Dealing With Someone Elses Dog Humping Yours?

[freundhund]

Okay, so I went to the park (yes I know I am stupid but it is the only area my dog can have a run as well). My girl is very well behaved, but is not happy being dry humped by other dogs, she spins away and a couple of times she has had a go away bark at the dog that humps her.

I have changed the time I attend the park as there is one particular dog that humps her. I try to avoid this dog and owner as the owner thinks he is in charge of the park!!!!! I have asked him not to let his dog hump my girl, other people are not happy either as he does it to young puppies, it is very much used as a dominance issue by this dog. Tonight I was annoyed grabbed the dog and push him off my bitch and growled "NO". The owner was quite aggressive and nasty towards me, I just looked at him and didn't say anything, however, I wondered how other members would have handled the situation?

I won't be offended, if you feel that I am in the wrong but as I don't allow my male when he goes for a walk to behave like this dog is allowed to behave and I don't see why my bitch should be stressed.

[Nevafollo]

I would have done the exact same thing especially if you have already asked them to keep their dog away or off yours.

[Greytmate]

Yes, I would have done the same.

[Gemelo]

Ditto to SB here, tough titties if the owner doesn't like it, but won't do anything about it...

[SpotTheDog]

What does the other owner do to stop his dog humping?

I own a humper (deep joy) and I'll verbally correct him whenever he starts humping, and take him by the collar to pull him away if he ignores me. If I wasn't close enough I wouldn't mind you doing the same thing (assuming you didn't use unnecessary force to my dog just because you were pissed off.)

[Staranais]

I'd deal with it exactly the same way you did, if my dog didn't sort it out by herself first. And I'm lot more polite about it than she would be, believe me!

I don't go to specific dog exercise parks, but I will go to multi-use parks that allow off leash dogs (such as our local river trail that is for walkers, runners, dogs, and horses). I think it's my job to protect my dog against any obnoxious dogs we encounter there. And humping is obnoxious, especially if the dog being humped is clearly trying to get away or otherwise indicating they are uncomfortable. I think you did the right thing.

[Golden Rules]

I have struck the same thing a lot lately with my puppy (almost 16 weeks) and I just yank the other dog off mighty quickly and tell it to bugger off.

No one has said anything to me yet but look out if they do

[corvus]

I would have pushed the dog off without the growl. It's annoying to have to do it again and again, but if you know a dog is going to give you trouble you can head them off before they get that far with body blocking. If I got shouted at I'd say "He doesn't like it." and leave it at that. People will do what they will do. I will not stand by to watch my dog harrassed when he is trying to enjoy some off leash time, and I will not leave it to him to deal with. I'd rather my dogs found non-aggressive ways to deal with social problems. If it's not working, then I will take it from there before they think of something I don't want them to have success with.

[Cleo's Corgwyn]

Maybe check and see if the dog park has rules posted by the council, and offer to call in a council ranger if he wishes to discuss it further? I know that ours does, and there may be something there you can quote at him. Often that sort of bully will crumple when faced with something that disproves their worldview.

Be careful though, as I've seen some really nasty behaviour - people and dogs- at dog parks.

I would have done exactly the same thing though, as I don't believe my girl should have to defend herself from bad mannered dogs!

[sas]

I've let my dog tell of another dog for humping it - I wouldn't accept my dog humping another dog. I've been at a dog park where an entire staffy ran around humping everything which the owner thought was funny - we asked him to keep his dog away from ours as it wasn't funny and was not allowing our dog to enjoy its time.

All it takes is the humping dog to hump the wrong dog and it's all on.

I think you handled the situation fine.

Edited November 27, 2010 by sas

[jacqui835]

Well humping is in my opinion, quite a dangerous behaviour, in that the dog is effectively challenging another and physically demanding submission. My dog has tried it, though fortunately not often, and I always intervene immediately, even if everyone else is laughing and the other dog doesn't seem to notice, just to try and discourage the behaviour as much as is possible. Sometimes now he is able to stop himself from mounting, and just humps the air next to them - but I correct that too.

I tell him No, get off. If he doesn't immediately respond, I grab his collar, yank him to the side, say no and put his lead on for a while. It sounds harsh, but there have been 2 occasions now, both with staffies or something that looks like a staffy, where he went into hump them, and they turned around and bit him, once drawing blood. He doesn't fight back fortunately, and if the dog growls at him, that is enough to stop him trying. But it's just not safe, because there are plenty of dogs that will take it much further and don't bother with the warning growl first.

