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Originally Posted by zoedo  My little female was doing it the day we brought her home...7 weeks old...she did it for a few weeks so I took away all her stuffed dolls except one... the one that she sleeps in her crate with. I thought it had stopped but tonight she did the same thing. She brought her doll to her bed and started humping it. I hate taking away her special toy but it beats having her do this. I do think it's a dominance thing as she puts it in her mouth and shakes it aggressively beforehand. She probably needs to feel she is not the last dog in the pack order. |
You may be right, but shaking the toy is a predatory thing - dogs break the neck of a small animal by shaking it. It's the same instinct as chasing a toy down. Dogs do not shake each other, so I don't think it's a social maneuver, dominance or otherwise.
My guess is that she's multi-tasking with this toy. She keeps her hunting skills sharp, and then gets some lovin' in.
People's opinions vary on this, but I think that rather than trying to extinguish a behavior entirely, it's easier to teach the dog when it's appropriate. You can bark SOMETIMES, not whenever the mood strikes you. You can chew on your TOYS, but not my hands. You can hump your stuffed animal when you're on your own, but not another dog in the middle of the park.