humping pup!!!

Hey guys! Just wondering if its normal for a pup to start humping at 7 weeks old? I thought he Maybe trying to dominate over me as i was the one that got it yesterday and he had been leaning on me and stuff, i read that these are signs of dominance. Today however my nephew came to visit and tried it with him. What's going on lol x

When he does this try to distract him with a toy, it shouldn't really be encouraged. Try not to laugh at him when he does it as this may encourage him to to it more. It is a dominance issue in older dogs.

Agree with Kathy it should definately be discouraged and is a sign of dominance.

I thought it was, if its ignored and we distract him will he eventually learn not to do it?? Kathy he is only 7 weeks old lol he isnt an older dog lol do you mean it can become an issue if we don't sort when he is older???

It can become an issue when he is older. It's an attempt to assert dominance which other dogs may react negatively to. If you stop the behaviour early it makes things easier.

Aha many thanks

Lozlil wrote:I thought it was, if its ignored and we distract him will he eventually learn not to do it?? Kathy he is only 7 weeks old lol he isnt an older dog lol do you mean it can become an issue if we don't sort when he is older???

Sorry yes this is what I meant.

Agree with what everyone else has said in trying to discourage it before it gets to be a problem. However, I have a question about it: is a puppy that young actually asserting his dominance, or is it just a puppy thing, learning about behaviours while still young? A 7 week old puppy trying to be dominant seems...odd?

I don't necessarily see it as dominance at this age, seems far too young (though it can become a dominance issue later in life). I've seen numerous puppies doing this with their litter mates and I believe its part of natural play and exploring new behaviours. However, even if it can be considered 'normal' definitely discourage either by ignoring it/stopping play or a small touch in the flank region stopped my puppy in his tracks when he started doing this.

Its something that you must continue to monitor throughout their youth, as I like to discourage any form of dominance towards other dogs as that (in my experience) can often be the starting point to a fight.

When I bought home a big panda bear teddy for Hugo he started humping it from the off at 8 weeks, it was the only thing he humped and now it's destroyed he doesn't hump anything.

Mine is 9wks old and started humping things last week! I wasn't sure either if I should correct him or give him something else to use? He started humping one of his toys but now he tries my leg! I really had no idea it would start this young..

It may or may not be dominance, even at such a young age it's possible. However, whether it is or not doesn't matter at the moment. It should be discouraged before it causes problems later on!

Believe it or not, Dempsey started humping within 24 hours of us getting him! With him I think it was dominance, & we never let him get away with it. Now, he rarely humps.