Snifter is humping incessantly

Since Sunday Snifter has been hell bent on humping Toddy. Constantly. It is almost as if he thinks Toddy is a bitch in season. This is usually preceded by Snifter trying to lick Toddy's ears (which is Snifter's usual courtship move).

I have put bitter apple on Toddy's ears, I have tried the squirt bottle, I have tried scolding him, I have tried physically pushing him off (which has on occasion provoked a reaction bordering on aggression). Toddy is taking it well for the most part but it is getting very tiresome and I can see Toddy is getting sick of it. At times he has roared at Snifter and hung off Snifter's cheek with his teeth in an effort to get him to stop.

Last night I had Toddy sleep up with us so he could definitely get some peace and I hoped Snifter would sleep better. Toddy slept fine, but Snifter kept me up half the night crying at his babygate. Tonight I will try having them both in their room as usual but with one of the crates locked shut so Snifter can't actually reach Toddy.

This morning Snifter was in such a frenzy that he refused to eat breakfast. I took them out for a long walk (separately) to see if that would take the edge off it. When Snifter returned and I took Toddy out I left Snifter with his breakfast in the hope he would eat it but when we came back it was untouched.

Any ideas on other things to try? We're seeing the vet on Tuesday anyway as I think Snifter might have the beginning of PK and I will talk it over with her, but if this slavering, panting and not eating lasts unabated until then I think we will all be ready to hang ourselves.

Has Snifter been neutered, Bella? I know I've heard it's not as common over there as it is here. If not, you may want to consider it. When Mike's German shepherd was alive, he all of a sudden started humping Jackson like crazy, but neutering solved that quickly. It actually solved it much faster than I was expecting it to-- I assumed it would take a while for the hormones to get out of his system, but that wasn't the case for him.

No, Snifter has not been neutered. I am reluctant to give up all hopes of showing just yet. However one of the things I will be discussing with the vet is trying out Suprelorin implants, which as I understand it act to quell testosterone production and thus you can see whether castration would have any behavioural benefits before actually doing it.

Hee hee. I just turned round and saw Toddy in his vagrant's box. However he has decided to shut the doors to keep Snifter out! Smart little chap.

I'm sorry Bella, I just have to have a giggle. Snifter's not so much A Very Good Boy now!! I have ZILCH advice as it's been a million years since I had a boy with balls. And he wasn't a mad humper. My first boy was, but unfortunately his life was cut short.

I wonder though if, more than a "sexual" thing it's a dominance one and fiddling with his hormones might not have any effect? Another thought is about doggy-prozac. Sounds like Snifter is building up terrible anxiety about this. It could be turning into an OCD sort of thing. Hope you can sort it out!

And poor Toddy, glad he's got somewhere to hide in and shut the door!

I don't think it is sexual and I agree fiddling around with his hormones may not have any effect. So I don't want to go down the castration route immediately and the implant seems like a good thing to try. It is injected like a microchip, lasts 6 months to a year depending which dose you get and once it wears off you are back to where you were before.

I've ordered one of those DAP pheromone sprays which is supposed to have a calming effect to see if that makes any difference.

He has had phases like this before but they have lasted 2 days or so and have not put him off his food.

Doggy prozac might be something worth discussing with the vet too, Rona. I'm hoping it is just another phase that we need to get through - when it has happened before it has stopped as suddenly as it has started. So I don't want to go down a drug route if it can be avoided, although if there are drugs that can be used "as and when" that might be an option.

Nothing to add - but I adore the picture in the box.

So they both slept through much of the day but Snifter is now at it again and refused to eat his tea, except for the small bit of fish topping on his kibble.

Snifter is not alone, Bella. Denver has taken to humping Farnsworth VERY frequently and VERY enthusiastically in the last few weeks. They're both neutered. I've come to the conclusion that Denver is just super-happy right now. I've been spending more time/nights away from home now that we're down to 4 dogs and have some sitters and when I get home, he's pretty happy to be back sleeping in Big Bed.

And on the subject of being away, last weekend we were enjoying a get-away at a winery in the southernmost point in Canada (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelee,_Ontario) when I was startled to see you, Bella. Well, if it wasn't you, it was your twin. I snapped a picture on the sly so you could see:

Not me, honest. Fancy supposing you might find me in a winery!!! But I can see why you thought it might have been.

