Why Dogs Hump
Dog Breeds
While most pet owners realize that their dog’s humping behavior stems from the urge to mate, many pet owners are still baffled by the extent of their dog’s behavior. This is especially true when the dog is humping cats, furniture, people’s legs, toys, and even apparently the air itself. However humping behavior can extend far beyond just an urge to mate, and there are actually many reasons why dogs engage in humping behavior.
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Introduction
While most pet owners realize that their dog’s humping behavior stems from the urge to mate, many pet owners are still baffled by the extent of their dog’s behavior. This is especially true when the dog is humping cats, furniture, people’s legs, toys, and even apparently the air itself. However humping behavior can extend far beyond just an urge to mate, and there are actually many reasons why dogs engage in humping behavior.
Why Dogs Hump
Humping behavior generally begins around puberty time when a dog is becoming sexually mature. While the behavior itself stems from the natural mating instinct, it can quickly grow to represent many other feelings and actions. If a dog is not neutered in a timely manner, or the humping behavior is not curtailed, then the behavior can quickly extend to additional ways of expressing one’s self. In these cases, humping behavior can be a way of representing dominance, affection, and excitement.
It is believed that the majority of unusual humping behaviors in dogs are just another way of expressing dominance. When dogs are humping other pets in the household, guests in the home, and even the pet owner, this is unfortunately in many cases a dominant expression. However dogs may also be using humping behavior as a way to express affection, and sometimes it is not always easy to tell if their behavior is affectionate or dominant.
In other cases dogs may extend their humping behavior as a way of calming or soothing themselves if they become very excited. This is very similar to a person biting their nails, swinging their legs when they sit down, or even to a child sucking on its thumb. As with dominant and affectionate humping behavior, if this type of behavior is not curtailed it can quickly grow into a habit.
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