8 week old puppy humping?

jesirose

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#1
I just got my first boy dog Reed on the 21st. Over the past few days, he's been doing amazing! However he likes to hump my boyfriend's arm and hand.

They'll be sitting on the floor and Kyle plays with Reed when Reed will climb up his arm and try to hump it. I told him to push him off and if he does it again, get up and walk away.

This is just puppy trying to play, right? Not anything I should be too concerned about?

We try to have him play with toys, but he is more interested in us than the toys. He will fetch a little but Kyle likes to play wrestling with him! I told him he's going to have to deal with the humping if he wants to do that, but I want to try to stop the humping asap.

Thoughts?
 

Sweet72947

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#2
Yeah, its puppy excitement/play behavior. Just redirect him to something else when he does it, or make all fun stop. Its good to teach him its inappropriate now, so that you don't have to content with his much bigger 8mnth old self trying to "take advantage" of you. Lol
 

adojrts

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#3
Yes, it can be normal puppy behaviour, however your BF really needs to be careful when wrestling with him. If rules for wrestling/play are not taught, as your pup matures he will think it is ok to play like that and they often have little or not bite inhibition.

Absolutely critical to teach boundries and rules while playing to prevent what sometimes can turn into a big problem later that is far more difficult to fix.
 

jesirose

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#4
I really don't like the wrestling play. What are good rules for the wrestling? He already knows if the puppy bites him, to yelp and take away his hand.
 

Dekka

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#5
I really don't like the wrestling play. What are good rules for the wrestling? He already knows if the puppy bites him, to yelp and take away his hand.
Thats the most important rule. If the dog gets bitey or rough the game stops. If you play with those sorts of rules IME it helps teach bite inhibition because the dog learns to be careful even when aroused. But with no rules it can teach the dog that its fun to put teeth hard on people.
 

Maura

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#6
This is dominance behavior. Your puppy is trying to show dominance over the other puppy. Have Reed use NILIF with the puppy. Have puppy sit before giving him a toy, that sort of thing. I would also have Reed feed the puppy. Don't know how old the child is, but even a toddler can sit in your lap and drop kibble.
 

Maxy24

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#7
I disagree with the dominance thing, mostly I don't believe that dogs try to dominate the household. They simply act naturally and people don't usually like it. most "dominant" behaviors people think dogs have are playful behaviors (jumping up, mouthing, begging), instinctual or learned survival behaviors (guarding food/toys/sleeping places) or simply not socially related at all (walking ahead on the leash or busting through doors ahead of owners)
TONS of dogs hump. Puppies practice all adult behaviors through play, this includes sex. While the puppy may have no idea why he's humping (I doubt he's actually thinking about mating with your boyfriends arm) he just has it as one of his play behaviors, just like mouthing, jumping up, play bowing, etc. it comes naturally in play.

However it is embarrassing and less playful dogs will get very annoyed with it fast. plus if the dog gets big and tries to hump someone he could scratch them or knock them over. So, like puppy biting, end the game when he does it and encourage different methods of play.
 

jess2416

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#8
This is dominance behavior. Your puppy is trying to show dominance over the other puppy. Have Reed use NILIF with the puppy. Have puppy sit before giving him a toy, that sort of thing. I would also have Reed feed the puppy. Don't know how old the child is, but even a toddler can sit in your lap and drop kibble.
Reed IS the puppy ;)
 

jesirose

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#9
Yeaaaah :) Thanks.

I don't buy into any dominance stuff. It's puppy behavior. The problem is getting the boyfriend to do it right.

Of course, I can see how you'd confuse KYLE for a child - a 35 year old man can certainly act like a toddler sometimes :) But I love him ;)
 

colliewog

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#10
Yeaaaah :) Thanks.

I don't buy into any dominance stuff. It's puppy behavior. The problem is getting the boyfriend to do it right.

Of course, I can see how you'd confuse KYLE for a child - a 35 year old man can certainly act like a toddler sometimes :) But I love him ;)
:p

I agree that it's just wound up puppy behavior. I'd just re-direct when he does it. It's not a bad behavior, but unwelcome, so he needs to know what you like and don't like, so he knows what to do as he matures. ;)
 

jesirose

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#11
Thanks!

He did it to me last night when I was trying to get him to go eat his dinner. He was more interested in jumping on me. He grabbed my arm and humped it! I jumped up and stormed off. He just sat there looking confused for a minute, then found his food. Dork!

Thanks guys!
 

adojrts

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#12
Although I don't agree with the dominance theroy, one thing to consider is it may not just be play/humping. Some male pups do have well developed testis and their sexual drive *starts* to develop early.
I would watch him outside and see when he actually starts to lift his leg and mark (some do, some don't), at that point you'll want to make sure he doesn't start to mark in the house.
 

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