A long, long time ago I had an intact male Border Collie (my first BC ever, Drift), who appeared to be failing his job as a stud dog. Although his escort, the lovely Tib, could not have been more clear that she was ready to be bred, Drift couldn’t seem to get the job done. Tib would prance around Drift all shiny-eyed, literally throw her rump in his face and flag her tail so far over to the side that I wondered if it might break off. Drift behaved as though he got the message loud and clear, and would enthusiastically mount Tib from behind. But then he would make one or two thrusts, and his entire body would appear to deflate (not to mention his equipment) while he slumped off to the side. Tib would respond by again throwing her rump at his head and flagging (the clarity of a female dog’s intent when performing this action is impressive, if not almost embarrassing), Drift would mount her anew and again slide off as if someone put a pin in a balloon.
With time running out, female dogs don’t ovulate for all that long after all, I drove both dogs to the UW Vet School to see if something was wrong with Drift or Tib. Nope, they both checked out fine. One of the specialists there suggested I try artificial insemination, and proceeded to school me on how to do just that. If you want to know what it was like to have a 6’6″ man ask me if I knew how to “collect a sample,” and then use my thumb and his hand to demonstrate stimulating Drift to ejaculate, you will have to buy me a martini and ask after I’ve drunk the entire thing. Fast.
I never did have to collect a sample. I figured out the problem by putting on my ethologist’s hat and watching the two dogs carefully as they courted. Once I did, I noticed that right before Drift slumped off, his head turned one or two inches toward me. Humm. I moved to the other side, and sure enough, this time Drift’s head turned the other direction, but again toward me. I then put the two dogs in the garage and left them alone. When I came back in five minutes they were tied (and the breeding was indeed successful.) Here’s what I think was happening: Drift was a two-year old intact male when I got him, and just a few days after bringing him home he enthusiastically began to mount and thrust against the leg of a female friend of mine. I said “NO!” in surprise, and said the same a few weeks later when he tried it on another friend. I suspect that Drift remembered that I had corrected him for mounting, and did not distinguish between mounting my friend’s leg from mounting a female dog in heat.
I tell you this story because 1) it still amuses me even many years later, and 2) it illustrates that what we call “mounting” can occur in a variety of contexts and most probably has a variety of motivations. I am writing about this topic because it is one of the ones requested by readers, and I think it is a great one. One comment mentioned that “mounting” is often labeled as a sign of “dominance,” and yet the dog she has that does it most often is extremely submissive in all other contexts. The reader correctly questions whether mounting is really just about the D word…
Which brings up the question: Why do dogs mount others, anyway? Clearly Drift was mounting Tib to copulate with her, but why did he mount the legs of my girlfriends? Dominance? Mis-placed sexual stimulation? Doubtful on all counts. No one really knows why dogs mount others outside of reproductive activity, but here are the best guesses of a variety of experts:
1. Excitement or arousal: I love the way Peter Borchelt, a fellow CAAB, puts it: “There are only so many behaviors a dog has access to, and dogs do what is part of their species-typical behavior.” In other words, arousal causes individuals to want to do something, and since dogs can’t take photographs of each other or check email, one of the actions they can perform when they are excited is to mount each other. Arousal can be positive (yippee!) or negative (I’m so nervous), but it usually, like anger, asks for some kind of action.
2. Attention-getting or play solicitation: Notice me! Notice me! Surely it is hard to ignore a dog who is clasping your hindquarters…..
3. Status related: Certainly this could be true in some circumstances, especially if the mounter in question is also exhibiting postures usually associated with priority access to preferred resources (direct stares, high head and tail postures, etc.) However, Mark Bekoff, in his blog about mounting, mentioned that he found no correlation between mounting, clasping or humping & dominance in young dogs, coyotes and wolves. On the other hand, Camille Ward, in her PhD research, found that mounting was one of the few play behaviors she studied that was”asymmetric,” in that while two playing dogs alternated who chased whom, they did not alternate who mounted whom. Dog A may mount Dog B, but not vice versa.
4. Control: I consider this a very different category than the one above (although I notice that they are often mentioned together.) Here’s an example of what I think of as control-motivated mounting: Dog A observes two others playing enthusiastically, perhaps barking and growling while they do. Dog A is a sound-sensitive dog, or a dog who becomes anxious around increasing energy levels, and so moves in, mounts one dog as a way of stopping the action. We often call these dogs the “play police,” right?
There’s more to this story. How do you define mounting? Does mounting always include clasping and thrusting? What about what is called “Standing Over,” in which one dog stands at right angles to another and puts its forelegs over the shoulders of another dog. Is that a version of mounting, or something different altogether?
