Humping Hounds - It's not about dominance.
Humping is a normal canine behaviour. It is seen in both male and female dogs, desexed and entire dogs. Yes, it is however both embarrassing and can be inappropriate.
Many people will tell you this is a dominant behaviour, and that your dog it trying to overtake and be boss. Don’t believe them, it really isn’t true. Think about it. Dominance usually relates to a resource (a favoured thing), such as food, toys or a sleeping spot. Dog’s will not gain access to these things by humping.
In fact, there are many reasons why your dog may hump you, your pillow, their bed or other dogs.
Number 1:
They are over excited (Arousal) and need to divert this excess energy somewhere. You would probably prefer they did this by racing around the house or yard doing the good old canine race car impression, also known as Zoomies, but no, some dogs just need to hump.
Number 2:
Anxiety. Yes many dogs who hump are doing so due to anxiety. They simply are beside themselves and don’t know what else to do. This is an example of a displacement behaviour. Some dogs sniff, some scratch, and well … others hump.
Number 3:
Humping is also a normal part of the canine play style. Play is used for practicing behaviours, it is innate for a dog to want or need to practice sexual behaviours (yes even in desexed dogs). It is the success of these things that in the wild will be most related to their survival and ability to produce offspring.
Number 4:
It feels good. Believe it or not, dogs (along with many other mammals) masturbate. This can involve humping another dog, your leg, their bed or your pillow.
OK, so now you know why your dog humps, what can you do about it?
Prevention:
If you know what the triggers are for your dog’s behaviour (visitors/play/stress), you can often divert your dog’s attention onto a more desirable behaviour instead. For example, if you know your dog humps visitors when they arrive, set him up for success, have him on lead, or crated when they arrive. Give him a long lasting chew and allow him the time to calm down before meeting the guests.
If your dog is a dog humper, teach a reliable recall, and call her away from other dogs when you can see the play is escalating into the hump time period. Practice your recalls until they are 100% reliable at home, before expecting to be able to call her off a dog she may have already started humping.
Whoops, you missed the preventing part and now your dog is humping, what now?
If the behaviour is inappropriate and causing a problem (for example on your guest’s leg), teach your dog to do something else. Distract him and call him off. Ask him to sit and reward for this.
You may be able to use something to distract your dog or puppy – often a tug toy or treat dispensing toy can be used.
If the behaviour is regular, you can trial timeouts. These must be short (no more than 30 seconds). Remove yourself or your dog from the area (baby gates are useful for this), stay at the gate or door and count to 30, open the door and either return to your dog or allow your dog to return to you/or whatever he or she was humping. You must give your dog the opportunity to reoffend. Reward heavily when they don’t.
What shouldn’t you do when your dog humps.
#1 Don’t laugh. Laughing is attention and can often reinforce the humping behaviour. This will increase the likelihood of repeat offences.
#2 Don’t punish your dog. Punishment can actually make the problem more likely to occur – especially in cases where the dog is anxious.
References:
Aspinall, V., 2006.The complete textbook of veterinary nursing. 1st ed. Edinburgh; Butterworth Heinemann Elsevier
Beaver, B., 2009. Canine behavior. 1st ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Saunders/Elsevier.
Bekoff, M. (2015). Why Dogs Hump. [online] Psychologytoday.com. Available at: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201209/why-dogs-hump [Accessed 14 Sep. 2014].
Benal, J. (2015). What to Do About Your Humping Dog. [online] Quick and Dirty Tips. Available at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/pets/dog-behavior/what-to-do-about-your-humping-dog [Accessed 14 Sep. 2014].
Cooper, B., Turner, L. and Mullineaux, E., 2011. The BSAVA textbook of veterinary nursing. 1st ed. Gloucester [England]: British Small Animal Veterinary Association.
Eaton, B., 2010. Dominance in dogs. 1st ed. Wenatchee, Wash.: Dogwise Pub.
Handelman, B., 2008. Canine behavior. 1st ed. Norwich, VT: Woof and Word Press.
Horwitz, D. and Mills, D., 2009. BSAVA manual of canine and feline behavioural medicine. 1st ed. Quedgeley, Gloucester [England]: British Small Animal Veterinary Association.
Overall, K., 2013. Manual of clinical behavioral medicine for dogs and cats. 1st ed. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Reusche, S. (2015). 5 Reasons Your Dog Loves to Hump Other Dogs. [online] Dogster. Available at: http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/dog-behavior-training-5-reasons-hump-other-dogs [Accessed 14 Sep. 2014].
