Wow, didn't expect this thread to take off like this.
Just to be clear, I was half joking about getting it to stop. I do believe that humping is natural behavior, and I'm just very lucky that Thor doesn't show any interest (I guess he's a "bottom"
).
The thought of him licking his treasure and then licking my face, yes, I do find that gross, though he licks every other part of his body, so maybe I'm just in denial. Good thing he doesn't mind getting his teeth brushed.
My understanding is that humping is VERY natural. My favorite animal after the yorkie is the dolphin, and I've read that even female dolphins have been observed pleasuring themselves on coral reefs.
One of the funniest advice columns I ever read was from a distraught mother who said she couldn't keep her four-year-old daughter from humping the heck out of their ottoman, even when there was company over. So yes, it comes very naturally to all creatures, great and small.
The columnist actually gave what I thought was very good advice, which was to tell the girl that the behavior was okay, but that it was private. Dogs do a lot of things that can potentially be bad behavior, like marking, barking, and humping. I think the key with all of them is not to try to prevent them entirely, but to teach the dogs when it's okay to indulge. They can mark outside, bark while they are playing, and engage in sexual relations, as long as it's a consensual monogamous relationship with an inanimate object.
It just occurred to me, as yorkie owners, we don't have to teach our little ones not to sniff crotches. That's probably one I would just outlaw.