# Causes of female humping?



## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

So, my husband sent me a video today that he thought was funny. It is kinda funny, but it's something that reminded me of my Aussie Katie. Della (youngest girl), is caught on camera mounting my big girl Lena. Lena pays it no mind, and at the end, sort of establishes that she does not care for it (nothing aggressive, just a push and a stare in which Della stops). Doing searches on the internet, and it seems that there is conflicting views on this. One site indicated that female humping is a sign of a dog that possibly has socialization issue (could be, Della definitely has a few), another says that it could be due to another female dog being in heat (well, Lena hasn't gone into heat yet, though she is almost 8 months?), and then another said that this is a domination behavior. I am not sure which one it COULD be, but I guess what I need to know is what are the most common reasons for this? If need be, I could post the video... Though I feel a little weird about doing it because the kid in me thinks it's naughty LOL. Any insight? The reason it reminded me of my Aussie is because Katie had a bad bad habit of humping our male cat....


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## DutchKarin (Nov 23, 2013)

I think there can be multiple explanations. With youngsters I think it is a sign of over-excitement/anxiety/stress... and humping is a release and a release on the thing that generates excitement (sometimes something else). I do think it is an act of social rank climbing as well. Then it is sometimes to reproduce. If it is a female, I think it is one of the first two.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I think it has to do with establishing pack order. My females don't hump each other or any of the males and they are clearly the leaders. Tannor tries with Robyn only and I would have to say she is second in command but Tannor is technically the second dog. Both Midnite and Brennan go for Tannor, I caught Batman the other day. So my observation is that the boys have not established any order, but keep trying. The girls are content where they are


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

Can it be an attention seeking behavior? It seems she was trying to engage Lena in play and was being ignored. She is still very excitable right now, and wondering if the over excitement is manifesting in some way. They are extremely well exercised. My husband is at home and he likes to play with them and walk them throughout the day.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Girl_Loves_Hydraulics said:


> Can it be an attention seeking behavior? It seems she was trying to engage Lena in play and was being ignored. She is still very excitable right now, and wondering if the over excitement is manifesting in some way. They are extremely well exercised. My husband is at home and he likes to play with them and walk them throughout the day.


Not in my case. I don't know if I would ever think it would be something to engage in play. I don't allow it and I stop it immediately.


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

Ok we are keeping an eye out and will correct it accordingly. We figured its not probably something we want her getting in the habit of. Of course my husband thought it was funny, but agreed probably not great. Della is more than likely going to have a few private sessions with a trainer before registering in a group setting. Not her fault, she didnt have great bonding time with her mother after the rest of the litter died.


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## KentuckyFenway (Jul 27, 2014)

You know my little cocker spaniel does this. But only once she is very comfortable with another dog and she will literally not play with a dog unless it has let her hump it. She's not a big fan of other dogs and has just in the last week gotten her hump on with Fenway (lol) and started to play with her a little. 

No idea what it means but neither of them seemed to be worse for wear.


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## Mikelia (Aug 29, 2012)

My girls do this, maybe once a year per dog. I do correct it. One is a 6yo border collie mutt and the other is a 12-14yo American pit bull terrier. Every once in a while, usually while one is chewing a bone on the bed, the other will come up from behind and air hump the one chewing on the bone. Each dog has done it to the other. With my girls I see it as an excitement thing, these two dogs are not in the least bit dominant with each other. They just get this stupid happy look on their face and start air humping behind the other one. 
I've seen it often enough in young dogs, usually from excitement or dominance. And I've seen my apbt do it when she has had a ball with a treat in it and she is kicking it around, then starts kicking it around with a blanket, then starts humping the ball and blanket. 
My concern, even though my girls are great with each other, is that it can be seen as dominance. Both girls are very strong temperament. Both had issues when I adopted them that we worked through. And one is a pit bull. If one took offense and it started a fight it wouldn't be pretty. So all humping is stopped but I always laugh and shake my head lol. My boys on the other hand (who are intact) do not hump anything inappropriately. Just the spayed girls humping each other. Dogs...


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