My 11 week old Female is humping her stuffed animal

[Karla Hintz]

Hi,
My 11 week female puppy is humping her large stuffed animal, have read this her showing her dominance ... But we should redirect this behavior! She will growl at us sometimes when we pick her up, but we always try to nip that and show her we won't allow that. Any suggestions?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Relax.  Let her hump the stuffed animal.  If it is hurting nothing, its okay in my opinion.  It is a dog thing.  So many put a lot into the humping thing... well, sometimes dogs just do this.  Might even be your energetic puppy is letting off some energy too. With many dogs this becomes less with maturity.   As long as she is not humping you!  LOL

As for growling at 11 weeks.... probably just making playing and puppy noises.   Pulling a puppy up with your hands under the tummy... well what noise would you make if you were picked up right now under your tummy?

You would probably let out a lot of air as your tummy muscles are compressed and groan. Certainly, if you were picked up in this manner ( which is perfectly fine)  you would let out a grunt.  Right

Again, relax and enjoy your puppy.  

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I don't see this as any big deal, either. If you feel better, redirect her attention with a toy, but it could just feel good to your pup and doesn't mean you have a Cujo on your hands. Puppies growl and nip...they just do. Our Hershey was such a nipper when we got her and I was so worried and she turned out to be the most mellow, sweet dog ever. I think redirecting with a toy or something is always a good thing and if she gets a little crazy, sometimes they are just tired and need a time out for a bit to re-group.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I was just coming back in here to say, REDIRECT   :)

Thank you, Laurie.  As always, perfectly said

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with Laurie & Joanne, there's really no harm in this. The stuffed animal doesn't care, lol. I'd simply ignore it. 

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Quincy had a whole routine of folding his crate mat over into the perfect wedge...lol...it stopped eventually.  We used to ask him if he wanted a cigarette afterwards.  Never got it on film, probably just as well...

[Karla Hintz]

Thanks...appreciate the responses!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

LOL, Lori!

Spud still, humps a blanket every time he gets into the car.  We hurry and shut the van door because, " What would the neighbors think?"  ( who cares? not us)    

If the blanket is removed, he will find a shirt or a jacket, so I put the blanket back in and let him have it.  He stops as soon as we place his belt on and we drive away.

[Lynda Kamrath]

I think it is kinda cute!  Nothing to worry about.  My dogs hump each other, particularly is there is a new dog in the mix, and my husband just calls it a congo line.  If it is something living that she is humping, you might be concerned or at least attentive, but a blanket or a toy, just give her something else to distract her if it bothers you.

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Yogi humped his stuffed monkey when he was probably about that age.  It was just the monkey though, no other toys ;-)  He did hump dogs in play at first, our trainer just thought he was trying to get attention because he was kind of the third wheel.  He has occasionally tried  to hump other dogs in play since, but it's rare. 

 

Fast foward to our new pup, Maci, she humped Yogi!  There is a huge size difference.  I don't think it's harmful, maybe just a little embarassing to us if it is around other people.  It's such a natural behavior to them, that if it is not excessive, it's no big deal.

 

 

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Wally enjoys humping his very large labrador friend, Curtis -- from the front! Go figure. Curtis, who has at least 35 pounds on Wally, doesn't seem to mind at all. There is not a dominant bone in Wally's body, but he does love to mount his 85-pound buddy. With this in mind, I think it's totally fine for little girl to hump her stuffie. It's harmless.

[Donna K & Quincy]

Karla, this has been discussed before and same as now I think the general consensus is that it can be a little embarrassing but not harmful. Here is a link to the other discussion.

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/rua-is-not-acting-lady-lik...

[Emily, Bentley, & Maserati]

Our boys are not and have never been humpers but Porsche has humped from a very early age. We, like the others said didn't make a big deal out of it.