Humping is common in dogs and not something to be embarrassed about as a paw parent. Puppy’s hump from as young as 3 weeks. However, they reach puberty at 6 to 8 months, depending on the dog breed. The rate of humping might increase, especially if the pup is not desexed.
Humping must not be sexually motivated only. It can be a show of dominance, a show of love, or a seeking for love and attention. Your 8-week puppy can also hump due to overexcitement, playtime and social learning, boredom, or medical condition.
Read on to understand why your 8 week puppy is humping and how to stop it.
Reasons Why A Puppy Is Humping At 8 Weeks
1. Dominance
Dogs are pack animals. Even though they no longer live in the wild or packs, they still consider their littermates, owners, or other pets as their pack.
So, even at a young age, your dog will show dominance to other pets to pass a message that he is the leader. This can be done in both male and female pups.
A pup can also hump on you as a way of showing you that he is your leader. You are supposed to eliminate this behavior by training through commands. With continuous training, he will understand that you are the leader.
2. Seeking Attention
Most paw parents give their puppies much attention in their early days. However, as they grow, parents tend to divert their attention to other things minimizing their attention. Now it is hard for your puppy to adapt as he was used to constant attention, and he might hump to try to get it back.
At this point, most pups do not care whether you are giving them positive or negative attention. For instance, if your pup humps on others or objects and you shout at him, or you use the no command, he has gotten your attention either way.
3. Show Of Love
For ages, dogs have been best friends to man, and no wonder they were the first to be domesticated. But unfortunately, dogs cannot talk like humans. Therefore, they use other methods to express their feelings, like sleeping on top of you, humping, barking, and digging.
4. Preparing for the Actual Thing
We must accept that even though humping is not always sex-motivated, it is somehow connected to sex.
Dogs mature sexually at an incredibly young age. A dog reaches puberty and can reproduce at roughly 6 months and 4 to 5 months for small breeds. Therefore, if your puppy mounts you, it can act on hormonal desires or prepare for what’s to come. That doesn’t mean they are attracted to you or the person or thing they are humping; it might just as easily be a chair leg, a mop, or a sofa corner. Their bodies are programmed to reproduce eventually. Humping can merely be a way for them to prepare for future mating.
5. Anxiety
Puppies have difficulty learning their environments, like new people, new weather, and sounds, and adapting to them. This is because they were born knowing nothing and lived in a different environment in their mother’s wombs.
At 8 weeks, your pup has not fully adjusted or learned what is expected of him, which might make him anxious. Additionally, you have just separated your puppy from his littermates which can lead to more anxiety and increased humping.
Your dog can get anxious due to sounds like a car engine, banged door, washing machine, etc.
6. Playtime and social learning
When a puppy is playing with other dogs, it is normal for them to hump each other. This act is perfectly normal and fun to them. At this time, a puppy learns what is acceptable during playtime and what is not. Playing is important for socialization as it equips a dog with many experiences.
7. Excitement
A pup can hump out of excitement. For example, if you take him for a walk after spending a whole day indoors, he might be unable to control his joy and hump on anything close to him.
8. Medical problems
Humping can be a result of a more serious problem. Your pup might be itchy in genitals and might hump to get rid of it. If your dog is humping excessively, he could be suffering from medical problems like;
- Urinary incontinence
- Urinary tract infections
- Skin allergies
- Priapism (an extended erection of the penis not brought on by sexual stimulation. Untreated priapism might last for hours.)
How to stop your dog from humping
1. Ignore
If your pup is humping to get your attention, you should ignore this behavior.
It might be hard for you to implement, but it is for your and your dog’s well-being.
Give your puppy some time to calm down. Ensure his designated “time out” location is a calm area where he already appreciates unwinding.
Wait till he has been calm for at least a few minutes, and ensure there are no toys or anything he can hump near him.
2. Redirect Your Puppy’s Behavior
Redirecting your young puppy’s behavior, or distracting him, is another effective approach to stop him from humming.
Puppies are typically easily distracted.
No matter who or what it is, if your dog is mounting something, stop him by doing something unexpected. You can whistle, sneeze, clap your hands, dump something to the ground, or do something else.
Move away from your dog once he stops humping so that he will follow you.
Play a game with him, such as throwing a ball or playing with a favorite toy.
He’ll eventually discover that having fun with you is more enjoyable than humping.
If your puppy hasn’t attempted to mount anything after these few minutes, give him plenty of praise, a treat, or both!
3. Exercise
Playing games indoors or another fun outdoor activity is a great way to stop your dog from humping. Any extra energy or stress that may be causing the humping can be burned off through exercises. Depending on your dog’s breed, giving adequate exercise into their daily routine will help them burn off energy and tire them out.
4. Give a command
Train your dog the “off” and “leave it” commands.
Regularly put this training into practice in various circumstances to reinforce the behavior. This will guarantee that your dog always consistently responds to the command.
The next time your dog starts to hump, say “off,” and he will realize that the behavior is inappropriate. The bond you share with your dog is strengthened by consistent training. Through positive training, you can teach them to pay attention to you, making them more likely to do so when you need them in everyday circumstances.
5. Neuter Or Spay Your Dog
As stated before, mounting can result from sexual desires.
Neutering may not eliminate the humping problem completely, but it can minimize it.
Furthermore, neutering or spaying helps control bleeding, reduces overpopulation in shelters, and minimizes the hyperactivity in dogs.
According to research conducted by the University of California Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in 1997, neuter has some benefits like;
40% of 57 dogs aged 2 to 7 years who had been neutered experienced a 90% drop in climbing behavior.
They observed a 50% drop in humping behavior in the remaining 60% of dogs.
Therefore, based on these findings, neutering will at least 50% lessen humping behavior.
6. Block His Body
This method can be effective for your puppy, especially if he frequently tries to hump the same things, dogs, or people. Be keen and observe your dog’s particular habits before humping like;
- Rapidly wagging the tail.
- Sniffing private parts of other dogs.
- Running to the target of their humping desire.
To prevent your dog from reaching his “humping goal,” all you need to do is stand in front of it. Then, use your leg to gently discourage him if he attempts to hump but not force him.
Using this method, you gently teach your dog that his humping behavior is inappropriate, and he will eventually grasp the message.
7. Medical diagnosis
Contact your veterinarian to rule out health issues such as skin allergies, UTIs, or incontinence. Sometimes, the behavior may signify more significant medical issues, particularly in male or female dogs who don’t often hump.
Do All Puppies Hump At 8 Weeks Of Age?
No. All puppies do not hum at the age of eight weeks. Many factors determine whether a puppy will hump at an early age or not. One of the factors is their personalities and those of their mother and siblings.
Some puppies won’t begin humping until they reach maturity, while others never hump unless they are mating.
Should I let my puppy hump?
Similar to play fighting, play humping between dogs can be a positive and acceptable action as long as it doesn’t harm other dogs.
Conclusion
It is common for a puppy to hum on objects, other puppies, or humans. However, you must first understand the root cause of the behavior before taking any prevention measures.
Correcting your puppy’s humping behavior at an early age is best because it can be hard in adulthood. If you are unsure why your 8 weeks old puppy is humping, consult your vet or a professional behaviorist.
