Mounting At The Dog Park

[Guest dizzyLu72]

I take Jacob to the dog park a couple times a week.. he tends to sniff the people more than the dogs but occasionally he'll get playing and zooming around a little...

 

Well tonight.. we went to a new dog park.. there were about 6-8 other dogs in a fairly large area. Jacob became very interested in a female golden mix - to the point he was starting to "mount" her... He has NEVER done this!! (he's 5, I've had him 6 months.. he's probably been fixed for 1.5 years) I'm wondering if she was coming into heat or something. She was definitely flirting in return.. I felt like they should get a room or something. (kidding)

I don't want this to become a habit.. Jacob has no tolerance if other dogs try to do this to him. So do you think it was a specific attraction to that dog or is this something that I need to prepare myself for? How do I break him of this habit if it starts to happen more often?

 

Thoughts??

comments??

helpful hints??

[AliWest]

Do you know if the other dog has been spayed?

From your description it sounds like she smelled really good to him. Just because he has been neutered doesn't mean he won't have any interest in a female that is in heat. I'm surprised no fights broke out on account of her.

[tydyelady]

Opie has really bad manners with the ladies - he acts very uncouth! He will go over to a new female, try to nip at her neck, and then paw at her or jump on her (not really mounting, just jumping). This usually get a growl in his face, or a snap back. Poor boy, then he hangs his head and walks away!

[kudzu]

Occasionally I've seen this as part of seemingly friendly, normal play between two dogs who are good friends. I had two, pre-Greyhounds, who did this to each other. It seemed to be reciprical. They were best friends & lived together peacefully. Between two dogs who didn't know each other, especially in a dog park or similar situation, I would not allow it. Actually in almost all situations these days I would at least discourage it by asking for some other behavior. That is because usually when I see it, most especially between newly introduced dogs, it is either overly excited play or appears to be a dominant act. Either could get a dog into an unfortunate situation.

 

This could have been a one time thing. I wouldn't worry too much unless he does it again. It isn't a behavior I would allow again though. As you say, he doesn't tolerate another dog & other dogs should have to either. Should this repeat it would be good to pay attention to his behavior & body language as usually you will be able to see when he is about to escalate to the excitement level that causes it. Redirecting him just before that point or if you miss it then giving him a time out as it starts to reach that level may help him learn some self control.

 

My girly Grey, my only dog park dog of my current three, has not displayed any mounting or similar behavior but I still need to monitor her. If other dogs are running she loves to join in but often ends up passing them & cutting them off. That can intimidate her would be playmates. Also, if other dogs start wrestling & roughhousing she has a tendancy to stand off to the side & bark at them. I believe both behaviors have the potential to provoke another dog or dangerous heighten the overall excitement. So before that can happen I would call her out, give her a brief rest & then let her go play again. She quickly figured out that the undesired behavior means a brief stop in the fun & the behaviors rapidly diminished. My attitude is that I'm going to the park for my dog's enjoyment but she has to earn that privelege. I'd rather short cut my own dog's fun than have her impinge on someone else's fun even if that means leashing her & leaving. If someone else reports that my dog was behaving unappropriately I just take them at their work & try to act on it. Better safe than sorry.

 

Hopefully though he just found a brazen hussy to whom he couldn't say no.

[snowjay]

A boys got needs you know!

[Guest AliceMyPrincess]

My male Husky mix still humps on my female Dobe because she lets him. He is 7 yrs old and was neutered at 4 months and she was spayed over a year ago. He never humps my female Grey because he tried once and she nipped him and screamed in his face. Female dogs will sometimes allow a male and if they are not interested they will nip and correct. So the female at the dog park was clearly interested in your boy. If he gets into a habit of it it would just be best to remove him from the act and give him a time out from play.

