or high value snack stopped this behaviour as well as putting Ddog on lead if "fanciable" sort comes along (greyhounds, boxers and especially Goldens).

With the right owners dogs absolutely are capable of teaching each other and setting boundaries. It's not to say owners shouldn't train, of course they should.

Dogs understand each others body language better than humans can. It's inexperience when people can't recognise play behaviour.

Dogs playing safely, with all owners being watchful is wonderful. I'm so glad dog owners talk to each other where I am, all dogs play happily and have a great time.

If your dog repeatedly fails to listen to other dogs then it needs separating. We've always let dogs teach puppies and there's never been fights and they end up well rounded animals.

Following with interest. My elderly lab, now 12 years old, arthritic but very friendly, has been the target of young humpers for some time now.
Drives me nuts to hear ‘ he’s playing’ Let them sort it out’
Thing is, he can’t anymore. He cannot whip around fast enough to tell them off, and 36kg on his back is not good for his legs.
So absolutely do whatever it takes - treats , long line - to train your dog out of this.
And thanks OP, for taking it seriously.

Chances are high he is over excited/stimulated (including possible overly anxious).

Keep him calmer - even if that means keeping a distance from strange dogs until he is better used to them.