If you are interested in reading more about this topic, I refer you to the excellent article written by Julie Hecht (the author of the great blog Dogspies) in Bark magazine and a post by Mark Bekoff also about the topic. If you like watching and evaluating videos, here is one that includes both “standing over” and full scale “mounting” during plays sessions between Willie, and 2 young dogs. I’d love to hear what you think about what you are observing. I’ll check back early next week and chime in myself.
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: If I was reading this blog I’d be getting tired of hearing complaints about the weather, and how it was 3 degrees Farenheit yesterday morning and we are all somewhat stunned at the relentless, and untimely grip of winter. So, no more complaints (although you noticed I already managed to do so?), but a few words of concern for the Redwing Blackbird and Starling males who have arrived back from the south in order to claim the best territory before the younger males arrive. They may get the best territory, but then, they may starve to death too, because there is pretty much nothing but snow and ice out there to eat right now. Normally it would be in the mid-40’s and things would be starting to thaw out and even grow.
Here IS some good news: Willie and I pushed the sheep up the snow-covered hill in a desperate attempt to try to work sheep again, weather be damned. The flock, understandably, would have preferred staying in the barn yard, thank you very much, and my lead ewe Barbie turned and faced off Willie, her head down and her message clear. “Come any closer and I’ll smash you.” Willie and Barbie have had a long history together, with Barbie getting the upper hand since his surgery, at least if she felt strongly about not going where Willie told her to. But this time Willie stood firm and met her challenge, and darn if she didn’t soon turn her head and stomp through the snow. Willie will never win points for his inherent bravery (me neither) but he beat her fair and square a few days ago and we both walked down the hill a bit taller than we had walked up it.
More good news, for me anyway, is that I’m going off the grid until Monday. It’s spring break at the university and I’ve decided to attempt to wean myself off my iPad and laptop and desk computer and all other devices that keep me connected to a wonderful world but make it harder sometimes to savor the world immediately around me. Katie will post blog and FB comments, I will absolutely adore reading them all when I return to cyberspace.
My photo for this week is one I took for my photo class, of Nellie looking out the garage window. I love how the “stair step” lines of her head and back follow the lines of the cardboard boxes.
amy martin says
loved how Will “told” the bold pup “that’s enough” in an sweet way and then herded the two pups to play witheach other 🙂
Mufaasa's Mum says
“Camille Ward, in her PhD research, found that mounting was one of the few play behaviors she studied that was”asymmetric,” in that while two playing dogs alternated who chased whom, they did not alternate who mounted whom. Dog A may mount Dog B, but not vice versa.”
Camilla needed to be there the day my dog (a BC cross) and a golden retriever spent at least twenty minutes happily taking turns humping each other. It was very relaxed, happy, amicable humping I might add (loose bodies, wagging tails, no growling or crankiness to speak of), and only stopped because the golden’s parent and I got bored after watching it happen for so long. Of course, for the first year or two of my dog’s life he got humped every time we were at this particular park. Nowadays, he only occasionally has advances made on him, and he himself only humps his little brother (when he is very overexcited) and overweight black labs (any chance he gets). I have come to grip with my dog’s chubby-chasing preferences.
Gordon Edwards says
No complaints from me or my sled dogs about the relentless grip of winter. We are lovin’ every minute of it!!!
Sue Johnston says
After observing dog behavior at the dog park for quite a while, I would say mounting means different things in different dogs at different times. I agree it is an excited state that exists first. My dog, mounts infrequently. When he does, it is usually a young dog, around a year, who is excited to begin with. My dog’s behavior leads me to believe, in his case, that he wants to control that dog. He displays stiff body posture prior to mounting. He doesn’t hump, because usually by that time I intercede. I do that primarily because some dogs don’t like getting mounted and I want to prevent a fight. I’m talking about him with dogs he doesn’t know. He has mounted his littermate and I let that play out, because these dogs are familiar with each other and they reciprocate the control role in their play. That’s just my dog. I have observed other dogs at the dog park who will hump anything upright in their excitement. Younger dogs seem to do this as part of their play repertoire, older dogs appear to do this with less frequency with differing intentions.
LisaW says
Have a great time out.
Beth with the Corgis says
I find it interesting how nicely Willie tolerated the puppy standing over him about halfway through. Part of me wants to say “Good boy Willie!” but part of me says “Oh goodness, Will, please make that pup mind his manners!” 🙂
It was my Madison who led me on a fairly long search of the meaning of mounting. Jack was about two when we brought her home. She was around four and at the time was intact. She was by all accounts a submissive bitch and when we brought her home what we observed matched what we were told.
She steadfastly ignored Jack for several days; I think she was a little overwhelmed by the rehoming experience. Jack would invite her to play and she would say “I don’t see you!” and just keep walking.
