I have a 14 month old yellow Lab who has been trying to hump other dogs since he was 8 weeks old. His breeder assured me when he was that young that it was purely playful or an early act of dominance. But is has only gotten worse. He can't interact with any other dog without wanting to hump them. He does not want to hump anything else but dogs. No legs, no toys, nothing. Just dogs and doesn't matter what breed/sex/or if they are fixed. And no kind of correction seems to deter him (even bites from other dogs). So now I'm wondering how much of it might be tied in to him not being neutered. I'm sure it's not helping the situation even if he IS being playful or domineering. It seems there are a lot of people divided on this issue so it's hard to know what to do. Some say it stopped the behavior immediately and others say it didn't help at all. I don't want to put him through anything that's not necessary but I also want to have a dog that is a social misfit.
It helped with mine, although the daycare said he had an incidence with humping and was easily corrected. However, he had only a couple of incidents of humping before hand so he hasn't made a "habit" out of it yet. He has stopped humping his animal toys. Still humping his blanket and bed though.
You can get implants that reduce testosterone without going through a full neuter operation. In the UK there's suprelorin. That would let you know how neutering would affect your dog. If it reduces humping you could then plan on having him neutered. It may be that it's a learned behaviour now and no longer driven purely by hormones. If so the only remedy is training. You'll need a rock solid recall to keep him away from other dogs.
My intact male is 5.5 yo. He used to mount a lot more when he was younger. Reduced significantly from about 3.5 yo. He has only mounted dogs, nothing else. He doesn't always mount - nowadays he goes days and weeks without trying to mount another dog. He is usually very sociable - on the odd occasion his hackles rise and he tries to avoid the offending dog. It seems his reasons for mounting are across the mounting spectrum depending on the situation. No single reason. But he does listen to other dogs and won't continue if told off by them (although gets hugely excited and dances around them) and absolutely won't try to mount an obviously dominant dog (big or small). He won't listen to me when he's fixated on mounting, though - only solution is to put on his leash. His brother would hump his owner's leg as a puppy. Neutered at six months. Humping stopped immediately. I'm guessing you'll get advice across the board for each unique dog. The implant seems like a reasonable attempt to see if neutering will have the effect you desire, although of course it does come with potential side effects.
At 8 weeks, this certainly wasn't a sexually-driven behaviour, and so I'd agree with Barbara that the chances are it's a learned behaviour. Some dogs hump through social awkwardness, it's not all about dominance. Because it has been going on so long, and from such a young age, I think you'll probably find that neutering has little impact. If I was considering neutering my boy to correct a behavioural issue, I would certainly use the chemical castration option first, in order to determine if the lowered testosterone did, indeed, help, before putting him through what would otherwise be unneccesary - and irreversible - surgery.
Stanley was a MAJOR humper at 11 months. Just like your boy it was only other dogs, he didn't bother with toys or anything. But every dog he came across he would try and hump - even puppies. We had to get him neutered for day care purposes. I didn't expect much to change and thought it was going to be a behaviour we were going to have to train him out of but after he's been neutered I've never seen him hump another dog. He just plays nicely now. He's also stopped marking everything on his walks, which makes it a bit easier to walk down the street without having to stop at every object Apart from that, he's still the same. His personality and bounciness are the same - which I was really pleased about
That's also something that can be trained, though - Shadow is a lamppost pee-er as much as the next entire dog, but since being informed we could be liable for a €300 fine for letting him do it, we've become rather militant about not letting him. It was a bit painful at first, but he understands now. I'm not against neutering, and fully understand that it is something that needs to be done in certain circumstances, such as for people who use day care services. I do, however, think it's worth investigating whether it will make a difference before resorting to surgery if that surgery isn't otherwise necessary. This is entirely possible with suprelorin. You could be introducing unwanted behaviours by messing with the dog's hormones and once the 'nads are gone, it's a little too late to do anything about it.
My 3 year old neutered boy occasionally humps when he's playing & gets over excited. He'll hump whoever he's playing with, regardless of gender/neutered/entire/age. We step in an remove him and he goes back to normal play. He also marks when walking. I've encouraged this because he was so old before he cocked his leg (nearly 2!), I was delighted when he finally did it - I hope we don't get fines introduced!
At 8 weeks old his humping certainly wasn'the of a sexual nature and dogs don't hump for dominance they hump because it's enjoyable and rewarding. As previously suggested chemical castration would indicate as to whether there is an improvement in the behaviour but frequently the only real solution is training and preventing the self rewarding behaviour.
@JenBainbridge . That's good to know. My boy doesn't mark anything on walks which is nice and he still pees like a girl which is fine with me too. lol. Now if I can just get him to act like a gentlemen.....
Hi, I have just brought my new puppy `Oakley` home. I am a fresher in terms of Labradors although I had lots of dogs through my childhood. Do most owners of males, get them neutered? The breeder recommended it to us. How old do they need to be and how much can I expect it to cost. Also (sorry to be a pain), could anyone offer the pro's and con's and how significant the operation is? Thanks.
It depends where you live @Oakley's Dad - it's a becoming lot less common in the UK now, for instance. Some day care places may force it on you. Coco was neutered at the ManxSPCA, age around 14 months, where we rescued him - it's their policy. I've not been in the position where I have to make the decision, so haven't looked into it. I can say, it didn't calm Coco down as they suggested it would. He has calmed with age & training. If you decide to neuter, I believe it is best waiting until your boy is fully grown if you can.
Not sure where you live but here in the US you can get the Humane Society to do it for about $80 and the recommended age is usually over a year. The rest of your questions are all subject to personal experiences and opinions depending on who you ask. It is truly a divided subject with very wide spread results. So it's like any other issue that people don't agree on. You just consider the source, take in the advice, weigh it against your particular dog and situation and make the best decision you think is right for YOU. Good luck!
