So When Did That Happen?

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

My little passive pup, submissive fellow, mellow mush.  Well-not so much anymore, I guess. 

The crew where we take him to doggie daycare loves Quincy and they always tell me what a good boy he is.  They even give a "report card" that gives a little recap of the day.  Of course, I am the proud doodle mom, thinking I have the perfect dog and the cutest, one too...  

I knew that when the dogs won't listen, the staff resorts to using a water squirt bottle to get their attention.  We always joked about it-  checking him out to see if he came out wet.  He never did. Until yesterday. 

He was soaked! Just his head, but still! 

"Oh" the young woman who brought him to me said as she handed him over to me,

"Quincy, you are soaked, guess you were misbehaving!"  

My quizzical look prompted further explanation.

"Oh, uh, well, Quincy likes to hump other dogs!" she explained a little sheepishly. 

Further quizzical expression from me.  

"REALLY?" I asked. Frankly, I was used to Quincy being the hump-ee, not the hump-er....

"Yes" she explained "Well, it's a dominance thing, he won't stop when we tell him to, so we have to squirt him with the water bottle".  

He listens to that though!" she added happily. 

When I told my son and DH, I detected an oddly proud tone to their laughter.  Males....

Then I was thinking.  Since I picked Quincy up earlier than usual that particular day, maybe he had just had enough time to dry out all the other days!  

I don't think I want to know.  

[Jennifer & Truffle]

My girls gleefully call our Truffle the "humpy puppy!" I feel your pain.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Thankfully he does not hump people!  At least I have never seen him do that. LOL

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jackdoodle says WTG, Quincy! Better to be the humper than the humpee! 

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

Ha...that's funny.  Skadi, even after being spayed humped many of her doggie friends...some liked it...some, not so much. She wasn't a clingy humper, just a quick hump and then let's play.  When she would hump my leg, I would just turn away from her and tell her down...not that it hurt me, just other people look at this as inappropriate behavior.  I think it more distresses the humped not the humpee's owners!  One day for our training class we had to bring in a mat for them to go to...well, I knew she really "loved" this mat and was reluctant to bring it to class...of course she didn't disappoint me, she made it through the whole class and when I picked the mat up...yes, you guessed it...humped it in front of everyone!  

So, I agree with Karen...better to be the humpee...HA.

"Mounting occurs for several reasons which include stress alleviation and play.  When dogs play they will often take turns mounting each other for fun.  This position is one of playfulness rather than an attempt to establish status."

Your doggie daycare folks could also distract the dogs with a firm "No" command, or "try an incompatible behavior and reward them for doing so, such as sit, down, doing a trick, or anything else"...altho the squirt bottle probably works too.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I don't think I would want to know either....  I guess the water spray technique doesn't have long term teaching effects.  :-}

[Carol and Banjo]

Oh so funny......wet head Quincy!

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

You are too funny!! "maybe he just had enough time to dry out all the other days!" I wonder how many kids would come home wet if they used this method for misbehaving in schools? :)

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

Ha...Good point

[Bonnie and Kona]

Bwahahahaha!

[Cathy, Fozzie & Shaggy]

LOL,  I would love to see that Cheryl...a cold bottle of water at a school dance...some of those dance moves do resemble ..... :0

[Deborah Brown]

I don't have a problem with the humping but I would have a problem with the water bottle and the fact that the staff isn't telling you what is going on. (I'm assuming this isn't the first occurrence and it sounds like you wouldn't have gotten an explanation without asking.)  I guess I don't like "adversives" on the whole.

If Quincy really won't stop and has been squirted to the point that he is soaked then I think he needs a time out and a little quiet time.  He is over stimulated which could lead to other aggressive behavior.  Most day care facilities have separate crates or rooms for rest time.  I'd suggest that the Quincy have a "rest" if he can't calm himself.

[Bonnie and Kona]

This is hilarious! We've got a humper, too. I'm getting out the squirt bottle! Actually he will stop immediately when I say "leave it", but I think the wet head is pretty funny. ;o)