[Guest sheila]

I'm no expert on anything but this is one of those situations where I would let the dogs work it out on their own. When Billy and Jane met for the first time Jane tried to mount Billy. Twice. They are both altered so I understood this to be some kind of dominance gesture. I did nothing but sit back and see what happened (because I had to know how these two were going to be with each other if I adopted Jane). Billy gave a warning growl and an air snap both times and Jane got the message and has never done it again.

 

Of course if someone is bringing a dog that is in heat to a dog park that would change the dynamics of everything. Were any other dogs reacting this way to the female? If so I think I would have to leash up my hounds and leave because that is a pack fight waiting to happen.

[MerlinsMum]

Merlin tried to hump every one of the females we had him meet when we decided to adopt a second. He even tried to hump a couple of the males. Sagan was the exception - which is weird, since he is incredibly submissive and defers to Merlin ALL the time.

 

Merlin does this at playgroup, too, which leaves me mortified I stop him as soon as I notice that his body language is indicating he's thinking of mounting another hound, but it's still embarrassing and anti-social. He has gotten a lot worse over the years, he never used to do this. I put him in a "time out" more times than I care to count at playgroup

[JJNg]

Dogs mount/hump others for a number of reasons. Other than the obvious one of hormones and reproduction, mounting is often due to excitement, arousal, and stress. My IG would grab and hump my leg if he got upset that I was about to leave him. Certain individual dogs (both male and female) seem to be very interesting to my mixed breed Corey, and he will follow them around, sniffing their butt and sometimes trying to mount. One of my co-workers had a male chihuahua that Corey was obsessed with. He wouldn't leave him alone every time he saw him, but he doesn't do this with most other dogs he meets.

 

Wiki, my male grey, was one who was known to hump all the other males in the turnout pen at the track. On the transport to our adoption group, they had to turn back and get a crate for him because he tried to hump all the girls in the back of the van and was getting everyone upset. Since retiring and being neutered, he has almost completely stopped this behavior. He's occasionally gotten a little excited about meeting certain dogs and has tried to mount a few, but this has only happened 3-4 times in the 2 years I've had him. These have usually happened at BeachBound Hounds, and never at our local greyhound playdays or at home with my other dogs. Every once in a while, I've seen him get excited while playing (by himself with toys), and he'll go over to my whippet and 'air hump' but never tries to mount.

 

Ollie, the whippet, will also mount my greys when he gets excited at dinnertime. Willow growls and snaps at him, and he immediately stops. Wiki will occasionally growl, but mostly just puts up with it. I just ignore it and proceed with getting dinner ready, and he stops quickly.

 

I think among familiar dogs, I would be more inclined to just observe and see if they can work it out themselves. In a dog park setting with unknown dogs, observing briefly may be ok, but I would step in if the situation doesn't resolve itself very quickly. Mounting is rude, but fairly normal behavior, and I think people tend to react too strongly, even angrily, because we find it embarrassing. Dogs who are overly exuberant and get into other dogs' faces are just as rude, but people don't get as upset about it, or step in as quickly to interfere.

 

Jacob's behavior at the dog park the other day may have been a one-time thing. Especially if the female might have been unspayed and either in heat or starting to come in. Some neutered males do continue to show interest in females in heat. I was at a dog park once with my boy Corey when someone came in with a black lab who was in heat. Corey acted like he knew exactly what to do, and the owner panicked, saying that he didn't want any puppies! (Why bring your in-heat female to a dog park?!) I assured him that Corey was neutered, and he wisely chose to leave the park. I wouldn't worry to much about it and just watch Jacob for any repeat of the behavior. If he does do it again, and especially if he is persistent about pestering a particular dog, I would just calmly get him out of the situation.

[Guest Adrianne]

I put him in a "time out" more times than I care to count at playgroup

 

 

:lol Poor Merlin. Sittin' in "time-out" at the playgroup.

[MerlinsMum]

I put him in a "time out" more times than I care to count at playgroup

 

:lol Poor Merlin. Sittin' in "time-out" at the playgroup.

 

Well he shouldn't behave like such an impertinent wizard