When they did start interacting it was clear that she was deferring to him in most matters. There were no hostilities at all. For the first several days we kept the house calm and kept Jack from playing too vigorously inside, to avoid any tension early in the relationship.
Then one day he started running around the house chasing his toys in his typical over-the-top manner and she started mounting him. Jack is very tolerant of other dogs even now at six; at two he would rarely correct other dogs for anything. When Maddie would mount him, he would stand there looking bemused. He tried walking out from under her. He tried giving her the most gentle of verbal corrections over his shoulder. He didn’t try the trick that most bitches seem to know instinctively; sitting down.
I hoped that he would resolve the matter for himself, but she was persistent. I sought some advice from some experienced multi-Corgi owners and was told by all means to step in if he wasn’t backing her off by himself, so I did that, but gosh she was persistent! She was obsessed with it. But only when he played exuberantly in the house, no other place.
It is still the only circumstance which I have ever seen her mount another dog. She still does it on occasion. Over time I have conditioned her to seek out a chew toy when Jack plays roughly inside, and she will do that to redirect whatever frustration or excitement she feels at seeing him chase his toys inside. Every time she gets a chew toy when he runs and plays I tell her gooood girrllll.
I tried everything other redirection I could think of but this is what works.
Interesting you mentioned the “standing over” because Jack did this about a week or so into the issue with Maddie. She was mounting him, and he twisted away and put one paw over her shoulder. When that did not subdue her, he stood over her with both paws— the only time I’ve seen him do this with her. He generally treats her as part of his “flock” and so is not quick to correct her.
But the best theory I could come up with on Maddie’s mounting is this: Madison loves to chase frisbees and tennis balls (she goes mad for them), but only smaller ones that she can easily hold in her mouth. The balls Jack prefers inside are bigger ones. She can’t hold them comfortably. If you throw them for her, she goes for them and does the “follow the bouncing ball” thing with her eyes (you can see her whole head bob up and down with the ball) but when she gets to it, she will touch it and then turn and walk away. It does not hold her interest. But the movement excites her (running dogs, thrown toys, etc all excite her). Since she’s excited by Jack’s running and the thrown/pushed ball, but does not know how to participate, she redirects her excitement by humping.
Jack mounts for two reasons: Sexual play (or attempts at the real thing; I’ve heard some neutered males can still tie and from what I have seen of Jack’s behavior around intact females, I don’t plan on ever giving him the chance to try. We were at agility once and someone brought an in-season female to our small class of neutered boys. She asked if it was ok and I said I’d give it a try. Jack was ok at first but then the female came over and started flirting and he was all “Hello, pretty lady” so that little experiment came to a quick end). And the other version is a bit of “play police.” He’s not usually the play police at all; in fact he frequently wanders around minding his own business and checking for edibles while other dogs are roughly playing around him. But if two adolescents are playing and have gotten out of control, to the point that they are running into people and other dogs and not even noticing, he will mount someone, most frequently up near their head or shoulders, until they break up the play. Usually when this happens I have just started to say “Wow, they are getting a little wild…” when Jack jumps in and settles things down.
Honestly at the point at which it occurs, one of the dog’s humans probably should have settled the play session down a minute or so before hand, but I have found owners for some reason frequently don’t want to step in. I’ve called my own dogs out if their herding of other dogs gets too intense, but I’ve seen wrestling get way too rough and everyone just stands around.
I wonder if it is this sort of mounting which has led to the proliferation of the belief that it’s dominance related? However, this is not at all the most common type of mounting I see with dogs.
One thing I find very interesting when I ponder my two dogs and mounting behavior is this: Madison never mounts anyone, never even tries, except Jack. Jack rarely corrects Maddie for mounting him, though he does try to walk away from her.
Jack DOES mount, in both sex-play and in “you need to calm down NOW” situations, but never mounts Maddie; he tried the first time he met her, she gave one soft little growl, and he never tried again.
Yet Jack does not tolerate mounting by any other dog, no matter the size. As I said, he’s quite dog-tolerant (he loves dogs) but never has he let other dogs mount him.
Strange how he tolerates it from her. I guess it’s because she’s part of the family?
Deanna in OR says
Our 10-yo Border Collie, Tenaya, is the one who normally believes she should have first shot at resources, before the rough collies. And Tenaya loves loves loves to play tug. Willow, who is just a couple months younger than Tenaya, is not into the toys so much…she is into chasing Tenaya. The only time (but it is an “every time” behavior) that Willow will mount Tenaya is when Tenaya is playing tug with my husband or me. Tenaya is so focused on tugging that she completely ignores Willow. Tenaya has never mounted Willow (or any other dog that I have seen), and I’ve never seen Willow mount another dog….she only does this in this particular context.