He's much better now though as he gets older, and my presence alone seems to serve as an effective deterrent. Vigilance and consistency are great tools when it comes to our dogs.

Other dogs often try to hump him, and his response depends on the dog. Large dogs he runs away from, if they persist, he growls and if they persist after that, I grab both him and the other dog and wait until the owner can come and grab their dog. If the other owner doesn't seem interested, or they're incompetent and just stand there saying oh stop that please etc, I tell the dog off myself the way I would if it were mine, and this has been very effective - I just claim my dog and tell them to back off. I don't care what the other owner says, most of the people who allow their dogs to hump other dogs don't know a whole lot worth listening to about dog behaviour anyway (and often the owners have been apologetic and grateful). If the dog is small, he tends to ignore it. There are 2 small grey fluffy things that hump him on sight every time we see them, both owned by people who are usually not within a reasonable distance of their dog and wouldn't have a hope in hell of intervening should something happen to them. I ignore them too, until I see my dog starting to tire of it, he will start to try and avoid them etc. At this point, I call my dog to me, and we move. I firmly address the other dog if it tries to follow. I find smaller dogs much more unreliable, tenacious and difficult to control, perhaps because they have typically had a very different upbringing, so usually moving away is the better option.

But for everyone who will read this and think geez why would you go to the dog park? My dog is very social, and loves nothing more than a good chase or playful wrestle with other large dogs. I own only one dog, and am not close to anyone else who has a large well-trained dog he could play with, everyone else has tiny things. I am lucky enough to have a dog who is predictable and doesn't get easily worked up. He has a breaking point, but he's very expressive and gives ample warning, I just watch him carefully. We have a good bond, and it's obvious he trusts me to take care of him in these situations, as I always have, so he doesn't make any rash decisions. I just think it's worth it because I think it's really valuable for him to have that opportunity to play with other large friendly and well-trained dogs, and I don't have access to them via any other means. I think the correct response is highly dependent on your dog, but I generally hold the attitude that if you don't want your dog to take matters into their own hands/paws lol, you need to get in there first.

[whiskedaway]

My dog will tell off any dog that tries to hump her by spinning round and giving a warning bark. She's had some dogs try to do it a few times and normally she has to tell them a couple of times and they'll stop after that. So for me, I don't need to actually correct a dog, but I keep an eye on her the entire time and make sure she doesn't get snappish. I've never seen her get aggressive, though, but it's still something that's in my mind.

However, if she wasn't like that, I would do the same thing you did and tell the dog off, especially after asking the owner to keep the dog from doing it. That's just wrong.

[lovemesideways]

I will literally throw another dog off my dog by the scruff of the neck if it tries to hump. Another method I've found is if you knee the dog humping in the right spot, they will spring off. (Which I know you have to be careful with)

Ignore stupid people and do what you think is best for your dog.

[poochmad]

There's nothing more annoying than people like that, the worse ones who say, oh look at that, they're gay! (Good grief.) I wish that I had stepped in when our male dog was being harrassed by a Beagle who just wouldn't leave him alone when we were staying at our friend's place. If that happened again, I would definitely step in.

[minxy]

If my boy was humping another dog, I'd pull him off. If another dog humped mine and their owner did nothing, I'd pull him off too. You don't have to be aggressive about it, but I see no issue with simply removing the other dog.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Totally unacceptable from dog and owner. Has to be stopped before a fight occurs - of course some dogs tolerate it but it isn't good behaviour and needs to be corrected.

Many owners are such ----wits.

[shells]

We have a similar situation to yours - only one particular dog and only with my male dog (they seem to know that my female wont tolerate it). We dont bump into the owner daily but when we do I give the owner one chance to correct his dog and then if not I step in (I know you cant but I have actually picked my dog up and carried him to remove him from the "humper")

I think you did the right thing and I would continue to do it if the owner wont.

[rubiton]

Some dogs can actually be injured and sore for days across the shoulders and back from another dog jumping on or humping them. Same as attacking any dog trying that with mine especially as she's been hurt before (sore for a few days from one that jumped up and tried to mouth the back of her neck) - will find itself getting punished by me. That's not being 'under effective control' therefore who is the owner of the other dog going to complain to?