Humping Humans

[juice]

Out on my walks i have been bumping into a lady with a young Goldie, about 7 months old.

Now this dog is really submissive to other dogs, it spends most of its time on its back or crouched down, when the other dogs move away she bounds up after them, catch's up then drops over again.

So last night the owner was asking for my advice about her behaviour at home, so thought i would ask here. :)

Apparently she humps the lady, not her oh, only female's, i asked in what situations, and she said just randomly will walk into the kitchen and start humping her leg .

She also barks when they are eating their dinner as she wants some, she said she doesn't like her dog food much ( she feeds a premuim food). she said she doesn't give her their food ( well not often she then added).

So, can an apparently submissive dog with other dogs be displaying dominant behavoir with female humans?

Advice appreciated i can pass on. :)

[Dame Aussie]

I don't believe in dominance theories, IMO it's just a natural instinct and an enjoyable behaviour for them which is why they do it. She's pretty young too. None of mine hump people but if they did, I guess I'd treat it the same way I would biting or something similar, say "No" and ignore.

There's trainers here who would probably have better ideas though :laugh:

[Weasels]

She also barks when they are eating their dinner as she wants some, she said she doesn't like her dog food much ( she feeds a premuim food). she said she doesn't give her their food ( well not often she then added).

It doesn't need to be often! The barking doesn't cost much and sometimes gives an awesome reward. If you had a vending machine that occasionally gave you a freebie when you press the button, wouldn't you press the button every time you go past it? She needs to stop feeding the dog from their plate 100% of the time. Feeding from a kong while the people eat could help distract the dog while the habit gets broken. I would probably get up and go eat in another room whenever the dog barked too.

Humping is a complicated thing, from all the reading I've done I'm not sure anyone fully understands it. I have a desexed female who only air-humps blankets, so that isn't dominance or sexual. The best explanation I can come up with is boredom/excitement, just like when she runs in circles shaking her toys. My point being, the cause may never be known, and doesn't need to be to train the dog to stop. Interrupt, either with a "hey"/"ah" or by moving away, then give the dog something else to instead like going to its mat or a trick :)

[minimax]

My female pup humps my leg when she gets excited (oddly enough most often when I'm picking up her poop!), but she knows the "off" command so I give her that and she reluctently gets off (er, bad choice of words!).

I guess my advice would be to teach the owner to teach the pup a command to get off when she humps or does something she doesn't want her to be doing :p

Edited August 16, 2012 by minimax

[Weasels]

My female pup humps my leg when she gets excited, but she knows the "off" command so I give her that and she reluctently gets off (er, bad choice of words!).

[mumof4girls]

Rogue used to hump me I tried saying no and ignore didn't work , I used my firm voice "NO" and reffed him down by his collar to the ground.. Sounds dramatic lol he was bad though started on my 9 yr old so I had to be extra tough.. He has not done that for a long time, I think he started at the same age actually.. Some people buy large stuffed animals just for their dog to hump, each to their own I guess lol..

[Erny]

IME humping as a puppy begins as experimental - perhaps initially triggered by scent for some and for others regardless. Whether it develops into a dominance driven behaviour (yes - IMO dominance driven behaviours in animals does exist) or is purely driven due to the reinforcement the dog is receiving from it (or both) depends on the dog.

[BlackJaq]

My dog also tried humping around that age but she did it during her heat and only humped other dogs. During each heat she still has a day or two where she feels extra "excited" and humps other dogs... She is now getting fixed and if it is all hormonal then I guess she won't be doing it again.

And she always reacted promptly when told to cut it out, although if the other dog simply walked away she'd sometimes keep humping the air for a bit... Neddless to say it's a fairly entertaining picture but not ok on people at all.

[Sares]

My 8 month old female Frenchie tries to hump when she is excited. Like when I just get home from work, she jumps up and tries to hump our legs. But we tell her 'off" and ignore her until she calms down. I think its just an excitement thing because she definitely doesnt try to dominate.

She also occasionally tries to hump the couch cushion. But again, its when she has been playing with a fun toy and takes the excitement out on the cushion.