Interesting you say you think Denver is just super-happy. Because since we switched Snifter to the total grain free food he has been markedly more cheerful. Maybe this is just the culmination of his joy.

He only ate half his breakfast again this morning, but that was better than none. Snifter has been a bit better today and although they have had the most enormous humping/fighting session just now, Toddy has been getting his own back a bit. Maybe we are slowly getting back to normal. We shall see.

Snifter&Toddy wrote:Not me, honest. Fancy supposing you might find me in a winery!!! But I can see why you thought it might have been.

Well, since "you" were there with a man who wasn't Dave, I figured it wasn't you. But I wasn't about to double-check either - LOL. 'Course, after one more of the many bottles of wine we had consumed sitting in the sun, who knows what I might have done ....

Ah, the humping dog. I see alot of it even with neutered dogs. My Tank who was neutered at age six and is now 11 will only hump in the car AFTER we've gone to the park. And it's air humping since he knows he's not allowed to really hump Hazel (and she'd kick his ass). He sits really close to her and the hips get going.

Candace's Mookie ONLY humps his brothers and only at the dog park. There is an intact male lab there who has never been a humper but just turned either two or three and has become a mad humper.

Hazel does the ear cleaning then humping to Pippin as a disciplinary routine. Don't ask me why ear cleaning is considered disciplinary, but it never fails. If Pippin displeases--fierce ear cleaning and if that doesn't work, then she humps the crap out of him.

I do think for lots of dogs it's a happiness display as well as play.

Ahhh. This was Ruby's favorite activity with Curly when that poor old boy was still with us. So Ruby proves it has nothing to do with "the package" since she has never had one! With her it was completely about control and dominance. I was never successful in stopping it, but did get it to calm down a bit.

When we first got Ruby she also humped my shoulder and arms - I mean with a serious death grip! I read that I should casually pull her off and leave the room, completely ignoring her. That worked! So with Curly, if she humped I said "No" calmly, removed her from the "scene of attack" and put her in her crate and ignored her for a few minutes. Basically, like a kids time out. It did curtail the activity, but it never stopped.

Good luck with this. Keep that box handy - poor little Toddy having to hide away in there!!!

Toddy in the vagrant box is hilarious. My big laugh for the day.

Since Snifter isn't neutered--- maybe there is a bitch in heat near enough that he can smell her, and he's taking his frustration out on Toddy.

Neuter him... Neuter him... Neuter him... Neuter him... Neuter him... Neuter him... Neuter him... Neuter him...

*LOL*

Almost exactly a year on and we are in the throes of another phase. Strange.

Maryjo wrote:Since Snifter isn't neutered--- maybe there is a bitch in heat near enough that he can smell her, and he's taking his frustration out on Toddy.

Neuter him... Neuter him... Neuter him... Neuter him... Neuter him... Neuter him... Neuter him... Neuter him...

*LOL*

My thought exactly. On stallions they put Vicks on their noses so they can't smell the "girls". Wonder if a little of that would change anything?

Interesting idea about the Vicks. I put some bitter apple on Toddy's ears this morning and things have calmed down for the moment. But if they hot up again I might just consider the Vicks, although Snifter would probably lick it off.

We've had Toddy sleeping in with us the past couple of nights so both he and Snifter can get some sleep. However I get really, really hot when that happens as Toddy has to snuggle right up against me all night so I'd be quite happy for things to go back to normal soon.

No advice, just hugs for my crush pug, Snifter. A big hug to Toddy for being the humpee, and an enormous hug to you, Bella. I know what you mean about sleeping with pugs. Penny has to be plastered up against me, and that makes it difficult in the summer, since I don't want to turn the air conditioning on every night. Sigh.

Early to Mid August when a young pug's mind (and other parts) turn to love?

Good luck, Bella.

Indy's been trying to hump Hooli more often lately-he's neutured, but I was thinking maybe it had to do with Hooli's injury (which of course makes the humping lovelier). Maybe it's just August though!

I don't tolerate humping here, ever, never have. And have no problem with it. As a thought, take the victim to the vet for a once over and have the groomer bathe, express anal glands and clean ears. I know, a lot of folks regard this as inevitable but it isn't.