Mounting other Males

[JodiWeigelt]

Hi,

My 8.5 month old standard poodle was just neutered 3 weeks ago.  Before he was neutered, he began obsessively mounting/humping other dogs (mostly other males) when at a dog daycare or dog park, which helped me make the decision to get him neutered sooner than 12 months. 

Though I certainly don't expect things to change overnight, he is still doing this.  I don't want this to become a habit for him.  Do you have some suggestions to help?????

Thank you

[Adrienne]

Hi there,

Welcome back! The good news is that your dog was neutered only 3 weeks ago, while in general, testosterone levels in puppies once neutered fall about a month or two after the surgery. It is a slow and gradual decline versus a one-time thing. So it may take some time for the behavior to completely subside IF the mounting behavior is mostly hormonally-induced. 

The bad news is that, mounting isn't always hormonally-induced (indeed, females, even the spayed ones hump and so do many neutered males). Many dogs therefore mount for other reasons other than the effect of hormones. 

Mounting indeed may be carried out due to mere play behavior, stress, anxiety, insecurity,  excitement/overstimulation, bully, pushy behaviors and sometimes medical causes such as local irritations/itchiness. With humping behaviors directed towards other dogs, the earlier the behavior is tackled, the better the outcome. A dog who has rehearsed the humping  behavior for several months/years is going to be more difficult to tackle compared to a dog who has just started.

Day care personnel should have intervened to interrupt the behavior to prevent rehearsal also because mounting is one big provoking factor for dog fights. According to a study conducted by Tami and Gallagher in 2009, excess mounting led to aggression 85 percent of the time. A dog predisposed to mounting may therefore encounter a dog who will not tolerate this behavior and may respond aggressively getting into a brutal fight. 

Consider as well that mounting behavior is be self-rewarding rewarding so it's another reason why it's best prevent a dog from rehearsing this behavior over and over as it can become quite habit-forming. In such a case, therefore, it would be important to prevent the behavior from happening. This can be done through management (no off leash encounters at least until he is under good voice control). In the meanwhile,  socialization with other dogs,  should be provided in more structured settings that prevent over arousal and self-reinforcing mounting.

For instance, less overstimulating exposures are organized walks with other dogs all on leash,  hikes or small play groups with dogs who help the humper self regulate or  dogs which your standard poodle has never tried to hump (females in your case, if he mounts mostly males). 

 The goal with dogs who mount is to train these dogs to be more under fluent voice control, but this requires some time in training along with very careful monitoring. One would need to recognize pre-mounting behavior in a flash second (like by recognizing that glaze in the eyes/lip licking) and redirect at a moment's notice with super fast speed.

As tempting as it can be to simply pull the dogs off, every time they hump other dogs, I have found that this method risks backfiring. By pulling the dogs off without dealing with the underlying issue, the dogs risk getting more aroused and frustrated over time. 

A helpful training cue may be "leave it," but it's important to give this cue at the earliest signs your dog is about to mount. If you give it too late, your dog may not be able to listen. Here is how to train leave it:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/

Some dogs though seem to respond better to a smacking sound rather than voice, so it may be worthy trying to train a super reliable response to that as well. Here is the guide for that:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/

Is the daycare monitored by dog trainers? If so, they may promptly redirect your dog's mounting or they may use timeouts. Many doggy day cares use this method. Dogs wear a short tab (very short leash attached to collar) and every time the dog is about to mount, he is taken to a quiet and boring timeout zone. Some day care attendants do this for a few times (like three strikes and you're out), and if the behavior persists, the fun is all over and the dog is put on leash and leaves the area for a longer time.

However, this method has also its negatives, for instance, if used with dogs who have done this for some time, it can create frustration and even aggressive responses (like biting when somebody reaches for the leash) especially in some very persistent, obsessive cases. It can also make dogs learn to play hard to catch over time. So I prefer early redirection with the dog automatically removing himself from the situation because a leave it or smacking sound means something more rewarding than humping is about to happen.  

I hope this helps! Last but not least, consider again that sometimes humping behavior may stem from underlying medical issues such as localized allergies and irritations. Most likely your vet may have recognized this when he was neutered, but if you notice any excessive licking or itching, mention it to you vet. 

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Best,

Adrienne