Is it normal...

Blondie

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#1
for an almost three-month old puppy to be... "humping his pillow" everywhere? How embarrassing... people at home were like :eek: He's just a baby! He's eating Eukanuba and he's HUGE,according to the owner of one of his siblings. Would it be the hormones in his food?
 

Brattina88

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#2
Sounds like it could be a dominence thing. Is he fixed? I've fed my dogs eukanuba all there life and never had a problem... never heard about horomones in food effecting them, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
 

Fury

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#3
Blondie said:
for an almost three-month old puppy to be... "humping his pillow" everywhere? How embarrassing... people at home were like :eek: He's just a baby! He's eating Eukanuba and he's HUGE,according to the owner of one of his siblings. Would it be the hormones in his food?
It's normal, but obviously unacceptable. Fixing him maybe a solution, but if that is not an option, I would suggest discipline. This behaviour may extend from pillows to other objects... like your leg eventually :eek:
 
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#4
It may very well be a dominance issue, but don't rule out the hormones entirely. Neutering won't necessarily stop it in either case. I've seen many altered dogs with the same habit. You'll have a better chance of it working, though, if you do it before he hits puberty.

I'd really encourage you to switch him to an organic food, not just because of the humping habit, but for his general health. Different dogs do have more pronounced responses to hormones, though. Our Buffy kept cycling into season at odd times, even in her too-short life, and we finally realized that it was because she was finding the afterbirth when one of the cows calved and eating it. The hormones in it were kicking in her cycle. Shiva's found and eaten afterbirth (ugh - you try not to get kissed for awhile afterward!) but it doesn't seem to phase her; possibly because I finally convinced Charlie that chemical and hormone laden commercial food wasn't good enough for our dogs so she's not getting the extra hormones regularly from her food. I know, though, that finding a readily available organic food where you are may not be feasible. Where I live in East Tennessee, it's actually easier to get wholesome, organic food for my dogs than it is for Charlie and myself! I'll have to admit, sometimes the ginger cookies I get for them start lookiing good with an afternoon cup of tea. So far I haven't given in to the curiousity, though! (lol)

How big is HUGE? Since he's a Cocker Spaniel, he's still small enough for you to be able to use very moderate aversion-type discipline. He might respond to being squirted with water, or, if that doesn't phase him, try something that makes a very loud noise, like a balloon popping.

Keep us posted!
 

Blondie

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#5
Well he's not that HUGE, per say, but he's huge compared to this other sibling of his, who was the biggest of the puppies when they were a month old. We asked the owner and she's feeding him some supermarket food, that's why I thought Eukanuba had something to do with his being bigger than the other puppies. And well, he actually jumped on this lady's shoe and that was what made me worried! It was the first time this person visited and this was a very bad impression :eek: But other than that, he's been fine. I asked the vet and he said it was a dominance issue actually, and that it was completely normal. I guess I feel relieved, but I'll keep an eye on him! thanks people for your kind advice!
 

iky

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#7
I have noticed that Codi, at 2.5 months now is also starting to hump objects, and i do try and control it, especially when people are around. I have noticed that he does it when his brother and him fight, so i think its more about being the alpha male. The vet said that once they are fixed he will stop. I am not looking at breeding with Codi or his brother, Buddy, so I would much rather have them fixed than jumping walls and getting carried away.
 

Debi

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#8
May not welcome this, but My SIL had a poodle that did that for it's entire life (13 yrs.) NO MATTER what she tried. It was a female and spayed...it was really strange. Giving up...my SIL gave the dog it's own pillow, which saved anything else around. They called the pillow her 'husband'...sorry, it seems a little humerous now...but I know it isn't.
 

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