Lately, Bree, our younger Collie (not quite 2) has started trying the “mount Tenaya while she’s tugging” behavior (if Willow doesn’t get there first). Again, Tenaya just ignores it as she would rather tug than almost anything else.
They are all females.
Deanna in OR
Laceyh says
Years ago my tiny aggressive Topsy (SF) used to make my large sociable Hans (NM) lie down so she could mount his head, complete with thrusting activity. I’m not sure how to describe the distinct commanding posture she assumed to do that. She had tried to mount elsewhere but he was too steep to climb. She definitely always had first call on resources.
This was not an invitation to play, nor a response to excitement. I believe it was status related.
Tania says
My female border collie is kind of weird. When she and my male cattle dog mix play, she gets him on his back and then humps his face. Seems to make them both happy and I’m just glad they are entertaining themselves, so I leave them be. I do wonder what’s going on in their heads though.
Kerry M. says
Since I first heard the theory that mounting can be a play interrupter, I have found that explains so much. My dog, Huck, uses this quite frequently in this exact circumstance. If two dogs are playing and he is left out, he will typically go hump his favorite and then he can play, too. When I let it play out, the dog he is mounting typically disengages from play for a doggy version of “Hey! Cut it out!” and while he has her attention, he essentially cuts in on her other partner for a bout of play himself.
I used to interrupt, still do sometimes, but I notice he doesn’t seem to have any other tricks up his sleeve to get in on the play so I try to help him get in the game when I can.
I will say he absolutely has reverse mounting with his two favorite playmates. I haven’t found their motivations as easy to predict. Both are female, spayed, and they seem to do it when over aroused, so that is my best guess, but he mounts both of them and less frequently, they both mount him.
Frances says
My two entire females only mount when they are in season – possibly when they are both in season, but as Poppy has near silent ones it can be hard to tell. Sophy, however, has developed a variation – when she is excited playing in the house she goes into extreme “mate me now!” behaviour, but rolling on her back, squealing and yipping, and eventually indulging in frantic self licking. It started when she was in season, and mimicked the behaviour she would display after she was – unsuccessfully – mated at an earlier season. I do wonder if she is experiencing a tightening of the vaginal ring at these times – or perhaps she has just found that it feels nice and relaxes the tension… It interested me to see a very female version of sexual behaviour in a non-sexual context – although I have to admit that I do rather wish she was less flagrant about it, especially when we have company!
Martina says
Robby definitely belongs into the group ‘play police’. Whenever play turns too rough, too excited between Gina and any other dog and she doesn’t listen to my ‘easy, Gina’, Robby intervemes and depending on her reaction he either just stands between her and the other dog, or when Mailo is involved (our cavalier pup) he mounts her but looks in my directions and stops immediately when I tell him ‘good boy’.
Only last week when it seemed impossible to calm Gina down, he shuffeled Mailo between his feet and directed him to his hiding place below the car (SUV style). I’ve seen him standing in a right angle next to Gina and place his front paws n her back, so far I can’t exactly tell what this is triggered by.
A couple of weeks ago Gina constantly mounted Mailo, I believe he was in a particular juvenile phase then. Gina seems to be very interesting to males (except for Robby) cause all of them first lick her and then try to mount her. Funny enough, she is very tolerant with the young and small ones but not much with adult tall ones.
And from the weather front, this morning I saw the first curious leafs trying to beat winter. Everything seems to be ready for the sun to shine and stay.
Mia says
I’ve seen so much variety with humping behavior I hardly know what to think. The humping is asymmetrical in my house; if my self-important little Corgi is really worked up from play or frustration, she tries to mount my much larger BC-mix (and gets very upset when she cannot!). I’m pretty sure he would never dream of humping her back. With absolutely any other dog, though, (including tiny puppies) the BC’s first recourse is to clasp and hump. He is very anxious with other dogs and does a lot of appeasement behaviors, so I very highly doubt it’s a status-seeking behavior. I’d favor the arousal explanation in this case as well, however the dogs the BC gets along with the best are the ones that hump him back. I have seen this dog happily romp around with another young male for well on an hour, stopping periodically to hump each other. Maybe young males that have reached sexual maturity (weren’t neutered at a young age) are more likely to throw out this behavior in casual “conversation”?
Sandy says
My Beagle mix (Border Collie?) rarely displays mounting behavior. But there are certain dog’s he meets that he gets excited over and then has a one track kind! He has 2 friend’s we meet now and again out on walks and with each of them he and the other dog take turns with the mounting behavior. I read it as a sort of play in him…..bu not sure!
