# Dog Aggression When Humped



## Lyndzi23 (Jan 20, 2011)

Well, I have a male Bernese Mountain Dog that just turned 1 on May 8th. He is very playful and energetic and we go to the dog park often. We've always brought him to the dog park, since he was about 4 months old. We wanted to make sure he was socialized. He gets along great with pretty much every dog, especially puppies or anything smaller then him, he is currently about 110lbs. He does not hump other dogs at all. The only problem we are now having with him is once a dog starts to hump him, he does give them about a 5 second warning with growling, then a fight breaks out. Again, he doesn't hump any other dog himself, so he doesn't need to show dominence that way. Some dogs he won't even seem to mind if they hump him. But some, once they start, the growling begins and within a matter of seconds a fight has broken out. He just hates to be humped. Of course I deal with other owners who don't seem to think it is their dogs fault for humping my dog. I read mostly that it is a bad behavior for the dog to hump other dogs because it could start fights. I was wondering if anyone had any advise on how to attempt to teach my dog maybe to walk away before it gets to a fight. I struggle since he isn't technically doing anything wrong, only defending himself, since he isn't the one instigating the fight. Also, he is neutered.


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## MegaMuttMom (Sep 15, 2007)

Is it a fight with blood drawn or is it him showing his teeth and basically noisily telling the other dog to go F off? It is OK for a dog to tell another dog not to hump in very clear terms, which may look scary, but isn't aggression. The problem is, if the other dog doesn't listen to him and keeps at him, it could possibly lead to a real fight. The only way you can be sure that your dog doesn't end up in a fight is to either not go to the dog park or, when the humping begins, remove your dog from the situation.


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## dagwall (Mar 17, 2011)

^^ What MegaMuttMom said

Growling and snaping at a dog humping him isn't agression or a fight. It's a clear signal of get the F off me I don't like this. If he continues to chase the other dog and actually bites and injures the humper that is more like a fight. 

The owner of the humping dog should be taking action to keep their dog away from yours when he shows he clearly doesn't want to be humped. But in most dog parks people don't always do what they should to control their dogs. 

My guy is a mounter/humper and usually it's his attempt to get the other dog to wrestle with him. He knows among the regular dogs at the park who will respond with play and who will get mad and responds accordingly most of the time. With 'new' dogs I watch closely for the other dogs reaction and their owners reaction. If either seem uncomfortable or upset by his attempts to play I'll separate him and attempt to keep him away. If he continues to go after a dog who is uncomfortable or upset by his attentions we leave. 

It's hard to condition him away from mounting/humping (more often than not he simply mounts head/back/side without actually humping waiting to be shrugged off and wrestle) because too often he is rewarded with the reaction he wants which is play. No matter how many dogs snap and growl at him some still jump into play. It's like conditioning your dog not to jump up on people by ignoring them, every now and then they'll jump on someone who reinforces it by giving attention and so they think 'sometimes I get what I want, must keep trying.'


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## Lyndzi23 (Jan 20, 2011)

I had a feeling there wasn't too many options. It is a full out fight, we are usually able to break it up before there is blood drawn though. The growling starts and then they are all over each other. He has so much fur that I think that is the reason no blood is drawn right away on him. But it is pretty vicious. It is scary when I try to grab him because he lunges at me not realizing who I am.


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

This is not an uncommon reaction to humping, especially in a dog that is beginning to reach social maturity, they will often simply not tolerate anyone trying to hump them. The interesting thing here is that he will allow SOME dogs to do it, but not others...I think you are likely seeing the difference between a dog that is PLAYFULLY humping him and a dog that is MOUNTING to start trouble..if that makes sense. Teaching him to leave it AFTER it occurs is not likely to help, teaching him to come to YOU BEFORE the other dog gets too interested may. 
This means you learning to recognize the difference in approaches from other dogs. For example:
A playful humper will often follow the other dog around with a LOOSE body, and try to climb on the back end when the other dog is occupied with a second dog or lying down...this is an opportunistic humper who is not so confident and is usually just told off or tolerated or even played with.

A confrontational mounter will sidle up to the SIDE of your dog, chin him (place his chin or head over your dog's shoulders/withers area), both dogs may stiffen and then the dog will try to get up on yours. This is when the fight will happen.

