How to Stop Dog Humping

There are steps that pet owners can take to prevent humping behavior in their dog, and if the behavior has begun to develop there are steps that help to reduce a dog’s urge to hump. Pet owners need to keep in mind that this type of behavior stems from a natural instinct, and so it may take time and a little patience to change a dog’s behavior. Also, it’s important for pet owners to realize that humping another dog could potentially get your dog hurt, or at a minimum, in a nasty fight with the dog they are humping. Many dogs see this behavior as social dominance, and will object “violently” to being humped!

Introduction

Most pet owners feel embarrassed, and a bit disturbed, when they witness their beloved dog engaging in humping behavior. This type of behavior originates from the urge to mate, but if it is not prevented or curtailed humping can develop into ways of expressing dominance, affection, and excitement. There are steps that pet owners can take to prevent humping behavior in their dog, and if the behavior has begun to develop there are steps that help to reduce a dog’s urge to hump. Pet owners need to keep in mind that this type of behavior stems from a natural instinct, and so it may take time and a little patience to change a dog’s behavior.

Preventing Your Dog from Humping

By far the best way to prevent humping behaviors from developing is to neuter your dog as early as possible. Humping behavior begins to develop during puberty, and if a dog is neutered before this time the behavior usually never appears. If a dog is past puberty and has already developed humping behavior, neutering will help this behavior calm down within a few months after the surgery.

Another way pet owners can prevent their dog from humping in the future if the behavior has already developed is to immediately redirect the dog’s attention from the behavior. Give the dog something to play with, take the dog for a walk, or give the dog a favorite chewy. If the behavior is still too much, simply tell the dog ‘no’ and gently place the dog back into a standing position. If the dog is just too distracted, you might need to step up the correction a bit from a “no” to utilizing a correction device like a squirt bottle or penny shaker (15 pennies in a bottle). You would shake the pennies loudly toward the dog and firmly tell them “no”, then redirect and have the dog perform another behavior, like a sit or down. This tells your dog that humping is not acceptable behavior, and reminds them that “you” are the leader, not them. Over time, you should be able to correct without the device (penny shaker), and get the proper response with just a firm “no”.

In some cases humping behavior can be quite extreme, especially if this behavior is a way of showing dominance over other animals, guests in the home, or even the dog’s owner. If this is the case, the pet owner should consider using the corrections mentioned above, and follow immediately by placing the dog in a ‘time out’ for a few minutes whenever the dog engages in humping behavior. It may take some time, but once the dog realizes that humping behavior is not rewarded the behavior will stop.