Beth with the Corgis says
Deanna, Willow’s mounting sounds so much like Maddie’s! Other dog playing, Willow being ignored and trying to get in on the action (from the sounds of it.)
Daniel says
Most articles (and blogs/comments/etc) focus on mounting or humping other dogs or human legs. However, I am curious why dogs hump inanimate objects such as couches, blankets, dog beds, and the list goes on. My dog, a 2 yr old neutered male lab/springer spaniel often humps the couch and occasionally other objects such as blankets. A firm “NO” will sometimes put a stop to this behavior, or more frequently a “go mat” and extended “down stay” is necessary. On a particularly bad day I may have to body block him onto the blanket. The behavior has not seemed to cease despite these (light) corrections. I initially tried simply ignoring it, hoping the behavior would fade (I assumed this behavior fit category 2: attention seeking), but alas, it did not.
So, I ask 1) why dogs hump inanimate objects, and 2) what to do about?
Thanks for the great post.
p.s. A great article in Science just came out on genetic adaptation to a higher starch diet in dogs compared to wolves. This has interesting implications for the evolutionary changes necessary for domestication of canines, and I thought readers of this blog may enjoy the article. I apologize that copy right issues prevent me from posting the entire article.
liz says
“A long, long time ago…”
“I can still re-member … how that music used to make me smile…”
Sorry, I know this is not Name That Tune, but can’t help from busting into American Pie with the start of this post:)
Quick comment after a quick couple of viewings of the video:
Small actually looks like he does a “chin over” on Willie while mounting! Could be the angle of the video, but if he is actually mounting and resting his head on Willie’s, then that is a first for me to see.
My overall response is that Small is a bit of a handful of pushiness with a variety of “get a load of me” behaviors, and that Medium and Willie are good sports, with Willie possibly unsure of his responsibilities in the interaction, possibly wondering if someone else will intervene (looking to the camera repeatedly).
Laceyh says
To Daniel:
I had a marvelous foster dog who did that when he was bored. A walk or a bit of new training would turn it right off. His adopter (who had owned several bitches but no prior male dogs) had to learn what this meant in him.
Marjorie says
Both mine will mount if the other is doing something to cause them anxiety, such as being pushy (rushing out the door ahead of the other) or barking at someone, that the other feels they shouldn’t. They are both female and compete for attention. If one is in my lap and the other is concerned about sharing space with me they will try and mount me (thrusting in my lap) while they are looking over their shoulder at the other in concern about maintaining their place on my lap. When this happens I put them down and break off contact with both dogs in hopes of discouraging the behaviour. I have a great pair of book-ends, one is “pushy” and the other is “controlling.” 🙂
Daniel says
Oops, I forgot to add the link to the adaptation to starch article! Here it is (and it is in Nature, not Science).
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v495/n7441/full/nature11837.html?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20130321
Eileen says
My spayed female cavalier had a favorite cat and a favorite toy she humped. She would go at it so fast and furious with the toy she would fall over, and the cat absolutely loved her. My current mixed breed spayed female will hump that same cat (but they just don’t have the same connection) and will try it with some other cats. I can’t imagine how I could end up with 2 cat-humping dogs so I am blaming the cat.
Anne says
I saved this article to read when I could sit down and really go through it. My BC female absolutely will not stand other dogs mounting her, whether it’s what we’d normally think of as mounting or when another dogs tries to ‘stand over’ her by standing at a right angle and putting their front paws on her. She gives them a warning — goes still, stares — and then can swing around very fast and snap at them to move on. I don’t see her attempt this behavior herself…she doesn’t mount other dogs…but she will absolutely not tolerate it from them. She can play with that same dog later if he/she’s gotten the hint and won’t try that again.
When we adopted her at one year, she lived with a Belgium malinois female who, when we brought her back for a visit to her old home several months later, immediately started mounting my dog, and my BC just took it (the only time I didn’t see her fight back). I wonder if this happened to her a lot in her young life, and now that she no longer lives with that dog, she has the “that’s the last time I have to put up with that!” attitude. She generally does not like other dogs in her space and will move away, especially near her face, until she gets to know them and will then initiate play or running/exploring together. I’m interested in what is going on there…and also the best way to react in these situations…as of course I respect her decision to not let other dogs do this to her but also don’t want to a fight to start one day. Thanks for a post that I find is helpful information but sometimes can be a touchy subject among dog owners!
Rachel says
I have a cat-humping dog as well. Both are adult spayed males. Raleigh (the dog) will hump Tiger (the cat). Tiger looks bewildered, then wriggles out and walks away or (if Raleigh has clasped tight enough to preclude wriggling out) bats Raleigh to get him off, then walks away.
