Oh dear...she's humping!

[Rubylove]

Ruby has started very intensely humping my leg and Max's...I would have thought she was too young for this but she's been doing it since about 10 weeks.

Is she reaching puberty and is there a way to deter her?

 

[Akiro]

best to spay her, my other dog used to hump ppls legs but then stopped after a while, dont know why.Check with your vet too.

 

[nedim]

I know a papillon that is in love with my arm.lol. Best to teach the off command. Spaying is a priority, also.

 

[bridey_01]

Make sure you arn't giving her any attention for it. Best to walk off and isolate her for a minute if you want to show her you don't approve

 

[YorkieLover]

Cocoa trys to hump the other dogs as well as your leg and arms. We just tell her "stop" and get away from her. She's been fixed for months and still does it. Cracks us up but we definitely don't want her humping friends when they visit.

 

[yuckaduck]

Dominance is sometimes a reason and my vet said if you have ruled out dominance then it is also considered a form of play. OFF and a leash correction work miracles.

 

[Dreeza]

how common is it for dogs to do this?

i cant stand it when dogs do...thank god oakley NEVER ever has


when i was laying on the ground, when i was babysitting...their nasty dog (it was gross...it smelled so bad, and you touched it, and your hands were like, all oily and black...it was sick...cute as long as it didnt touch me...i have never been grossed out at a dog either, other than that one...it was a golden retriever too)

anyways, their massive, old, dirty golden came and humped my head...it freaked me out, cuz i didnt hear it coming, lol, god it was so gross, lol

 

[Rubylove]

Dominance is sometimes a reason and my vet said if you have ruled out dominance then it is also considered a form of play. OFF and a leash correction work miracles.

I wonder if it's a dominance thing, too, you know because she has a very strong prey instinct as well - and it seems that when she is getting a bit full on with her toys - or we're not giving her the attention she wants - she does it then.

But I always thought it was a male dog thing? Not a female...

 

[Adrienne]

Nope they both do it. Neva my female while playing with Gunnar will hump his head...it is a way of establishing dominance. In a pup that young it is just practice, not likely dominance. Work on the off like suggested and walking away from her when she does it, she should get the picture pretty quickly that it is not acceptable to hump humans.

 

[AndrewF]

Jake was the master of the 'suprise hump'. Usually while I was walking...and once while my daughter was crouched down reading a book. Usually, when he take a flying .... ahem, hump, I would smack my hand against the plastic cover of the extending leash. The noise would startle him and he'd stop. In the case of my daughter, he did get a spanking. Since fixing him though, he's stopped completely. Jake was also about 10 or 12 weeks when he started.

 

[oc_spirit]

It'd also be a good idea to instill the NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) program. It will give a very clear message to your puppy about whos in charge without having to actually dominate her or use other physical methods (that don't really work anyways). NILIF works exactly the way the name suggests, anytime she wants something she has to work for it. For example, lets say she's nudging you for attention, don't start petting her immediately! Have her sit or lie down or give you her paw first and then reward by petting - what she wanted. Try and vary up what you ask her to do so you don't end up with "automatics". That's when if you always ask for a sit whenever she comes up to you she's going to demand something and sit on her own. Therefore she is no longer obeying a command she's just following routine which is not the point of this excercise.