Kim_MacMillan
Posted : 5/20/2011 2:41:54 PM
Dogs chase in play. They bite in play. They roll in play. They bark in play. They hump in play. It's generally pretty normal, and different dogs will often do things differently.
Humping can *also* be anxiety-based, sexual-based (I often see this in certain adolescent intact males who have "it" on the brain), sometimes females with UTI's will trigger it, and in very rare cases (very rare IMO, I think I've seen it personally once so far in my life) can be about control. There's nothing *nice* about the last type, is usually lumped in with anxiety, and can often result in fights if the humper is disuaded.
But you can almost always put humping into the *play* or *anxiety* categories, and sometimes it's both rolled into one.
To be honest, unless there are fights present, or you have a very *intense* humper who just won't give up, I generally don't pay much attention to it.
That said, I'm starting to become convinced that Gaci will not urinate unless it is on another's pee. No matter what time of day she goes out, she will wait until someone else has gone first, and will do the "pee dance" while waiting. But, at the same time, she's quite a little thing, because if you prevent her from urinating on Shimmer's pee (if on leash, for instance, and she can't reach it), she will redirect her annoyance to Shimmer. She's a very complicated dog though. It's a good thing she's cute. LOL.