Dutch Shepherd Forum

Nico has been trying to mount Stella lately! (They're both fixed) at first my husband and I laughed like high schoolers and then told the kids they were "dancing" hey I had to think quick! Anyway is this something I should be correcting or just let Stella handle it? She makes it very clear she isn't interested. She will growl and has even turned around and pinned him down.... not sure what the girls in the shelter were like but Nico needs to learn Stella isn't interested



Other than that they are just doing great! She's getting a lot more exercise with him here! She chases him and they pounce and play and wrestle.... she really seems to enjoy having another dog around!

Ha ha, I thought it was supposed to be Stella that got her grove on, lol. Love that you told the kids they were dancing!

I'm in camp of correcting mounting. If she is handling it, then they may just work itself out but I'd keep my eye on it and discourage it. Someone else more experienced can comment further on this.

Just my 2 cents: If your male was fixed after his "drive" kicked in he could just be

But it sounds more like a dominance thing. Your male, if he's new to the family, is trying to show dominance over your female. It sounds like she dealing with it, but by you correcting the dog(s), it will probably remind them both, who the real boss is.

I don't correct humping unless it gets out of hand or they do it in the house. Both Odin and Elli hump each other. Odin tends to fall on her in the house since he's so much heavier and they crash into things, so I'll stop them and let them go outside.

They do it a lot more when they're confined to a room and have too much energy. Once they get outside they usually just wrestle. Elli does it to her blanket when we want her to go to sleep and she still has energy left. I don't see any evidence of it being sexual or dominance based, just boredom or over stimulation. Odin was neutered at 5 months (not my choice) and Elli was spayed around a year.

The 3 intact male setters at the house all hump each other while they're playing. They have never fought and if it was a dominance thing, we'd have a lot more problems. They also won't hump the female setter. They've been trained not to in the house as my mom prefers not to see that or self grooming, but outside they're free to do whatever.

I wouldn't worry about correcting it for the dogs' sake unless someone is getting dragged to the ground or the other dog is correcting too harshly. I used to watch a bassett and great Dane in daycare and the bassett would drag his hips to the ground just to hump him. That's an instance where the humping itself wasn't bad, but the potential injuries were. If it's something you'd rather not see or have the kids around, redirect with a fun game to get out the pent up energy.

Here's a pretty good read about why they can do it: http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/features/hum ... dogs-do-it
I don't disagree with Lyons statement, just that I've had a male in the past that was the alpha of the litter & never submitted to any other dog. He didn't always fight with other dogs but did try to mount them. New people to the house could suffer the fate. He wasn't the perfect gentleman, but was docile enough in his own or new surroundings. I don't know your particular situation, other than what you have explained. So I really could only offer you advice from my past experiences.

I don't usually correct it unless it get out of hand. I use to tell my daughter it was a conga line and no she couldn't join it. Getting in there you coulld possibly get hurt. I carry a water gun ( supper soaker) sometime deffinately when I go up to the dog park. They may mess with you if they're aggitated enough if you get your hand in there, but nobody is going to mess with the super soaker.

Heather

Funny thing I just remembered; years ago I had a Gold Retriever and if he was outside when the mailman came by, he used to hump him, putting his front legs on his shoulders and go at it. The only one he ever did that too...poor mailman!

I have no idea when Nico was fixed all I was able to get from the rescue was his shot records and heart worm negative status.... I really had a night mare of a time with them... most un-organized mess EVER.

He really doesn't do it much... Only when he catches her off guard.... she just snarls at him and turns around and pins him or mouths his face. He's not the dominant type.... he is infatuated with Stella.... he follows her like a little shadow.... luckily for him she seems to tolerate and maybe even enjoy him being around.... she loves to wrestle and play but is always pretty gentle. She's a big lady he's 50lbs she's a good 65.... she is getting so much exercise with him here she could stand to lose a little weight (too much camping out under the high chair) so it's all good.... My mother saw me yell at him to stop humping her while she was visiting last weekend and said "oh let them he's fixed so he's just shooting blanks"

Haha Stella is such a cougar

So I guess I'll leave them alone and not worry about it until he mounts the mail man or something