If you watch carefully you should be able to learn to spot the confrontational humper before he even gets close enough to try it...then you can interrupt the other dog or call your dog away. You can even try body blocking the other dog, while asking the other owner to call their dog. 

If a fight breaks out grab your dog by the hindquarters and ask the other owner to do the same..then wheelbarrow them away from one another. This way you wont' get a redirected bite from a collar grab.


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## Lyndzi23 (Jan 20, 2011)

Cracker:

Thank you so much for the information. I believe it is exactly how you put it. If he doesn't feel threatened by the dog humping/standing on him, then there doesn't seem to be an issue. But I've seen dogs run right over and stand on him or get in the humping position, either on his head, side or back and their bodies are stiff and you can tell it is a dominant thing for that dog. So I will work on trying to keep him away from those dogs that do that. =) But it is very frustrating when other dog owners don't really pay attention or look at you like you brought in a crazy dog that fights with other dogs. They don't think their humping/mounting dog isn't doing anything wrong. Because overall he absolutely loves the dog park and loves playing with other dogs. He is the first one to run in and get in the playing position and loves to roll around with most of them. I just hate when the fight breaks out. But thank you very much for the information!

dagwall:

I think the biggest problem is the owners of the humping dogs not doing anything about it. They look at me like my dog did something wrong. A lot of the time if a friendly dog runs up and jumps up and acts like he is really playing, there isn't an issue. I think when the dog comes up, stands on him or gets in the humping position on his head, side or back and stiffens up their bodies, that is when it becomes an issue. I feel bad for my guy because he would live at the dog park if he could, he absolutely loves playing there. He is the first to get into the play position and want to play. He never humps other dogs so that is where I run into a concern about what I can do to protect my dog from those fights since he isn't the one starting them technically. But thank you for the information. I appreciate hearing from a humping dog owner! It helps put thinks into perspective from that side as well. But it seems like your dog wouldn't be a problem with mine, I think he seems to know the difference between a playing "mount" compared to a serious one. He got into one fight after a bouncing boxer came up to him but the boxer stiffened up and since then he is cautious of boxers but doesn't fight with all of them, just is cautious now. But thank you very much!


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

This is a favorite video of mine for showing dog behavior, 






Neither of these dogs is trying to hurt the other it is all noise and posturing neither dog here is in any danger of being harmed by the other, these dogs appear to know each other quite well and the Husky is telling the Labrador to back off from the bird. THe Labrador at first doesn't take the hint and continues to inch towards the bird so the Husky tellls him off again.

If this is anything like the fights you are seeing I would not call it a real dog fight, the video I posted is by FAR not a fight tho it does look and sound scary and I don't find the behavior of eather dog in the video to be acceptable, tho I find the Labrador more at fault and I think the Husky shows great and clear communication without harming the Retriever.


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

Lyndzi23 said:


> I had a feeling there wasn't too many options. It is a full out fight, we are usually able to break it up before there is blood drawn though. The growling starts and then they are all over each other. He has so much fur that I think that is the reason no blood is drawn right away on him. But it is pretty vicious. It is scary when I try to grab him because he lunges at me not realizing who I am.


So, how hard is it to break up? Can you interrupt the dogs or do you hae to physically separate them. If you can interrupt them, and there is no blood drawn. It may not be a full out fight. Dogs can look and sound extremly ferocious when in fact they are not harming the other dog. That said, I can't see what's happening, and if it were my dog, I wouldn't allow it. But then, I don't much like dog parks.


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## Lyndzi23 (Jan 20, 2011)

Keechak:

Thanks so much for posted the video. That is basically exactly what happens. But we all kind of freak out and feel we need to pull them off each other. But that is exactly how it sounds but we never let it play out. To tell you the truth I'd be a bit afraid to, but it looks like it would work out. They do go up in the air like that and make all that noise like that, showing teeth and all. So this helps out a lot. Thanks again!

Pawzk9:

It is scary to break it up when it happens. If you look at the video above and then imagine trying to put your hand in the middle of it to stop it, that is the problem. But maybe we need to let it play out for a few more seconds to see what happens. We tried a mini airhorn to try and distract them and mine didn't even notice it at first. So I don't know how well a command would work, I think they are too much in the moment.


