Random need to hump

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Hello everyone! 2 weeks ago we got phin neutered. That procedure went well and phin has made almost a full recovery. He went in for his follow up and the vet was very happy with his incision and how it was healing. This leads me to the reason of this discussion. Our other dog yeti took an interest to phins incision about 2 days ago (after leaving it alone for almost 2 weeks). He would not stop trying to lick it. I thought maybe it had an odor of some sort and he was trying to “clean” it for phin. I brought it up to our doctor and she didn’t seem overly concerned. He has shown much less interest in his incision, but will NOT stop humping phin. He is relentless. Every time they are out of their kennels yeti mounts him instantly. (Keep in mind they are usually out of their kennels together but this behavior has gotten so bad we have had to start keeping one out and one in) Before the procedure both dogs would occasionally hump each other here or there when excited but I never considered it a problem. I am curious if anyone has experienced this and may have some helpful ideas on how to get it to stop. Any help or insight would be sooo greatly appreciated by myself, my fiancé and phin!

side note: yeti went to the groomer last week (without phin because he was still recovering) and there was a female in heat there. Is that potentially causing the problem? (Yeti is not fixed yet)

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Awesome advice! I’ve been really busy with school and work the past few weeks so their exercise hasn’t been as good as usual but I’m going to try to take yeti out for a run to see if that helps at all. Keeping him kenneled or on a leash seems be about the only options for now

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Just wanted to give an update! I called the vet because yetis humping was not stopping. I thought maybe after a day or two he would calm down but that didn’t happen. Phin was exhausted from yeti constantly attempting to be on him. Our vet told us there was a cancellation and we took him in today to get neutered. It’s going to be a long 2 weeks of him wanting to play and not being able to so any suggestions on how to keep one active dog cooped up are greatly appreciated! 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Good luck! I hope this solves the majority of the humping.

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Thank you so much!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Great that they fit him in for you :)

For Riley we got her some new, interesting chew objects (new antler, big braided bully stick).  The vet also prescribed her a "calming" medication (basically an antidepressant) that helped curb her puppy enthusiasm for the first week.  It helped that I'm home all day on mat leave so I could watch her and keep her company.

Good luck!

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Karen if you see this, how do you feel about the sedation medicine they give out for neutering? The prescribed  us acepromazine. I didn’t know much about it so I didn’t give any to phin but yeti is much more energetic and may need it.

also thank you so much J! We got phin a special new toy and it’s working pretty well so far 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You absolutely do not want to give Yeti acepromazine!!!!!!! It basically makes the dog unable to move or exhibit pain or anxiety, but it does nothing to alleviate pain or anxiety. It's basically like a chemical straitjacket, to quote one vet on the subject of "ACE". The dog still feels every bit of whatever he is feeling, he just cannot react to it. It's horribly cruel. it also has other side effects. You will find many warnings about the use of this drug to keep a dog "calm" online. Here is just one:
https://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvetted/2009/october/acepromazine-w...

He needs pain meds, something to keep him from licking or biting at his incision, and if you have to confinbe him to a crate or X-pen to keep him from jumping around, so be it. But do not give him that horrible drug!!! 

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

I am SOOO glad I didn’t give any to phin and asked before giving any to Yeti. Thank you so so much for being so knowledgeable Karen. He’s spending a lot of time in his kennel and got out of his cone last night so I put a big t shirt over his back end to keep him from licking.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

They gave us a different one, tramadone maybe? Riley was very much alert and playful just not as puppy crazy.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Tramadol is my choice of pain reliever for any dog who needs one. Unlike some of the others, it doesn't cause gastric issues. It's not an NSAID or a tranquilizer, but it does work on the brain. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Hm, well that was the painkiller but they had her on something else too.  I remember looking it up and it was a human antipsychotic/antidepressant, acepromazine doesn't ring a bell though.  We got rid of the bottle so I have no clue, now I am wondering what it was... I've forgotten more things in the last 2 months since her surgery than I've remembered, sleep deprivation is eating at my brain lol.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You can call your vet's office and ask. It will be in her chart. 
Jasper was given Deramaxx (an NSAID) for a pain reliever after his neuter surgery. He got it for two days. Nothing for tranquilizing, calming, etc. and none of my previous pets or fosters have had anything like that either. The surgery takes a lot out of them for a day or two, and after that, you simply do the best you can to keep them from running or jumping. I'm really surprised that so many vets are giving out unnecessary meds.