Neutered Male Humping Things

[newpuppyownerplzhelp]

My 3 year old neutered male just started humping things, how do I get him to stop. I recently moved in with a guy now my dog is humping pillows and other objects said guy has touched recently. I also just got a kitten, what can I do to stop him from doing this?
Thanks for your help

[BikerMama]

I'll be interested to see what advice you get. I have 3 neutered male dogs and 1 young female, and they all hump each other occasionally. One day they had a conga line.... LOL

[Sybille]

What helped like a miracle with Sam was the same technique as used for training bite inhibition - yelping like the dogs is really hurting you.

[newpuppyownerplzhelp]

He's not humping people at the moment, just all of guys stuff. Like last night guy got out of bed and my dog started humping his now vacant pillow, and only does it to his stuff.

[AgentP]

Looks like he is trying to establish dominance over your guy. How is his relationship with him? What do you do when you catch him humping guy's stuff?

[newpuppyownerplzhelp]

They seem to have a good relationship, he'll go and cuddle right up to my guy on the couch, and plays with him. Sometimes it kinda seems like he likes my guy more then the he likes me I've just been taking the stuff he's been humping away from him, as I don't know what else to do. I get that the move and everything was probably difficult for him and now he has to share me. I just don't want to make things worse for him

[JohnnyBandit]

What many people do not understand is that neutering has NOTHING to do with humping. Humping is a social behavior, not a sexual one.

[hanksimon]

1. Is your guy in his 20s ?
2. Humping can be for play, sex (excitement), and aggression
3. Sybille offered one valid solution.
4. If you know he is about to hump (you can recognize it!), tell him to Sit. (You have to teach him to sit on cue first :-)
5. Once he gets started, I recommend physical and gentle removal to 4 feet on the ground.

My dog is 11 yo and fixed (at 6 mos). He got a scent of a female in heat at the dog park at 8 yo, and has been humping at the dog park ever since. It is usually for play, but if the dog (male or femaie) ignores him, then he escalates [see item #2 above]. I know it is not aggression, b/c I can easily remove him with no complaints... but he is persistent, if I don't catch him first.

[AgentP]

Could it be that you established that you are the leader in the house but your dog perceives your boyfriend more on the same level with him? Cuddling on the sofa isn't an issue, until a dog is confused about his/her position in the pack. It can give him status of equal and sometimes even superior (my neighbors had a dog who would snarl at them sometimes if they sat down on the sofa and the dog wanted to be alone, clearly showing them that he thought he was in charge). It looks to me as if your dog is competing with your guy about who is higher in the pecking order.

Your perception of the dog liking your guy more than you might just be your dog's effort to establish the order. I would put your boyfriend frequently into situations that indicate that he is the boss and not the other way around.

So - your guy could initiate play and end it, and not let the dog do it. So next time the dog wants to play your guy should ignore it for a few minutes until the dog stops asking and then initiate the play. Maybe your boyfriend could feed him as well, make sure to go out the door before the dogs does etc. There are lots of instances where dogs might get confused as to who is in charge. For many dogs it's not an issue, but here it looks to me that there is some confusion and your dog, rather than confront your boyfriend straight out, is using objects he's used to dominate those. It might not take much for the situation to become clear for your dog.