Many people will tell you this is a dominant behaviour, and that your dog it trying to overtake and be boss. Don’t believe them, it really isn’t true. Think about it. Dominance usually relates to a resource (a favoured thing), such as food, toys or a sleeping spot. Dog’s will not gain access to these things by humping.
In fact, there are many reasons why your dog may hump you, your pillow, their bed or other dogs.
Number 1:
They are over excited (Arousal) and need to divert this excess energy somewhere. You would probably prefer they did this by racing around the house or yard doing the good old canine race car impression, also known as Zoomies, but no, some dogs just need to hump.
Number 2:
Anxiety. Yes many dogs who hump are doing so due to anxiety. They simply are beside themselves and don’t know what else to do. This is an example of a displacement behaviour. Some dogs sniff, some scratch, and well … others hump.
Number 3:
Humping is also a normal part of the canine play style. Play is used for practicing behaviours, it is innate for a dog to want or need to practice sexual behaviours (yes even in desexed dogs). It is the success of these things that in the wild will be most related to their survival and ability to produce offspring.
Number 4:
It feels good. Believe it or not, dogs (along with many other mammals) masturbate. This can involve humping another dog, your leg, their bed or your pillow.
OK, so now you know why your dog humps, what can you do about it?
Prevention:
If you know what the triggers are for your dog’s behaviour (visitors/play/stress), you can often divert your dog’s attention onto a more desirable behaviour instead. For example, if you know your dog humps visitors when they arrive, set him up for success, have him on lead, or crated when they arrive. Give him a long lasting chew and allow him the time to calm down before meeting the guests.
If your dog is a dog humper, teach a reliable recall, and call her away from other dogs when you can see the play is escalating into the hump time period. Practice your recalls until they are 100% reliable at home, before expecting to be able to call her off a dog she may have already started humping.
Whoops, you missed the preventing part and now your dog is humping, what now?
If the behaviour is inappropriate and causing a problem (for example on your guest’s leg), teach your dog to do something else. Distract him and call him off. Ask him to sit and reward for this.
You may be able to use something to distract your dog or puppy – often a tug toy or treat dispensing toy can be used.
If the behaviour is regular, you can trial timeouts. These must be short (no more than 30 seconds). Remove yourself or your dog from the area (baby gates are useful for this), stay at the gate or door and count to 30, open the door and either return to your dog or allow your dog to return to you/or whatever he or she was humping. You must give your dog the opportunity to reoffend. Reward heavily when they don’t.
What shouldn’t you do when your dog humps.
#1 Don’t laugh. Laughing is attention and can often reinforce the humping behaviour. This will increase the likelihood of repeat offences.
#2 Don’t punish your dog. Punishment can actually make the problem more likely to occur – especially in cases where the dog is anxious.
References:
Aspinall, V., 2006.The complete textbook of veterinary nursing. 1st ed. Edinburgh; Butterworth Heinemann Elsevier
Beaver, B., 2009. Canine behavior. 1st ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Saunders/Elsevier.
Bekoff, M. (2015). Why Dogs Hump. [online] Psychologytoday.com. Available at: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201209/why-dogs-hump [Accessed 14 Sep. 2014].
Benal, J. (2015). What to Do About Your Humping Dog. [online] Quick and Dirty Tips. Available at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/pets/dog-behavior/what-to-do-about-your-humping-dog [Accessed 14 Sep. 2014].
Cooper, B., Turner, L. and Mullineaux, E., 2011. The BSAVA textbook of veterinary nursing. 1st ed. Gloucester [England]: British Small Animal Veterinary Association.
Eaton, B., 2010. Dominance in dogs. 1st ed. Wenatchee, Wash.: Dogwise Pub.
Handelman, B., 2008. Canine behavior. 1st ed. Norwich, VT: Woof and Word Press.
Horwitz, D. and Mills, D., 2009. BSAVA manual of canine and feline behavioural medicine. 1st ed. Quedgeley, Gloucester [England]: British Small Animal Veterinary Association.
Overall, K., 2013. Manual of clinical behavioral medicine for dogs and cats. 1st ed. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Reusche, S. (2015). 5 Reasons Your Dog Loves to Hump Other Dogs. [online] Dogster. Available at: http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/dog-behavior-training-5-reasons-hump-other-dogs [Accessed 14 Sep. 2014].