Help with humping/biting of arms, in a very new dog.

lexiedhb

lexiedhb

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 January 2007
Messages
13,958
Location
Surrey
Visit site
I have PM'd this to the font of all things rescue dog (Cayla) but several heads are better than one so you knowledgeable lot.......

Last Saturday we rehomed a rescue, they think he is approx 2 years old, Staff/ridgeback, think tall, ginger big staff. He had been in kennels for 6 months, but has obviously at some point been in a home, as has been perfect on the toilet training front, despite being left overnight, and for some of the day without the ability to get outside. :D

He has been amazing considering, and has basics like sit and paw, and now stay (really small kitchen, difficult to cook with large dog under feet! :D ). He does have one problem though, which was worse today than it has ever been..... humping. :eek:

Now just humping in itself is not a problem- but he tends to bite (not ever hard enough to break the skin), your arms as he does it. If you pull away though it can be sore, and obviously it is not a behaviour that is ideal in a dog of his size or strength. :rolleyes:

He has done it a few times at home, and a firm no, pushing him off, destracting him has done the trick, but today out on our walk I put him on a long line, to try and work on his recall. All was fine, he goes off, I call him, he comes back, sit, sausage. Except one time he started Humping me, and biting my arms fairly roughly. :(

He repeated this several times even when I put him back on his short lead. Me shouting NO at the top of my voice had no impact, and pushing him off seems to make it into a game unless I could push him off and walk in the other direction fast enough...... easier said than done when he is "doing you from behind!". :o

He has also taken a liking for OH's sleeves, in a similar way to the arm biting when he humps, and it can be difficult to make him let go.

I was just wondering what you would suggest, spray water bottle? bottle full of stones?.... nothing seems to faze him on the noise front though.

So sorry for the essay, and do just say- bog off and find a trainer (which I have done but classes do not start again for a few weeks), I am just worried he will catch one of us wrong.

Many thanks in advance.
 
Cayla is incapacitated at the moment...I'm not sure when she will be back online...just so you dont think she is ignoring you!
Naughty boy! Somebody is finding his new life a little to exciting! It sounds like he is trying to instigate play to me. Water spray bottle would be a good move...and a toy to divert his play to appropriate play with you once he has been corrected. So a firm, cross 'NO', spray and then when he has stopped, immediately a chirpy 'GOOD BOY' and you initiate play with a toy instead.
 
Im managing, in an awkward position with a bladder about to bust.:(
the biting/nibbling/gripping is not a good thing, I would be firm in reprmand and I would use a negative enforcer, be it a check via (chain/lead) when you are out and walk on to prevent it becoming a 2 way wrestle and indoors I would remove him from the room, simple get his collar and lead him straight out and shut him outand let him back in after 10 mins tims out. Try not to grapple with him and make it into a 2 way wrestle, make it quick sharp and firm.
Was he snipped whislt in the rescue (as in just before u got him) if this carries on I would get him check and make sure he was fully cleared out lol.
 
Last edited:
Lexie, I just wanted to add, please be careful, this is a big, strong dog, that you do not know very well. Don't let things get out of hand. I would hate to read that you or your OH got hurt. Maybe the previous owners made a game of this behaviour and encouraged it.
 
he has been in kennels for 6 months and they definitely did not make a game of it, although they did see him do it, just without the arm biting bit

I just need something to shock him enough so that he stops. May try totally ignoring him first, as it is only when I try to push him off that the biting bit starts..... as i imagine he would grab a bitch if she was trying to remove herself
 
As I said, it doesnt sound like a purely sexual behaviour to me, more of an overexcitement, trying to play type thing...which is understandable given his long period of time in kennels, the world must be jolly exciting for him now (and of course you are very exciting too!)
 
Does sound like play/dominance type behaviour doesn't it and maybe being over-excited with all the new stimulus in his life is proving too much at the moment and this is how he's exhibiting it. Certainly try some of the tips given here but, as you say he is from a rescue (it sounds like you have already spoken to them since he's started this), have you asked for their assistance with the behaviour? Many larger rescues are very keen to help and have behaviourists who can come to your house to observe and give assistance.

May be worth a try. It's definitely something you need to nip in the bud sooner rather than later as it sounds rather painful for the recipient of his 'affections'!! Another option is maybe try look back at old episodes of It's Me of the Dog as there are various cases where dogs act in this way and you could maybe get some tips from there. Although I think actually what Cayla said is pretty much on the same lines.

Godd luck. I am sure you will get it resolved, everything's new to him at the moment after all and he needs to know where he is in the hierarchy in the household.
 
SO REPLY ON THE RIGHT THREAD and IS NOT A FIGHTING DOG thanks, and we did leave

Oh and just for the record- Dex no longer displays the behviours in the original OP of this thread, he has come on leaps and bounds since being given time to settle.....
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top