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Female dog humping ?=\


PsychGirly

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My aunt's Maltese, Daisy, is about 8 months old.

 

She'll randomly walk up to people (usually me), and hump their arm. It's really weird cuz I know this is common in males, but I've never heard/seen it in female dogs.

 

I searched it online & it says it's a dominance issue. They usually do it when they're annoyed, etc.; but this isn't the case with Daisy. I have noticed her do it when she's upset, but sometimes she'll just randomly walk up to me and try to hold onto my arm, & she'll hump it while she growls.

 

When she does this, I've tried doing 2 things: 1) I say "No Daisy!" & I pull my arm away, but this makes her even more aggressive & she runs back & does the same, but bites & barks this time. 2) I try to calm her down by saying in a nicer voice, "Daisyyy nooo, good girllll" while I pet her and gently remove my arm. This sometimes works, but usually doesn't make a difference.

 

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, how do we stop it?

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i would be disiplaning the dog. soon as she does it. put her in a confined space with nothing to do. no toys. no nothing. 5 mins at first. the let her out.

 

other trick with dogs.

push out there back end. sets them off balance and shows that you are more dominant.

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My female dog does it to my male dog's face all the time lol. We haven't done anything about it because we don't find it annoying, it's kind of cute and funny.

 

She's a puppy, maybe she'll grow out of it? A lot of puppies show weird behaviours but grow out of it once they're adults. But it could also a dominance issue like with my female dog, but she's very passive and never causes any trouble, which may not be the case with your maltese so I think you're right in disciplining her (not harshly though).

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Psych - it is DEFINITELY a dominance issue. Next time she does it, pick her up and then place her on her back on the floor...hold her down gently if you have to and tell her "NO!!!" in a stern voice. Don't let her up until she is no longer struggling or growling. It may take a couple of times, but she will get the hint that she is not the Dominate Female in the pack. It is definitely best to do it now, while she is a puppy.

 

Hope this helps!

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She'll randomly walk up to people (usually me), and hump their arm. It's really weird cuz I know this is common in males, but I've never heard/seen it in female dogs.

 

 

I always found this quite strange. I remember one of my friends had a female dog that used to carry around a battered stuffed teddy-bear and hump it.

 

Back then, I never understood why they didn't just trow the teddy bear away and try to stop the dog from doing that.

 

I'd be even more concerned if the dog was doing it to people.

 

I definitely would tell a dog "no" very sternly if it did that to me.

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It has nothing to do with dominance. Humping is primarilly a sexual behavior, male or female, spayed or neureter. It is also done in play and to release stress and excess energy.

 

How much exercise, mental stimulation (as in being allowed to sniff on walks, play with other dogs, training - positive reinforcement based, as it gets the dog thinking about what it need to do to receive reward), and chewing activity does she get to do daily? make sure it is plenty.

 

this is common behavior issue in dogs her age - typical adolescent - and it can beome a more chronic, behavior problem. So make sure her daily activity needs are met and from there, if it continues, you can punish it by removing yourself and everyone involved from the room, not for 5 minutes as another poster mentionned - it's to long a duration for her to connect the dots, when you come back she will have forgetten the reason you left - but for about 15 seconds. EVERY TIME she humps, she looses atention and interaction from people. No talking to her (not even a "no!"), it just gets confrontational and it doens't work wioth her as far as I rememeber she growls at you?

 

and reward the times when she has four feet on the ground and is interacting nicely. the more you reward wanted behaviors, the more of them you'll get.

 

For issues like puppy nipping and jumping up on people, same principle. remove attention, if necessary go shut yourself in other room, for a few moments. You must me very consistent and others too.

 

I work with dogs with behavioral issues and this works. Don't get caught up in the "dominance" thinking, there is no need to dominante and it's not what your dog is trying to do. it will just get you into a confrontion/ower struggle and increase your dog's stress (and maybe your own).

 

Pick up a copy of the book The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson, she's one of the top people in dog training and behavior issues. Highly enjoyeable and ground breaking book.

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Psych - it is DEFINITELY a dominance issue. Next time she does it, pick her up and then place her on her back on the floor...hold her down gently if you have to and tell her "NO!!!" in a stern voice. Don't let her up until she is no longer struggling or growling. It may take a couple of times, but she will get the hint that she is not the Dominate Female in the pack. It is definitely best to do it now, while she is a puppy.

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

Don't alpha roll her.

 

This is dominance based training / behavior intervention.

 

was introduced by the Monks of New Skete who have since gone back on their recommendations.

 

Cesar Millan has now revived it which has been a huge issue in brining it back into popularity.

 

Pick up a copy of the Culture Clash. Libraries even often carry it.

