Dog humping leg

Birker2020

Birker2020

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We have a thirteen and a half year old beagle bitch who has suddenly without reason started ‘humping’ peoples legs. She has never done this before and we have had her since she was a pup (she is in the photo on my siggy). She was taken from a hunt kennel as an 8 week old as she was due to be shot as she was too short at the shoulder to run with the pack so is a 'proper' hunt footpack bred beagle.

Candy first doing this behaviour last weekend when she got excited about my partners niece teasing her. The child had a toy and was pointing it at Candy’s face and running backwards so Candy ran after her tail wagging. When the child ran in the other direction and sat down Candy went up to her and non threateningly started humping her leg. I’ve never seen anything like this with a bitch before.

She’s not on any new tablets or anything to have altered her hormones. My previous dog, a bitch, used to urinate like a male dog by lifting her leg in the air against things but she was on tablets for continence issues when she was older as a result of her being spayed and losing her muscle tone so we guessed the tablets had altered her hormones slightly.

Whether our present bitch is going a bit dually we are not sure. She is a little overweight but otherwise fit, although she does suffer from allergic rhinitis and is on various drugs for this. But she has had this condition for many years now ion these drugs and she has never displayed this behaviour before. She plays like a puppy most days and jumps up and eats up well and goes for walks and has slowed down a little but nothing significantly. She has gone half blind, and half deaf but still gets so much joy out of life. She had a GA for an operation to remove some nasty warts that kept bleeding about six months ago but has been fine since.

Last night she started doing it to my partners leg. He is very angry with her, but there is no point shouting at her as I understand it is a natural thing with dogs. But why bitches?

Why suddenly do this? Are we missing something? Sorry for the long post.
 
Humping can be a social behaviour, i.e. A is dominant to B, so to demonstrate the fact, A will mount B. Puppies/youngsters do this quite regularly.

It can also be malimprinting, though that doesn't sound the case here. (i.e. the dog "sees" humans as equals, possibly because they were taken from the litter too young).

It could be a hormonal problem, especially as she's an older a bitch.

Nature tends to be economical and one behaviour can have a variety of applications. What the scientists probably call displacement activity, though don't ask me for a reference because that was forgotten long ago!

When I'm play fighting with my GSD, she will occasionally make humping motions which I take to be the result of excitement and not something to worry about unduly. She gets a tap in the belly with the toe of my foot because I am cruel brute and don't particularly want to be humped by a dog!:D
 
I think with older dogs that start behaving out of character, it generally does no harm to have them given the once over by the vet.

Henry does this through excitement on rare occasions, he gets growled at to stop it and we give it a moment for him to calm down, then do something else. There's no point in getting very angry about it as it's just a thing dogs 'do', but that's no reason not to interrupt and correct, then redirect her to something else.
 
My 3 year old JRT x bitch humps her favourite bed when she gets excited (usually after she's had her tea or if someone is winding her up play fighting). It's a bit strange/ amusing but we just put it down to her getting excited and let her get on with it.
 
NellRosk said:
My 3 year old JRT x bitch humps her favourite bed when she gets excited (usually after she's had her tea or if someone is winding her up play fighting). It's a bit strange/ amusing but we just put it down to her getting excited and let her get on with it.
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Our JRT humps the cushions on the sofa, she sneaks in if the door is left open (she is not allowed in that room, definately not on the sofa), humps them and also chews holes in them. Real pain as there's feathers everywhere.
 
Sounds like it might be a behavioural/excitement issue then, which would probably be applicable in both cases, the first with the child and the second with my partner when she was at my house (which is rare) and had just met someone new (Dads friend) as well as seen my Dad (whom she adores) for the second time in a year.

Thanks guys x
 
Even though it is more likely that a male dog humps than a bitch, it is really not that uncommon amongst bitches either. The strangest thing for me, is why she has done it twice within a few weeks, if she's never done it before in her 13 and a half years long life? I can't say for sure why your bitch is doing it now, but the following is what I know about bitches humping behaviour in general.

The behaviour can be connected to sexual feelings or dominance, but it can be done for other reasons too.
It can sometimes be used as a way to release tensions or stress.
As Dry Rot mentioned, it can have to do with excitement feelings.
It can be caused by that there is something irritating their genitals.
I've read about a Dachshund (as I recall it), who actually had learned that humping = mother in the family gives him 100% of her attention. The first times he did it while growing up, it probably had to do with discovering sexual feelings, but "his" humans reactions, was that it was the mother in the family that dealt with the problem, by lifting him up and talking (probably long and properly) to him about what a bad boy he was. But for him that way of getting 100% of her attention, was actually a reward, and he quickly learnt what behaviour it was that led to that reward. He also learned that if he did it when she wasn't home or with him out on a walk, there was no point in doing it, because she wouldn't magically turn up and the other family members didn't give him the reward he craved for. This Dachshund's humping habit was solved by that the mother in the family changed her behaviour, she just silently lifted him away and ignored him. And when he realised that it no longer gave him the reward he wanted, he stopped humping. So in some cases, humping can begin for one reason, and continue for a completely different and perhaps non sexual or non dominant reason.

But the most common situations when a bitch humps a dog or another bitch, is before and during being in heat, and then it has to do with dominance, wanting to secure potential puppies future by asserting their position as an Alfa bitch. However, they can of course also do it at other times of the year for other dominance reasons.


Anyway, I doubt that this humping is a sign of that your Beagle lady is "going a bit dually" as you put it. But if it continues to happen, and since it is a changed behaviour, then if I was in your shoes, I would probably want to have her checked up by a veterinarian so that there isn't anything unwanted going on with her hormones, genitalia or something else.
If there isn't a medical reason behind it, and she did/does it because she felt over excited/stressed/hypothetically maybe needed to release a frustration over not reaching the toy or some other similar reason, then I would just put it down to her being a dog, and perhaps try to avoid her getting that over excited or whatever feeling that it was, which caused the humping.
If it she did/does it for dominance reasons, then deal with it the way you've dealt with other unwanted behaviour, say No, distract, lift away and ignore, or whatever else that works best for you.
 
jrp204 said:
Our JRT humps the cushions on the sofa, she sneaks in if the door is left open (she is not allowed in that room, definately not on the sofa), humps them and also chews holes in them. Real pain as there's feathers everywhere.
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I came to the conclusion a long time ago that Jack Russells (and JRT crosses) are not right in the head!! Ruby also has a strange obsession with drains and if she finds one will sit and lick it for hours and yap at it.. One of many of her strange behavioural traits.
 
She's an elderly dog who's senses are starting to let her down, not a young, bolshy male. Don't let her be teased by your niece and don't let your OH shout at her. Give her a break, pop her to the vet and if she does it again just take her by the collar and remove her.
 
Hi AC14

nothing to do with this thread but have PM'd you. AS HHO doesn't actually highlight when someone has written a private message I hope you don't mind me putting this post on.
 
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