This happens in two contexts only, but not in every instance of these contexts. The first is mostly #1 and maybe a bit of #2. I’ll be playing with Raleigh indoors (tug, fetch, etc), but if I stop before Raleigh is ready to be done, Raleigh will try and get Tiger to play. He’ll play bow a a bit at first, but quickly just starts humping when Tiger shows no interest in interacting with him. Second context is a mostly #4. I’ll be playing with Tiger (dangly feather toy) or Tiger will be playing with a catnip stuffy, then when the cat is excited (jumping or rolling around), Raleigh will come over and start humping (without any preceding play-bow postures).
I don’t really do anything to keep Raleigh from humping the cat because it doesn’t happen all that frequently (maybe one a week max) and the cat doesn’t seem that upset by it – he walks away rather than running and he bats at Raleigh with claws retracted. Also, I think its a little funny.
Marnie says
We have three BC mixes. The oldest doesn’t mount anyone and doesn’t permit anyone to mount her. She loves to flop on her back and play bite-face with her siblings and she plays tug but she’s too old for much more.
The 6 year old girl and 3 year old boy mount each other constantly. And I’m talking full on grab the back end and thrust and it just goes back and forth for minutes at a time. Sometimes things escalate a little, there’s some foul language and then some conciliatory sniffing, and they are back to their old selves, but mostly it’s just part of the play. I’m not sure these two really have a strong sense of any sort of status line between them and maybe that’s why they can go back and forth. Is that possible?
LisaH says
The post about humping inanimate objects brought a funny memory to mind, though it involves a large neutered male cat (whose has been gone since June 2000). Bob had a toy we called piggy- a small stuffed orange pig that I had tied a 6 foot green yarn rope onto. He got it at age 6 months and was buried with it at age 13. Bob hauled piggy everywhere, humped it constantly – we’d find that green yarn rope hanging out cupboard doors, under the bed covers, in the tub – and he loved an audience. Besides piggy, Bob was even so bold that he humped a bear skin rug. It was then taken off the floor and put on the wall:). To try to stay on topic …. neither of my BCs hump or get humped.
Martina says
The mention of humping inanimate objects reminded me that at the age of 5 months Mailo humped every pillow (bolster style) in his reach and in order to get to them, he learned to jump on the couch. It. Was difficult not to laugh, cause back then those pillows where just as tall as him.
Susan says
My Welsh Terrier doesn’t play much with other dogs, but she plays with cats. she mounts and humps my cat, who surprisingly tolerates it. she does it when they are chasing each other around the apartment, and when we first come back inside after being out. She has attempted to do this with a couple of other cats, including the barn cat. No other cat has put up with it, and Gimmel stops immediately and begins to play more gently or moves off altogether. I’ve never seen her mount or try to hump any other animals.
Laura says
I’m currently taking care of a friend’s guide dog for a few days while my friend is on vacation. The two dogs are completely happy around each other, but in observing them for now, longer than a usual 3 or 4 hour visit, I believe I have discovered seamus’s mounting/humping behavior. I believe he does it when he’s over-excited to see Flora, the other dog. He attempted to mount her yesterday and she just wiggled out from under him. When he did it again, I just lifted him off. Once they settled down into the same house later last evening, they were content to play chase upstairs in the hallway and play bity-face without mounting. Seamus also tolerates mounting from other dogs and will glance over at me as if to ask, “Uh, Mom, can you get this dog off of me?” I do, because he doesn’t do anything to get the mounting dog off of him. He just stands there and patiently waits for me to interveen.
Kathy says
About the video: I totally agree with Beth-with-the-corgies that Will should have told that small dog to mind his manners. I really wish he had done so, but Will is just too nice and tolerant. And I also completely agree with Liz: that small dog “is a bit of a handful of pushiness with a variety of “get a load of me” behaviors.” They are both absolutely correct.
Why am I so definite in my agreement? Because that’s my dog! And because he can still be a rude greeter and pushy player and he still thinks he’s “all that and a bag of chips.” His behavior around other dogs is a work in progress.
Thanks for posting that video, Trish. It’s great to see him at such a young age. I had forgotten how tiny he was (not that he ever seemed to think of himself as small!)
btw: he now has a “sibling” of the same age (almost 3 yo), slightly larger size (45-48 pounds), and equally high energy level–a cattle dog/bc mix. We adopted the cattle dog to give our dog a companion who might actually rein in his bad manners. And it has worked beautifully–at least in our household. In the last year or so, the two boys have worked out a friendly and equitable relationship in which neither of them is overly bossy, and neither of them engage in any mounting or chin over behaviors with the other anymore; although there were some escalating incidents early in their relationship in which one or the other (usually Mico, the dog in the video) would start to mount and the other one would whirl, growl, and snap a warning–and then they would generally relieve the pressure with a fast game of chase or both would pretend the other didn’t exist and that there was important sniffing to be done elsewhere. There were only a few times when I felt the need to intervene and separate them for a cooling off period.
