Murphy keeps humping the members of my family and I am days away from the snip

[JeremySoCa]

Murphy is 8 months old. He continues to mount and thrust all members of our family myself included (but to a lessor extent). To me, there is nothing more disrespectful than this. Seeing my wife and daughter struggle to get away from him during one of his episodes is having me see red. Whenever I am around, I immediately get him off by slapping his rear and most times putting him into an alpha roll. It takes everything I have not to take it further. I assume its sexual in nature as his "do-dad" pops out during. I've had dogs my whole life and never had a "bumper".

Can anyone offer me any help???

Also, Murphy pees in excitement (50/50) when approached by people in an excited manner. He seems quite "nervy"...could this all be related?

Thanks

 

[Max's mom]

I have 2 humpers. Thankfully not people, but I think it has to do with the water bottle. I have an industrial strength spray bottle I bought at lowes. It will shoot a stream of water about 10 feet. When the boys are misbehaving, they get a loud NO and a few squirts in the rump area and they stop. Only a few times has Max tried on me or my step-daughter. Now, it's the dog beds! Try the water bottle for any misbehaving. I have found it very effective. I have also heard that a metal can (old coffee can style can) with nuts/screws/coins/rocks inside that you shake really loud will startle them and help deter it! Good luck.

 

[DMikeM]

Removing the testes does not guarantee that this behavior will stop. You just have to train him to stop it. In some cases it is a dominance issue and has nothing to do with hormones.

 

[JeremySoCa]

Thanks Max's Mom. Ive tried the water bottle and coins in a can. The can worked at first until be became accustomed to it.

 

[JeremySoCa]

Mike, I've done a ton a research on to neuter or not. I know the risks of doing it to larger breeds. This is one behavior I will not tolerate esp to my daughter. This guy is just so stubborn. He knows its wrong but goes right ahead. If I'm in the room, he will be watching me out of the corner of his eye.

 

[DMikeM]

Put on a house leash and correct him hard everytime he starts to do it or get a shock collar. I am no real fan of these collars but in this case I bet it would work then you could resell the collar to a hunter or a training company.

 

[JeremySoCa]

Yeah, I was thinking about a shock collar. I may try that route prior to the snip.

 

[DMikeM]

Good for you. Consider everything before using the knife to try and change behavior.

 

[angelbears]

In most cases humping has nothing to do with sex or dominance. It's anxiety which is more than likely also the reason for excitement peeing. Alpha rolls, shock collars, hard corrections and neutering will not help. I have no problem with hard corrections on a dog but in this kind of a situation you are just adding to the problem. You need to figure out what is stressing him out and work on that.

Google, dog humping and anxiety. Plenty of info. Your dog is not trying to rape ya'll

 

[DMikeM]

Good call AB ^^

 

[JeremySoCa]

Haha, i wold challenge that statement. When he digs his claws into them and pulls them closer into his body...geez just the thought. From what I have read, if the red rocket makes an appearance, it is most likely sexual in nature. If there is no erection, than it may be dominance, or play. I definitely think he does have stress issues as well. I just don't know where to turn.

 

[karennj]

Humping can also be from overexcitement. Although your comment about him being nervy makes me also wonder if it is anxiety. Don't "alpha roll" you dog. The dogs that roll other dogs over are bullies not leaders. rolling and hitting are going to make the dog more anxious.

 

[JeremySoCa]

Thanks for all the info. Maybe I should have looked at by someone more qualified than me.

 

[angelbears]

I do understand. Cane was a humper until I figured out it was stress/anxiety/over stimulation. Yes, having a 200 pound dog hook into you hurts and can be scary. Hard corrections just notched it up. If you can bring someone in to watch the behavior would be very helpful. Sounds like he needs some confidence building.

Good luck!

 

[JeremySoCa]

Angel. That makes perfect sense, thanks. It may be overstimulation. Do you know the type of "pro" I would contact??

 

[angelbears]

A dog behaviorist or a really good dog trainer. I'll be honest they are really hard to find. Hector, who is on this forum is really good with dogs. You might try PMing her. More than likely she can point you to some Youtube vids. So you can kind of get an idea of what is really going on.

Hang in there. Things will get better.

 

[Hector]

Ah, humpers, thank god I don't have any. Thanks AB, but I really don't have any ideas other than doing all you can to discourage the behavior. Maybe try a water bottle. Yes, at 8 months is when I noticed my dog started to get horny and I'm at a point (he's 3 this year) where he's going to get snipped soon. He's constantly sniffs out the old dog's crotch and licks pee and gets so intense that sometimes he redirects his frustration on us by growling if we block him, but I know there's a lot of unspayed dogs in my area.

Do you know what triggers the behavior or does he do it out of no where? How does he respond to time outs in a crate or separate room? If you can't find a solution, then you should contact a trainer/behaviorist.

Good luck.

 

[Smokeycat]

Both of mine were humpers during their adolescent stage. One thing that helped to break them of that habit was mental training as well as physical training. Much of their problem was too much pent up energy and by getting it out first they were much easier to correct when they did try.

 

[DennasMom]

I agree with Smokeycat - That was my first thought at something that might help - get him out for more exercise. Get him out to new places to sniff and new things to explore... keep his mind busy learning new stuff, so he doesn't feel a need to burn energy in other ways.

More outside socialization (i.e. seeing/meeting/exploring 'new' stuff) can help build confidence, too. And, if you and the whole family are there to help guide him as he explores - and can praise him for doing well, being confident and curious - that will all help you bond together, too... so hopefully the smaller people in the house will gain a little respect in his eyes that way, too.

Our first dog would hump his own pillow and some toys when excited (and sometimes just when bored and entertaining himself) although I don't think the red rocket made an appearance (I didn't look too close, though)... and he was snipped at 10 weeks (shelter rules)... so I agree with the others that removing hormones at this point is probably not a cure for the problem, either.