Puppy Humping

So my 4 1/2 month old puppy has decided to start humping things around the house. So far, he's molested his blanket, a couch cushion, and his stuffed animal. His mother seems to think that its disgusting and that we should make him stop. I, on the other hand, find it amusing as all hell.

He's already been fixed, so I'm not worried about him being an illegitimate father, but I'm just curious: is this a habit we need to ween him from? Or is he just having harmless fun?

(I made sure he at least took the couch cushion out for breakfast the next morning.)

 

If he's fixed already-He's just getting a bit confused. It could go away on it's own. THe "Leave It" command will help for when you catch him with it.
http://www.dog-obedience-training-review.com/leave-it.html

 

i’m sorry! but

 

Whats the harm in just letting him be? Like I said, I think its pretty funny...

 

x2

 

Right now- Nothing. But when he makes to full weight and/or picks up another odd habit it can be a pain in the ass.

 

He's part German Shepard, so I can see where you wouldn't want a 50+ lb dog jumping on somebody...

 

Because when hes a full grown dog and he tackles mom or grandma when they're visiting they wont find it amusing in the slightest

 

Funny as long as it is not on your leg.lol

 

http://youtu.be/5KmMn610_DU this thread made me think of this.

 

Butter up your leg and post a vid here...

 

German Shepard and what? The girlfriend and I are looking for a dog and that puppy is cute as hell.

Fink

 

It's normal, dogs do it when they get wound up. I have a 13 year old Aussie that still humps legs at times if I get to playing with him and get him wound up. Also have a 1 year old shelter dog (mix) and we are having the same issues with him. But at least my wife and step-daughter just laugh about it. But we do stop him though.

 

Most dogs out grow this. It is just a stage. You can help prevent it if you want by stopping him when you see it, and giving him something else to do to get his mind off it. I would focus on stopping more unwanted, annoying behavior such as biting and jumping on people.

 

At least he is not a she and is trying to hump everything.. now that's weird.

 

My female mounts my male. He has no clue whats going on. My female just had a litter before we got her from the shelter a few years ago. She just wants to be the dominating one even though she's fixed as well.

 

It's normal being fixed has nothing to do with the act, Brunes is correct teach him the leave it command, you tell him to "leave it" in a strong voice when he does you need praise him up in a lighter voice and have a toy or a treat as a reward. Intially you reward him every time once he has the command down you start changing up here and there with just praise and pats etc. If you like you can use a "penny can" load up several soda cans with 10 to 15 pennys tape them shut. Place them strategically around the house and high enough so no children can get to them. If you see him doing it or really any unwanted act IE chewing furniture etc. You toss the can NEAR him NOT AT HIM as you command "leave it". All the can does is make a bunch of noise breaking his concentration when he does stop same as above praise, treat, toy etc. If he continues the "humping" into his adulthood he could knock someone down or scare the hell out of a visitor both not really funny. Oh and by the way I too have seen females do the same thing to males or other females, the reason behind it could be sex just as in humans, anxious, boredom, Attention ( just like kids bad attention works), lack of exercise and yes it could be dominance.

Cypher

 

At this age its a dominance thing not sex. Our pup is same age and has wore out the white rabbit toy. A spray bottle with water set on jet not spray works on him ,Dont say a word just spray him. Hope this helps, Jim----------------------

 

The penny can can have AMAZING effect. I had a friend with an extremely obnoxious dalamation mix with something (rescue dog, not sure), and he was constantly misbehaving and trying to dominate everything and extremely stubborn. The owner is an experienced dog owner and had tried everything to get the upper hand with no luck.

Then she tried the penny can and it was like a magic wand. She would just grab it and shake it (no tossing), and he would stop dead whatever he was doing. I had never seen anything like it. I think soemthing about the metallic high-pitch sound is especially jarring to dogs.