Mico still goes for the chin over or stands up and rests his front paws on other dogs’ backs upon first meeting them (but it’s rare for him to go for the full-on mounting). It’s highly annoying to most dogs, not surprisingly, and I think it’s behavior that falls entirely into the first category: excitement and arousal. He just doesn’t know what to do with his excitement, so he shows his lack of social skills right off the bat. Like I said: it’s a work in progress.
Beth with the Corgis says
I find it very interesting that virtually no one here mentioned “My dog is dominant and he humps other dogs to show them their place” or what have you, yet there are so many sources out there on the web and books, etc that call mounting dominance behavior.
I DO think that “standing over” behavior is a very strong signal, though, that is intended to convey authority.
Katie says
I have a golden retriever female that will absolutely not stand for any dog to mount her. I have never seen her become aggressive with another dog unless they try to mount her, and then she can growl, snap, and sometimes even try to pin the other dog. It rarely happens anymore because I try and intercede before the dog can mount her. While this may be me anthropomorphizing, I can’t really blame her. I wouldn’t want to be mounted by strangers either!
My friend has a neutered male poodle that will get so excited when he sees another dog he will just start humping the air. I always thought it was a way to channel all of his excitement into some sort of action because the poor guy just couldn’t seem to help himself.
Laceyh says
That “stand over” behavior can be good play. My last big dog, Hans, one time had a grand play session with a bull mastiff (SF) being fostered by a neighbor. Both of them had hip problems, so some activity limits; neither could reasonably have mounted the other. But they played alternate chin-overs just like children – “Tag! You’re it!”
Beth with the Corgis says
Kathy, thanks for sharing! Do you ever wonder how different your dog might have been if he had another dog tell him off a few times when he was young? Or maybe he did and it didn’t stick! 🙂
My parents have a Chessie who is now entering old age. She was a real handful as a youngster; one of those rare dogs who truly does try to dominate her owners. They had an ancient labrador retriever when they brought her home as a pup. The lab let her take his toys, steal his bed, literally knock him down (this was quickly stopped).
Soon after he passed on, her behavior did, if not a 180, at least a 90 degree turn for the better. It may have just been that she finally settled down as she matured, but we often wonder if having him to push around always made her feel like the Big Girl on Campus.
When Jack was a puppy, he had a terrible habit of greeting other dogs by jumping on their heads. After mostly letting him meet and play with mild-mannered, tolerant dogs I finally started letting him greet some cranky ones. None that were actually dog-aggressive, but a few that were a bit grumpy. One very sharp snark by a chow-mix boy taught him a lesson that months of nagging from me never did convey, and that was the very last time he jumped on a dog’s head as a way of saying “hello.” He was an adolescent by that point. He can be pushy in typical over-exuberant Corgi fashion, but I really do think that his encounter with the grumpy dog made him realize that if he wanted to make friends he needed to behave himself.
I just realized this whole post is a total side-bar….. Sorry!
MJ says
I’m another who has witnessed ‘hump me, hump you’ behavior on many many occasions. When the dogs are equally matched and equally into it, it’s really pretty funny. And a good bit of exercise. I’m a bit flabbergasted that a researcher would come to the conclusion that this never happens. My dog was a solo pup and seems to have no clue how to play with other dogs. He isn’t a complete social bumbler … he sizes up all dogs his size for humpability but there are some that he doesn’t try it with. I wonder if he just doesn’t have a better idea.
He is most often the humper but on the occasions that a dog with good grip gets him, he stands for it .. like ”oh well, i’ve been had.” We have had a three car train going at the dog park … two Shih Tzus and my apso in the middle. Dogs *sigh*.
Mary K. says
My neutered male and his bff (a spayed female) often take turns doing the humpty dance :). Usually, it is at the beginning of their play sessions which leads me to believe that it is correlated with being excited because their play becomes much less intense once they have been together for a little bit. They are both quite indiscriminate about which end they are mounting too. It seems that if one of their heads is more readily available than their rumps then that will do in a pinch too!
My guy is not at all tolerant of this behavior from other dogs so I guess it is the familarity he has with his friend that makes it more acceptable to him.
