Is Winnie is a sex addict?

[WinniePug]

Our vet said "she is just trying to dominate you", but the vet has it all wrong!! Winnie's excessive dry humping is getting worse. We stop her immediately, but she keeps trying to hump our leg when we're standing and our arms when we're sitting next to her on the couch. She also tries humping her chew toys. And it's not just a little - it is excessive and overly aggressive. I feel like she's trying to rape me when I'm sitting next to her and she jumps on my arm - I push her away and she jumps back at me and starts biting and clawing at my arms to wrap around me. I feel terrible because she seems like she is trying to desperately "finish" and the frustration is apparent on her face.

I know this level of sexual aggressiveness cannot be not normal puppy behavior, and certainly not for a young female at 18 weeks old. Has anyone heard of this? Please, don't tell me she's being dominant - this goes waaayyy beyond that. Sometimes she'll keep trying for up to 45 minutes at a time, trying dry hump whatever she can wrap her front legs around. if it was just me, then I'd say she's being dominant, but it's everything! She started doing this at 11 weeks and it seemed to slow down a little between 14 and 16 weeks, but it's back with a vengeance!

Will she grow out of this? If so when? If not, what can we do about it?

[Buddy's Mom]

I'm curious, is she spayed? If not, removing her hormones will definitely help! What have you done in the meantime to try and stop this behavior? Have you removed yourself and/or her from the situation? I have found that leaving them alone when they are doing something undesirable helps, just like with a human child. A water bottle filled with water for a "squirt" somewhere in the body (not face) tends to work. Do you have a crate? Or room where you can put her alone that is puppy proofed with a baby gate? That would work for a time out. Hopefully others will have other suggestions but she is really young and may just be testing her boundaries with you. She's really cute, by the way. Take a deep breath in and out. Let us know how she does!

[Snifter]

Dogs (both male and femal) hump for many reasons. It is not always sexual. Sometimes it is dominance. Sometimes it is play. Sometimes, I have heard it said, some dogs just hump for sheer joy.

My dogs have never tried to hump me, but I have not tried to curb any other humping behaviour unless they are pestering each other for too long and one is clearly getting annoyed.

Before I had Toddy Snifter had a special toy duck that he liked to hump. I had to hold it for him. Sigh. He was really very excessively fond of that duck until he reached about a year old and then his interest gradually waned.

I don't personally believe that trying to eradicate all humping is healthy or necessary, but it does mean you have embarassing moments when they choose to have a hump fest in front of friends! In your position I would certainly clamp down hard on her trying to hump humans by giving a time out. However to reinforce this I would probably pick a toy she seems keen on humping and actually praise her for humping the toy, the idea being eventually that the toy is the "go to" hump victim.

Others may have success stories of eradicating humping and have more suitable advice for you; as you can see I don't worry about it all that much.

[tall grass pugs]

I would begin by finding a different vet. Then I would check for UTI. Then a harsh 'no,' or banging a penny filled two liter bottle against your hand to disrupt the activity. I simply cannot abide humping, and no one here does it, ever. But I would add exercise, spay if not spayed yet, and order to her day. A few nights attending a basic obedience course will help her settle in her mind that she is not the lead bitch in the hitch as well as letting her focus on your point of view re social behavior.

[6 Beautiful Pugs]

I have one who humps a lot, Marty, he is also a bit of an anxious guy. He began humping VERY young, prompting me to have him neutered at 16 weeks. It did not help. I firmly believe Marty's humping is rooted in anxiety. I would suspect your girl's is as well. Humping doesn't bother me much, I am of an attitude like Snifter above. Teach her humping humans is not acceptable. I would try giving her more exercise and raw marrow bones to chew on. Both calm the spirit and relieve anxiety and pent-up frustration. I think if she gets enough exercise that she is tired, and is allowed to get out her primal chewing and gnawing needs, she will be much less likely to hump.

Take care,
Lisa

[Wally 'n' Leto]

Wally had a hump toy as a puppy, and when the poor toy got worn out and tossed, he stopped humping. Both our guys will occasionally hump another dog in play; we discourage it, but we figure it doesn't hurt anything. There is a dog at the barn that is a compulsive humper, and we haven't been able to discourage it. She is also the anxious type.

Interestingly, I've noticed that some of it seems to be positional. If the boys are stretched out over something, they'll sometimes gently 'go through the motions' a bit, but don't seem aware of it. I was actually the victim of this effect this morning, when Wally draped himself over me in bed. I just shoved him so he repositioned himself, and it stopped.

[WinniePug]

Thanks for all the replies, they certainly help. I wouldn't mind so much, but Winnie is overly aggressive about it (and so young). I think she is obsessive-complusive with a violent streak when it comes to here sexual frustration(as violent as a little Pug can be, anyway).

My wife and I simply walk away or move our arm and give a firm No! (no spanking or anything, just the No!). I would consider obedience school for her, but her attention span is about 30 seconds (maybe she has ADD?) when it's anything besides her sexual frustration.

I will exercise her more to see if that helps keep her frustration in check. She has a crate, but that is her sanctuary and we don't use that for time-outs or punishment, so we need to find a different alternative.

I want to find a Pug specialist Vet in our area, especially since Winnie will be coming due for getting fixed soon and I want someone that knows a lot about Pugs.

Thanks again for the feedback - I greatly appreciate it. We're hoping she outgrows this behavior on her own, but I will certainly get her a bigger chew toy that she can "play with".

[6 Beautiful Pugs]

Don't forget the raw bones, they do wonders!!

Good luck!

Take care,
Lisa

[Wally 'n' Leto]

DOn't take her teeny weeny attention span as a sign that she can't go to obedience class -- many trainers offer a puppy playschool class that teaches the basics in a way that is tailored to their abilities at a young age! Good luck!

[WinniePug]

Please forgive my ignorance here - what are raw bones and raw bone marrow? Are we talking about a regular beef bone that you get at the grocery store?
Any particular kind? T-bone steak bone, stew bones, leg bones?
Is Winnie too young for raw bones (18 weeks)?
How often should she have one?
Winnie gets a lot of treats from me, so I look for healthy, non-wheat or grain treats, but there's so much "junk food" out there for dogs and I only want the best for Winnie.

Will raw bones help with allergies? Winnie jumped on my arm this morning and went crazy trying to hump my arm, so I got her largest toy to use, but with her teeth she scratched my wrist and slobbered all over my arm/wrist area - which promptly began itching like crazy and raising little bumps on my wrist. I've been allergic to my pets before so it's no big deal to me, but is there anything I can do about that?

One more thing, Winnie got to experience her first snowfall here in Colorado and she likes eating ice/snow - is that a problem? I now give her ice cubes once in a while (after I put them in water to soften them and make them smaller).