Mass Humpage!

Hi All - Thanks for all your welcome messages.

Today we introduced our 18 month old rescue dog Cujo to a friendly 'veteran' sheep dog who is very mild mannered.

This is his second introduction now.

They were introduced on mutual ground both on leads, after the standard butt sniffing and intros everything was fine, both tails were wagging and we let them both off the lead for a free run.

As soon as cujo was free he launched onto the poor sheepdog and began to mount him! initially he dissisted as the dog gave him a warning but he still contined and was ignoring commands etc.

He had to be leashed again and taken off for a solo walk and a swim to cool him off!

He has done this before and it has caused problems with aggressive dogs, Should I have him castrated? would this help or can it be curved through training?

Any help and tips appreciated as he's keen to socialise and play however i'm worried he will try and mount a aggressive dog and it will all become very unpleasant!

Thanks in advance! Cujo, Jeff, Jodi & Family

Castration may or may not help - it's not a guaranteed cure, I'm afraid. Mounting another male is almost always a sign of dominance & yes, it can cause a lot of problems!

The best way (whether you castrate or not) is training. Every time he does it, a firm "No!" or "Leave!" or whatever command tou want to use, and pull him off immediately. You should then stop all play, at least for a while. Personally I'd end the play period there & then until next time you see them.

i waqs horrified when a dog we used to meet did this to Woody everytime they met, it wasnt neutered. However after 18 months of never having done this himself Woody mounted a male puppy himself and is neutered. straight back on the lead for him every time he did it and it seemed to get the message across that if he did it he couldnt play

thanks for your thoughts the domination thing fits as they were cujo's first intorductions to other dogs i chose friends with particularly mild veteran type dogs....at what age is a staff or similar considered sexually mature?

do you think persistance and training will curb this as he gets older?

Being male I feel awful even considering it!

Keep your suggestions coming people its nice to hear from people that understand and dont assume i'm harbouring a trained killer!

WINGNUTBRUNO wrote:

Being male I feel awful even considering it!

Keep your suggestions coming people its nice to hear from people that understand and dont assume i'm harbouring a trained killer!

where as we women have no qualms whatsover lol!!!

yeh i used to think the labrador that did it to woody was a sexual deviant but then when he did it himself i was like noooooooooooooooooo!

arethe dogs neutered that he does it to?

Don't worry, I'm sure he only kills on command!

I think staffs tend to become sexually mature at about 8 - 12 months, but not mentally & physically mature till about 2 years old.

Whether to castrate or not is purely your own decision (I won't & that's just the way I feel), but as I said before, it might not help. Training is a better way forward than surgery, though.

Yes the 2 occasions were both neutered very docile dogs, its early days and I have plenty of patience and between myself and the family we will get there.

He's a rescue and has been re-homed a few times now so we knew he would take 110% effort a week in and he's improving in leaps and bounds everyday, The house would not be the same without him!

as caryll says neutering may not be the answer as woody was neutered at a young age and it didnt stop him!!

ah bless him for having been passed on so much, hopefully this is his last stop and all will come good. the training if you persist should sort it

WINGNUTBRUNO wrote:Yes the 2 occasions were both neutered very docile dogs, its early days and I have plenty of patience and between myself and the family we will get there.

He's a rescue and has been re-homed a few times now so we knew he would take 110% effort a week in and he's improving in leaps and bounds everyday, The house would not be the same without him!

Poor fella! So glad he's found his forever home now, though!