Kat says
The conga line hump is one that I wonder about. I have much more to say on the subject of mounting and will be back to say it but for now let me offer you my favorite conga line image. A woman that did Great Dane rescue brought three of her dogs to the park, there were two other Danes already there. One Dane put his paws up on the fence between the big dog park and the small dog area watching the little terrier run around. Immediately another Dane mounted him, and another him, until there were five Great Danes standing up with their paws around the one in front humping. Then the basset hound joined on trying to hump the last Dane in line. With his long body the Basset could get hold of the Dane but he wasn’t connecting with anything but air no matter how enthusiastically he pumped. I so wish someone had had a camera that day.
Kim says
A wee off topic here…well sort of…it’s mounting related, but between species.
I had a cat that used to mount dogs. I once found him humping away on my sister’s staffordshire terrier’s head outside where the dog had (previously) been taking a nap. I heard the cat making weird noises, looked out the front door and saw the poor dog PLEADING me with her eyes to make the cat get off her head. This same cat “rode” dogs whenever they became rude to him or would tick him off…he’d leap on their back, wrap his legs around the dogs body, grab the back of their necks with his teeth, and scream at them. Mostly these dogs were new dogs to the household or friends dogs that visited frequently. As a result, I never saw these dogs show undo interest in this cat afterwards…in fact they either respected the hell out of him, or were terrified of him. He was a “different” cat for sure 😉
My sister also has 2 cats, brothers from the same litter, that hump each other in a specific context…it appears that one will hump the other in an effort to MAKE the other cat get up from where he’s laying down. It’s like one want’s that specific spot and is trying to make the other cat give it up.
Has anyone else experienced these things with their own cats?
Beth with the Corgis says
Hmmm. I think that most of the times when cats hump, its sexualized role-playing. Cats have a much smaller social repertoire than dogs, being by nature more or less solitary animals. They can and do make cat friends, but they are much more selective (and the relationships much more delicate) than dog-dog relationships tend to be. I’ve not had a cat who humps, but from what I have read from sources much more knowledgeable than myself, it usually is a sexual thing with cats.
Jane says
Hi, This is an old topic but I have a slightly different situation. My puppy who is female and 9 months old exhibits the mounting with some playmates. She first did this with her bff who is her senior and who she has known since she was about 10 weeks old. He has done this to her since she was little. Recently she does this to him and he to her. I read here that it is something that is one dog only. In her case they go back and forth. She does do this with other dogs during play and it just looks like she is just having a lot of fun. She does this to dogs who are her elders and who she respects as such and they tolerate it. I am sending this because while I think she is fine there are other dog owners who find her behaviour aberrant and because it is a behaviour that for her goes back and forth with her playmate so it is not just one engaging in the behaviour.
Charles G. Couturier says
Ahh, social status do exist, and it leaves a long lasting impression 😉
Good that you could find the right hat on this case.
I can only talk about my female, as I know her much more than I know any other dog.
The question of mounting became interesting to me, one day, after I placed her in day care for a full day. She was in her teenage, and she’d been neutered a month before that roughly.
Before that day, no mounting. After that day, she starting mounting my leg. Humm, that’s interesting.
I tend to believe pretty much everything I read on this topic. It can be a bit of this, a bit of that, excitement, play, etc…
But, as for my girl, my Shiba Inu, in relation to me. It is 100% sexual. She masturbates on my leg. If she can not get a satisfying friction point “rapidly”, she does what Drift used to do. Deflating and dropping the charges. However, if she does get a good contact point, and can experiment some friction, she’s gone for about a minute.
Then she’ll spend a minute telling me how much she loves me, before getting back to her sniffing business. It usually happens outdoor, 40min into our walk, after having hunted a few squirrels etc.
I find this aspect fascinating. If I had to pick a phd subject, it could be sexual life among neutered dogs.
Joanna says
Ad.3 Mounting being asimetric – my obserwations of my foster labrador puppy disagree with those of Camille Ward. While playing with other dogs it was quite often that when the play was symetrical and dogs were more or less similar – mounting was also symetrical. That happened with him playing at least with 3 other dogs. When he played with a much smaller and younger puppy – there was no mounting at all. Sometimes, though, he met dogs that didn’t want to play his style (and be mounted) and some of them managed to redirect him into chasing. With some dogs, thay allowed him to mount them but didn’t mount back.
As to the paw-over-shoulder behaviour I think it is different, though is may be rather a spectrum than quantified behaviours. Paw-over-shoulder for me looks more like a control / dominance type of behaviour.
Kelly says
We recently adopted a rescue dog that is about 4 years old and appears to be a golden retriever. She is so great in so many ways, but when I play frisbee with her she grabs me and starts humping my leg. She will also do this to me on the couch and to my son when he is sitting on the floor. Honestly I really HATE this behavior and find it super embarassing. How do I get my dog to stop humping people?!!