So Stryker has Dozers old "humpy." He's been treating it as a bed time snuggle buddy until this evening. We come inside after a few hours of play, his terms not mine. First thing he does is run to his pen, grabbed "Humpy" and started mounting it. I couldn't help but laugh because he's only around the 11 week age. He does have both testicles.. Isn't he to early to start doing that? It's tough telling him to stop when it's just so funny seeing this little guy getting down and dirty. Is he doing this because he smells Dozer on it and is this behavior normal for his age?
It's absolutely normal for puppies (and dogs) to hump objects. Sometimes it's a favorite blanket, pillow or toy, sometimes it's other dogs, and sometimes they have a favourites person they love to love So, you don't need to worry about it, but you do need to decide what to do about it. Some owners don't get bothered by this, but do consider that what might seem cute when done by a little puppy may not be quite so cute when done by a full grown Lab. Personally I don't want my dog to do this, so when I saw it happening I would redirect him with a command such as "sit" or "lay down" or whatever, or redirect his attention to a non-humpy toy such as a ball or Kong. Other owners keep one toy for humpy fun and only allow the dog to hump that in the privacy of their own home Anyhow that's up to you. My dog at 4 doesn't try this on very much any more, if he gets silly and excited at a dog park and starts this behavior I give him short time outs and if he persists, we leave. It works for us. I'm sure you'll come up with your own solutions!
Willow humped her meerkat toy a few times when she was around that age. Very funny, but I distracted her and she grew out of it really quickly. It tended to be when she was over-excited.
Oban started at 9 weeks on towels and dirty laundry on the floor. That's when I got him a big teddy bear, Poppa Bear, who was bigger than Oban then, and encouraged him to hump Poppa. Oban will be 9 years old soon and has never humped anything other than Poppa.
Homer started humping his teddy when he was quite young. We left him to it, he did it occasionally and never humped us. As a young dog he was humped first by another dog and only after that tried it out a few times with other dogs, just playing nothing adult about it which we discouraged, unfortunately the other owners weren't as aware of what their dog was up to. He is four years old now and when he gets over excited he'll have a little moment with his bed. We just let him get on with it as it only lasts a short time and he settles down afterwards. Only embarrassing moment was when he decided to have a go at his bed right next to my Aunt.
We hide Poppa in a closet when company is over. Except I found one day, upon my return home, that the OH and his friend, a dog person, thought leaving Poppa out so Oban could perform was great entertainment.
When Dozer did it I kind of encouraged him because it was just funny the way he did it. He did get my sisters German Shepard/Lab mix pregnant once when we left them alone together to long. When the puppies were born he wanted NOTHING to do with them. With Stryker, I took it away just for a short time and gave it back to him. I figured if he's going to do it, he's going to do it regardless so. I'll just have to find a good distraction or make sure "Humpy" doesn't leave his pen.
It could be because I'm up WAY too late, but this is just the best laugh I've had all day. Your photo of Oban has him looking so sweet and innocent, too!
