# Female Puppy 'Mounting'.....normal?



## tuffycuddles (Sep 25, 2008)

is it normal that my female puppy keeps humping my leg..and even mounting and humping other dogs... ? i know this is more than normal with male dogs....i dunno i just find it odd...does anyone know why she'd be doing this?


----------



## Shalva (Mar 23, 2007)

tuffycuddles said:


> is it normal that my female puppy keeps humping my leg..and even mounting and humping other dogs... ? i know this is more than normal with male dogs....i dunno i just find it odd...does anyone know why she'd be doing this?



it is totally normal and just tell her to stop and then get her another toy to teach her what to do .... 

so often we are quick to tell a dog what not to do but forget to tell them what they can do 

so a stop and a walk away and the redirection to a toy should teach her fairly quickly that its not appropriate behavior .
s


----------



## Jr. Dog Expert (Sep 11, 2007)

Its usually a sign of an dominant female, like Shalva said, just redirect her attention so that she isn't doing it to you. Once some sort of hierarchy is establish it should dissipate.


----------



## tuffycuddles (Sep 25, 2008)

...thanks!


----------



## Poly (Sep 19, 2007)

You don't say how old your dog is but looking at the pictures she appears to be a puppy and not sexually mature. 

So you should realize that this is not sexual activity and has everything to do with dominance behavior, as has been said. 



tuffycuddles said:


> is it normal that my female puppy keeps humping my leg..


It may be "normal" but it is extremely undesirable. Do NOT allow your dog to do this. Do NOT lure her away or give her a reward of any kind when she tries it. 

You MUST demonstrate your leadership if she tries this again - with you or with anyone else. A firm "OFF" - which you must enforce - followed by a "SIT" and a "DOWN". And keep her in the down position for a while. 

Don't let her up until she is completely calm.

Do this properly and you should only have to do it a few times before she will get the idea. Puppies are very responsive to signals. 



tuffycuddles said:


> and even mounting and humping other dogs... ?


This is very impolite doggy behavior. Equivalent in human terms to someone coming up to you and spitting in your face. Many dogs won't submit to this and will react violently when another dog tries it. 

She may still be on her "puppy pass" - it generally lasts about four months or so - or perhaps she has been lucky enough to only encounter submissive dogs. In any event, don't expect this tolerance to be the rule - better to prevent it from escalating by not letting her do it anymore. 




tuffycuddles said:


> i know this is more than normal with male dogs....i dunno i just find it odd...does anyone know why she'd be doing this?


Males... Females...same same. It is an attempt at dominance. 

It sounds like you only have one dog. If you had more than one, they would quickly sort this out themselves.

Try this - get a large soft toy animal - Coleman made some nice ones but I understand they are discontinued  - and let her use that as her dominance target.

BTW, when she plays with you and/or greets you without the humping, make sure that you reward her with a lot of praise and maybe a treat for being a good dog.


----------



## Curbside Prophet (Apr 28, 2006)

I'll quote myself... 



> Why does a schnauzer chase a tennis ball rolled across a floor? Something inside of him says _oooo, scurrying fuzzy means chase_. Certainly we would not then deduce the dog sees a tennis ball as a meal. We would deduce the behavior is innate, and his fitness is dependent on the practice of this behavior. For if the dog were in the wild and he did not chase, he would certainly be a less fit dog, and perhaps would even die before he could reproduce. So I would say the practice of such behaviors is innate.
> 
> What does this say then about humping as a practiced behavior? I make the same argument. Why does a schnauzer hump another dog? Something inside of him says _oooo, a dog (or a person, or a dog bed, or air) means I can hump_. Certainly we would not then deduce the dog sees any of these as a breeding mate, especially if none of them are in season. We would deduce the behavior is innate, and his fitness is dependent on the practice of this behavior. For if the dog were in the wild and he did not hump, he would certainly be a less fit dog, and perhaps would even die before he could reproduce. So I would say the practice of such behaviors is innate.
> 
> ...


End of story? If you're bothered by the behavior give the dog a reason not to rehearse the behavior. If you're not bothered by the behavior, give your dog a reason not to rehearse the behavior. Why? More people than not insist on dominance theory, therefore, more people than not find the behavior "impolite".


----------



## Jr. Dog Expert (Sep 11, 2007)

Curbside Prophet said:


> I'll quote myself...
> 
> End of story? If you're bothered by the behavior give the dog a reason not to rehearse the behavior. If you're not bothered by the behavior, give your dog a reason not to rehearse the behavior. Why? More people than not insist on dominance theory, therefore, more people than not find the behavior "impolite".


*NODS* A well drawn out comparison indeed! I liked it


----------



## Shalva (Mar 23, 2007)

I wouldn't call this dominance at all in a wee baby..... more likely stress and over-excited 

there is no reason at this age to show your leadership your dog knows you are the leader as you open the door you control the food etc. 

a simple gentle No and a redirection is all that is needed 
s


----------



## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Shalva said:


> I wouldn't call this dominance at all in a wee baby..... more likely stress and over-excited
> 
> there is no reason at this age to show your leadership your dog knows you are the leader as you open the door you control the food etc.
> 
> ...


Shalva
it does absolutely amaze me with the dominance problems or answers that come up constantly with what I too would call a wee baby.


----------



## Shalva (Mar 23, 2007)

wvasko said:


> Shalva
> it does absolutely amaze me with the dominance problems or answers that come up constantly with what I too would call a wee baby.


I know .... as if a 9 week old has thoughts of world domination.... its just silly


----------



## GreatDaneMom (Sep 21, 2007)

yeah the whole dominance thing just blows my mind. 

i like to look at it this way: your pup is soooo excited. hes got sooo much energy built up in him so he needs to release this energy. he runs, he barks, he jumps, etc. and so he humps. hes not humping for any other reason than, "oooohhh look what i can do!!! im having fun! i dont know what else to do now!!" but this is exciting and releases energy.

now, you can let this go on.... if you want. if you dont want her to do it anymore, use the command "off", remove, and redirect her to something she should be doing. no need to make her sit or anything else, thats just silly...



Poly said:


> So you should realize that this is not sexual activity and has everything to do with dominance behavior, as has been said.


aside from the not being about sex part, this is totally untrue. dogs hump for a number of reasons. later on in life it CAN be about dominance (ie when i got my second dane they humped each other a little) but it IS NOT ALL ABOUT DOMINANCE





Poly said:


> This is very impolite doggy behavior. Equivalent in human terms to someone coming up to you and spitting in your face. Many dogs won't submit to this and will react violently when another dog tries it.


this isnt true either. who says its like spitting in your face?? did a dog tell you that? what it comes down to is toleration. some dogs dont care if they get humped or not. some think its a cool game and then will hump back in return. some just stand there and let it go on and on until you stop the behavior. there are SOME dogs who will get a little snippy just to tell them "no, i dont like that". but its NOT violently... i dont think ive ever even used that term when speaking of dogs. things are either aggressive, provoked, etc. but not violent...


----------

