I'm guessing he'll grow out of it somewhat, but like Bentleysmom, I love the play growling. It is important that he not do it around strangers though who could mistake it for the real thing. My little spaniel still play growls. But she scared the wits out of a visitor to our house one day who thought Tess was going to chew on her ankles. LOL

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Kathleen, mom to one human, age 17, three canines, and a bunch of fish.

I absolutely disagree with this statement. Humping has nothing to do with dominance .
I also would NEVER put my dog on the floor to dominate him. Your are correct IT IS ALL ABOUT RESPECT but you will not get your dogs respect by treating it like that.
I will apologize in advance if you think I sound mean but let me tell you this, I have rescued the dogs that were "dominated" by their previous owners after the people created a scared, frightened, confused, pitiful dog. It's not a pretty sight to see a 130 lb dog cower in the corner when you lift your hand to brush your hair. THAT is the dog you are creating.

Whomever started this "you MUST dominate your dog" crap needs to wear a collar and sleep in a kennel for a few months!!!!!!


/rant

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I agree with you 100%. When we got Tayla she would hump my leg and Rick's leg. Our trainer/behavorist said that it's what they do when they are unsure. It's a fall back position. It happened for a couple months after we got her, but once she became comfortable with us and what we wanted the behavior stopped. Tayla doesn't have a dominent bone in her body.

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Barb, Rick and Tayla (STAR Puppy)



Cheyenne (CGC) and Jesse (CGC) who will be always loved and never forgotten.

I think if humping HAD to do with dominance, my dog would always be trying to show dominance over her bed...

Well, whether it's dominance or not I'm so tired of it. Not only he hurts my leg but it looks so bad when we're in the middle of the street and I'm fighting my dog to get off me.
Thanks for all the tips, I'm going to get the dog corrector thing and the water spray and see if either work, wish me luck!
He doesn't hump on anything other than my leg and this ONE dog at the park that he always plays with. Do you guys know if there's a reason why he picks on this other male dog and nobody else? And also it's usually when the other dog is playing with someone else, not devoting 100% of his attention to Kobe. They're really good buddies but it annoys me when he starts humping this dog. It also seems to bother their owners too. I just get him off and hold on to him until he calms down and let him go play again.


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I'm not sure about why dogs single out another for humping. I wish I knew. I say all the time that Tucker has a sign on his back, visible only to dogs, that says "Hump Me." He gets targeted all the time, and that's one reason I neutered him a bit earlier than planned. Helped some, but didn't end it.

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Kathleen, mom to one human, age 17, three canines, and a bunch of fish.

I have to pipe in about the humping issues. Our Tucker has some issues with this, too. When I take him for walks, if he sees either a person or another dog that gets him overly excited (usually if he knows it's a friend of mine!) he will jump on me in the middle of the road and hump hump hump. I pull him off of me immediately and bring him into a sit position, with treats if necessary. It works every time. But, it is truly embarassing when this happens. I figure that at 18 months, he's still got some growing up to do. I'll tell you this - I would much rather have this negative behaviour than the jumping and BITING that he used to do to me when he was younger! He's an easily exciteable dog - he always will be. He's our little work in progress, as are all of our human children as well!

It is so embarassing, I agree. I also agree I would rather have that than the jumping and biting Tayla used to do. Everything we work on for Tayla that has a "no" attached to it we add a desirable behavior to it. No jumping, gets a sit attached so we don't just tell her what not to do, but tell her what we want her to do instead. It has worked well for us. When Rick get's home and she is really excited she has started to self correct. She will jump a few times and then she will sit and get praised. I agree with Tucker's mom. Tayla is a work in progress and will be for a looooong time to come.

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Barb, Rick and Tayla (STAR Puppy)



Cheyenne (CGC) and Jesse (CGC) who will be always loved and never forgotten.

I agree that humping is rude and I would not tolerate it however, dominating a dog by forcing it to the ground in a submissive position to "get it's respect" is what bothered me in that post.

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Please don't think for a minute I mistreat my dog. He lives like a king! He sits on my lap and sleeps at the foot of my bed, all 81lbs of him. He is NOT a cowering frightened dog, anything but that. When a large dog jumps and humps constantly over a period of a few minutes, yes, I put him on the floor for ten seconds. I know its a phase he's going thru and it will pass. I'm not a first time dog owner.
Regarding it not being a dominance issue I disagree. In my post I spoke of a very large neutered male still humping years after the surgery, and of a spayed female humping a neutered male. Two different trainers have told me in the past it is not sexual.....its dominance.

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