2.5 year old humper

wheeldawg

Hello all.
I posted this in the General forum first, but then thought it might be better here. I did not see a way to move it so posting it here.
I have been having some issues with my BT humping.
I’ll give some background.

I got Lio when he was 8-weeks old. He is now 2.5 years old. He has always been very active and friendly with people and dogs. I used to take him to the bark park every day after work, and he just had a blast. Around 7 or 8 months old, he started doing some humping, or trying to, with select other dogs at the bark park, usually ones he had not met. He would “choose “ the dog, and would not give up. I could remove him to the side for a while, but as soon as I released him, he would head straight for that same dog. This went on for a month or so. I could go to the park, and mostly regulars in attendance, and he would be fine. But if a real fluffy one came in, male or female didn’t matter, he would go for them, play a little, get excited, and go to humping. It got bad enough, that if I saw one coming in that I knew he was going to be that way with, I would just go ahead and hook up his leash, and we would leave. Then, he got so that he was less selective, so I just stopped taking him to the bark park, and just took him for walks, out and about. When he is at my wife’s house, where there are 10+ others dogs, all kinds, he humps none of them.

My wife got a new Dalmatian puppy, Piper, when Lio was about a year old. They played hard and fast, but no humping. Then Piper came into an early heat, and we kept them separate, but Lio was around her for two days of the start of her heat.

Now, Piper is well over a year old, but whenever she comes to visit, Lio is after her constantly. He minds when told No, but is very persistent.

I originally got Lio with the intention of breeding him. Since I couldn’t find any mates around my area, I decided to get another, compatible dog from the same breeder.

Calypso came into our house at 8-weeks also. Same thing as with Piper, hard active play, at first.

I was very cognizant of Calypso’s age and knew there would be a coming first heat, and did not want to repeat the Piper issue. Lio started showing some increased interest, so I immediately sent her to live with my wife for 45-50 days.

She was well out of heat when she came back, and I even gave her a bath, but Lio is after her constantly, more so than with Piper. She has been back 2-days.

I have to keep them separate, or have to constantly tell Lio no, and sometimes have to pull him away. Piper was an infrequent visitor, but Calypso lives here with me and Lio. I want them back to the “playing“ stage, but am unsure how to proceed.

I have tried talking Lio out for long walks to tire him out, distracting him with treats (which works till the treats run out) and now just have to keep them in the crate/houses inside that I made for them.

I let them out one at a time, they eat separate, etc., and that is not what I want for them.

I will eventually breed them, and then decide what to do about any alterations.

Any advice on what else I might try to have them happily cohabitating again would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks 

the4thmonkey

I'm sorry no one has had an idea for you.  It sounds like you are doing everything you can.

BulliesofNC

It sounds like Lio's issue with humping is due to dominance. Right now at his age he may not know how to act around other dogs and when any form of excitement occurs he reacts by humping which can be due to over excitement and/or dominance. Even female dogs can do the exact same thing with humping another dog.

Based on your intentions to breed Lio you really don't want to scold him for humping because he will associate the actions with something he thinks he shouldn't be doing which wouldn't be helpful when the time comes where you actually want him to mount a female during heat.

The more the you socialize him with other dogs the better off he;ll become. Young males are often very excited around new dogs and even people which can spark erratic behavior and cause humping. You're just going to have to push him off and try your best to calm the excitement between both dogs. As Lio matures further these bad habits will dissipate. Normally by 24 months old these habits have ceased but in Lio's cae at 2 1/2 years old he apparently is a very excited Bullie with a ton of spent up energy. Bumping up his daily exercise regime will also help tremendously.