Humping...

Had a new issue arise today!
Bolo is now 7 months old and has come on so well with everything he has been taught. For the last week he has been going out on dog walks with 7-8 other dogs which he absolutely loves as he gets to run and chase.
We had a message from the dog walkers today to say that he has been trying to hump all the other dogs!!
He humps a couple of his toys at home but we have never seen him try to do it with other dogs.

Although I am very proud of this, it's not ideal! Is it a case of getting the snip or is it just a phase or something we can train him out of doing?

It could be any of those. We have a male who will be 2 in Feb, he was a rescue so had already had the snip when we got him at 9 months old but he still tries to mount people and dogs even now. I am pretty sure that his is more of a habit than a sexual act though. Vets tend to recommend that male dogs should not be neutered until 1 year of age as the testosterone is needed in order for the dog to develop properly and getting rid of this early could have detrimental effects on their growing and bone development. Is he trying to hump all of the dogs or just the females? It may be that the dog he is going after is about to come in to season in which case he will be attracted to her to try and reproduce. We just give our dog a firm "no" when he tries to mount anything now and he will try a couple of times but if we continue to give a firm "no" then he will normally stop and go and do something else.

Hiya stopping this when u know is going to happen may be the best idea id say this is normal behaviour for your dog at this age . Hope someone can come along with better advice

Happy to say that after a few days of the puppy walkers telling bolo NO! he isn't doing it as much which is great.

It seems it was just him playing rather than anything sexual!

good news

humping is rarely sexual as such. mostly it's over excitment and lack of control. castration doesn't always stop it.

regular & consistent corrction should help.

As above, my spayed female staffie will try to hump in play if she feels unsure, or overwhelmed with excitement. We consistently interrupt this and it has reduced. As you say, it's not ideal as not many dogs will accept being mounted and this may lead to negative reactions.

Nola still does it sometimes, not nearly as much as she did but 7 years down the line it's still in her. More often than not it's excitement during play but at other times it's harder to see what sets her off. Correcting her hasn't made any obvious difference, what seems to help most is just calling the other dog away quietly.