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

As the owner of your dog I would step in the scond another dog starts making it's way toward her rear end and block that dog. YOUR dog is not at fault for telling the other dog to back off and stop being rude. However it isnt fair for your dog to be put in a situation where she feels like she HAS to worry about the rude behavior of other dogs, if you can get her to the point where she will trust YOU to help her out that would be ideal, but the only way to do that is seeing trouble comming and not being afraid to interact with another persons dog in a negative way weather it be a body block, or a "AH AH!!". The issue I see at dog parks is the owners of rude humping dogs saying "Oh but she's/he's just playing" and then they get mad at you for stopping the "play" even when you see noticeable distress in your own dog distress they are too "dog language blind" to see.

I should also mention that any scuffle like in the video I posted SHOULD be stopped immediatly in a dog park setting, there may be other dogs in the dog park who see or hear the scuffle and the prey drive of those dogs can kick in and those other dogs COULD get involved with the intent to kill out of pure wild drive and excitement.

The best way to break up any scuffle or fight is to grab the back legs and wheelbarrow the dogs backwards from each other.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

Like Dagwall, I own a "will hump for play" dog. He will hump male or female, and when he's told off, he quickly dodges the teeth, does a play-bow, then barks a few times. I've never seen a dog go after him when he does that... and he is persistent. After they realize that he is not aggressive, male dogs ignore him... and I have to go remove him. 

Also, I am that owner in the dog park that encourages the owner of the female to let her snap at him. The owners don't like to see that, but I think a female needs to know how to say "Not tonight dear", or pull out the mace when needed.

First, you are right, and your dog is right to make the other dog back off. However, most dogs will back off with a growl and a snap. I'm not sure if you can expose your dog to more like mine and Dagwall's so that she learns that a quick reprimand is enough. 

Otherwise, Keechak's suggestion looks good.


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## Lyndzi23 (Jan 20, 2011)

I don't know if it got confused but my dog is a male. He doesn't hump any dogs himself and he does play with 99% of the dogs, even if some jump on him. He seems to notice the different between the playful "jump/mount" because I've seen some dogs hump my boy and he was fine, he just turned around and started to play. He's even done this with a male that wasn't fixed. But it is the ones that are trying to be dominant and get on him and stiffen their bodies that seems to be the issue is all. He does give them a good 5-6 seconds and then growling starts and then they both anger each other and a fight happens. It basically looks like the fight in the video that was posted. But we pull them apart before letting it play out. Someone also mentioned you can't really do that in a park since other dogs may come running over and cause a bigger fight. We will just be working on trying to distract him if we notice a dominant dog going near him and so forth and I guess make it known that he doesn't like humping when we do go, if I notice there is a humping dog. But thank you for the advise and I think I have a few new tricks to try from reading what everyone has posted! Again, thanks for the imput, especially from the dogs that do hump, it helps!


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

I have a dog who will absolutely not tolerate any humping. For the protection of everyone involved, we avoid situations where she will feel the need to retaliate. It is simply not worth the risk.

My previous dog would not tolerate humping but his corrections tended to be far less ballistic, so we managed.


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

Lyndzi23 said:


> I don't know if it got confused but my dog is a male. He doesn't hump any dogs himself and he does play with 99% of the dogs, even if some jump on him. He seems to notice the different between the playful "jump/mount" because I've seen some dogs hump my boy and he was fine, he just turned around and started to play. He's even done this with a male that wasn't fixed. But it is the ones that are trying to be dominant and get on him and stiffen their bodies that seems to be the issue is all. He does give them a good 5-6 seconds and then growling starts and then they both anger each other and a fight happens. It basically looks like the fight in the video that was posted. But we pull them apart before letting it play out. Someone also mentioned you can't really do that in a park since other dogs may come running over and cause a bigger fight. We will just be working on trying to distract him if we notice a dominant dog going near him and so forth and I guess make it known that he doesn't like humping when we do go, if I notice there is a humping dog. But thank you for the advise and I think I have a few new tricks to try from reading what everyone has posted! Again, thanks for the imput, especially from the dogs that do hump, it helps!


I wouldn't be working to distract your dog if a humper approaches. I'd be working to send the humping dog off in another direction (not towards your dog) It's your job to help your dog stay out of situations where he may feel like he needs to handle matters on his own.


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