 

And read the recommendations from these sites (American veterinary association of animal behavior):

 

link removed

 

link removed

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Humping may be inappropriate to us humans, but it is not about the dog trying to dominate you. We need to teach our dogs what is appropriate to us, they just don't know. Often humping is just excess energy, silly adolescent dog behavior (and yes, hormones can be involved too. dogs don't have social inibitions like we do about sexual behavior). We need to make usre the exercise, mental stimulation and chewing needs are met first of all.

 

Dogs come into our lives and act according to their understanding of the world. It is up to us, the beings with the larger brains, to make them understand what is and what isn,t appropriate and there is no need to turn this into a dominance issue or hold the dog down forcefully until it stops growling and/ or struggling. That is a GOOD WAY TO GET BITTEN.

 

Humping can become a more chronic issue in understimulated, underexercised dogs, especially if they have been getting away with humping for a while and it has now become a energy-release, stress-reliever that they have turned into a habit from chronic use (and there are biochemical changes that take place in their brains much like with any stress-relieving (I include here the stress from lack of exercise and stimulation), displacement behavior: licking, tail chasing, ...) ...

 

see what I recommended in my other posts (a force-free approach to solving the issue...).

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She is already biting people. She is showing aggressive behavior when corrected. She growls and comes back at the person telling her no.

 

I agree, there are many different ways of correcting bad or unacceptable behavior.

 

You bring up several good points and options, as well.

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sometimes she'll just randomly walk up to me and try to hold onto my arm, & she'll hump it while she growls.

 

When she does this, I've tried doing 2 things: 1) I say "No Daisy!" & I pull my arm away, but this makes her even more aggressive & she runs back & does the same, but bites & barks this time. 2) I try to calm her down by saying in a nicer voice, "Daisyyy nooo, good girllll" while I pet her and gently remove my arm. This sometimes works, but usually doesn't make a difference

 

The problem with the growling/biting sounds 2 fold.

 

First off, it sounds like growling has gotten her what she wants in the past. could you describe other behaviors where she growls? I recently had a client with a dog (a Maltese, actually!) that growled when put on the floor when it wanted to stay in her arms. It also constantly solicited attention by jumping up and down, up and down, up and down, in a frenzy. My client was at a loss, feeling totally controlled. The types of behaviors I describe create a vicious cycle of overarousal and it reminds me of Daisy's humping and growling issue. This works for her (she gets wah she wants in the end), and she feeds on it (she gets wound up on it, or wants more and more of it).

 

Second, it sounds like she is easily frustrated. A lot of dogs have poor impulse control and some are easily frustrated, especially those that are used to getting their way with any behavior, including growling/biting (I take it the biting isn't extreme and hasn't broken skin other than in a superficial way). she wants to hump, and she frustrates when you say "no".

 

when you try the "gentle", coddling approach, it works "sometimes". this indicates that part of her frustration ALSO comes from the saying of the "no". A lot of dogs become more stressed/frustrated with punishement. The punishement I suggested is removing yourself from the interaction (it's called "negative punishement", in the science of operant conditionning. Yelling "no!", forcing a dog onto its back, anything, ADDED, is called "positive punishement" - just some jargon for ya!).

 

using force to submit a dog, comes at a cost. read the documents I sent you.

 

sure, she may become frustrated with the negative punishement (=the removal of your attention, the leaving the room for a few seconds). But she will loose the ability to control the interaction by jumping at you, growling and nipping. You will be safe and able to make her understand: humping = total loss of interaction/attention. When you come back, ask for a behavior she knows (example: "sit") and praise and reward with a treat or toy.

 

lastly, this is your aunt's dog. sadly she may be lacking in training, boundaries and exercise and stimlulation. You cannot perform a miracle. If this works for her with your aunt, your intervaentions may never really make a difference. But, she may learn to behave differently with you, if you consistently offer a consequence.

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Thank you so much 1morechance!

 

I replied to your PM as well, but just wanted to thank you on here, also.

 

One thing I strongly agree with you on is the issue of punishment. I don't like to punish her for every little thing she does. I prefer to train her out of a behavior by using the rewarding system.

 

Unfortunately, my aunt has scared the crap out of the poor dog. She has a really sharp, high-pitched voice, and Daisy has started to respond to yelling when it comes to punishment.

 

I've only recently been seeing her a lot since I tutor my little cousin daily at their house. It's been about 2 months. Before that, I wouldn't see them much, so I wasn't aware of how they were training her. Now that I've been around long enough, I realize that my aunt is the only one in the house who ever has attempted to "train" her, and that's mainly been by using her voice & sometimes even other loud noises (like hitting something against the table) to get her to stop. All this does is makes daisy fear her, not respect her, and it shouldn't be like that.

 

That's basically what I've been trying to change. I've been trying to get her to respect & understand what I say, not use the tone of my voice or certain words to scare her.

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