Humping When Men Cross Legs

[Traz, Karen & Dale]

Anytime my husband (or our sons) cross their legs, ie: sitting in a chair watching TV, Traz (intact male) thinks it is an invitation to hump their leg.  I can cross my legs and he doesn't think anything about it.  Has anyone experienced this?  Why is he doing it?  And if so, what do you do to make it stop?  Off, trying to distract with toy, etc. has not worked.  The only thing that seems to work if they un-cross their legs.  Traz is part of a breeding program so he cannot be neutered at this time.  Helpful suggestions appreciated.  Thank you.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Unfortunately I don't have any suggestions for you but my spayed female Sasha humps me when I sit at my dining room table !!!  99% of the time when I go to sit down she comes up to me puts her arms around my waist and starts humping.  I have always pushed her off and said "NO" very firmly... she stops but then the next time I go to sit down she does it again.  I have not been able to deter her from doing this :(   

[BG and Gavin]

You first have to teach him what "off" means.  I would put a short lead on him and issue a correction combined with the word off when he goes to do it.  The trick is to catch him early and give him a competing response.  When he approaches to hump, grab his leash and say off.  Then put him in a sit.  After a minute, release him from the sit and repeat if he goes to hump again.  Be consistent and you should be able to extinguish the behaviour fairly quickly.  Gavin humped his bed every once in a while.  I asked the vet early on whether it was dominance, a sexual behavior or what it was.  He said with younger dogs it is usually just fun (a play behaviour) so don't read too much into it.

[Adina P]

This would be easy to set-up too because his trigger to hump is known: crossing of legs! "Off" is like any other command (sit, stay, come, leave it, etc). You have to teach it like BruceGirl said above. And practice it. And then like any other command, once you are sure the dog understands what to do when he hears the command, you follow up with consequences if he disobeys. Personally, I don't like "Off" command for things that a dog should NEVER do. I want the dog to think twice about choosing the behavior rather than just stop when I ask. If your dog is solid in his obedience to other commands, you can just go straight to correcting the bad behavior. Start with keeping a collar and leash on your dog and then set him up. Have your hubby cross his legs right in front of Taz. Then be prepared to give a leash/collar correction if he even 'thinks' about going over to hump. Repeat a few times a day until he stops trying it.

[Adina P]

I'm also thinking your son or hubby could very sternly stand up and say "NO" and take Taz to his crate at every offense. Just something so Taz realizes he just can't get away with the behavior and it will be immediately stopped.

[Chels*Claud*Midas]

Midas used to always hump me when i would begin to start dusting my tv stand in my living room! lol.. without fail.. haha i wonder why that triggered him??  so weird! lol