Another humping question

[L.M.]

We have had Stella, our younger doodle, for at least 6 months now.  She and our 2 year old male doodle, Seamus, get along fine and the whole showing of dominance thing has seemingly passed....However, for the past week, we have noticed Seamus attempting, again, to hump Stella. (Both dogs are fixed.)  I'm talking full on "red rocket" (sorry for the phrase) humping.  He had not done this since the first week or 2 upon first bringing Stella home.  And even then, it was never real "red rocket" humping (lol I'm sorry but I don't know how else to put this...) We have also noticed that Stella seems to have a bit of a rash "down there" and that seems to also be when the humping started.  We cleaned it and it seems to be healing, but Seamus is still attempting to hump and he CONSTANTLY sniffs her there (where the redness is).  Could this be a sign that Stella has some sort of infection there or something?  We noticed her licking it, but like I said, when we cleaned it, it seemed to start to heal.  Is this worth a vet trip?  I'm just getting fed up because tonight was just ridiculous and I literally had to pull Seamus off of her.....

[Adina P]

I'm assuming both doodles are fixed.  If you don't want it to continue, you'll need to stop it the moment he starts to 'think' about humping her.  Usually you can tell and notice it in his body posture and behavior, sniffing, etc.  But yeah you'll have to correct him each and every single time and make it a consequence he won't like.  Whether that is something like a firm "NO" and crating him ASAP or a collar correction with a loud "NO" and then crating...or however you generally make it CLEAR to your dogs that something is OFF LIMITS and NOT ALLOWED.  But the key will be in consistency so that eventually you just have to say "NO" and he'll back off.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree with Adina.  My guys will still try it, and I stop it every time.  Guinness is able to work himself up into a full "red rocket" too...totally gross.  My boys are now clever enough to get out of my sight when they're in the mood for a "hump fest".....they usually go upstairs.  I'm onto their tricks now, so I follow them right up and correct the minute it starts.  My Yappy Hour friends know that I've had to leave the "chat" several times to put a stop to this behavior....they thought they were "free and clear" because Mom was yapping.

[Adina P]

Rosco would hump Thule a bazillion times a day.  I really only cared if I was present.  I didn't want to see it.  But they spent time outside and there was no way I could stop it every time.  However, that's part of where my advice comes from.  If you DON'T stop it every time in a way that is meaningful for the dog...then it will continue.

[Lindsey]

Oh geesh, that would be annoying...and a tad embarrassing if you have guests over, lol.
I agree with Adina- you just have to be consistent in your correcting.

[L.M.]

It just struck me as odd because he had not done this in months!! And all of a sudden when Stella seems to get this rash, he starts humping again.  Could that be a sign that Stella has an infection or something there and her scent is different??