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Posted by Pat B! on August 10, 2008, 1:16 am, in reply to "2 male dogs"
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I'm avoiding saying this is "a dominance thing", because that phrase has been inappropriately worked to death among trainers and owners of dogs. However, it is an actual fact that an integral part of a dog's nature is concerned with who holds what relative social position among those that dog lives with.
Dogs communicate via many different nonverbal forms of body language, and one form that communication takes is humping. The dog doing the humping is saying "I'm higher than you on the social ladder" and the dog being humped - if accepting it in a non-resisting way - is saying "I acknowledge that you are in a higher position than I am". It's fairly benign if it starts and ends with that, and in general, further human intervention isn't absolutely required.
But of course, you - as the Ultimate Provider Of All Things Good For Dogs - are the one who gets to make the decisions about what is and is not permissible behavior. So - for example - a dog humping a human being is NEVER permissible behavior, on SO many levels! LOL!
And as for one dog humping another - you don't need to permit it - particularly if it is happening a lot more often than it needs to, or in situations where it is unacceptable (in the middle of your garden party, for example!).
You don't need to be particularly harsh in how you deal with it. The best thing is to simply ask the offending dogs (you treat both of them the same way in this situation) to give you some kind of "mutually incompatible behavior" - a phrase which means ask them to do something that they cannot do at the same time as they are humping one another. A good choice might be to ask them for a Down/Stay for a short period of time. This accomplishes several things:
1) It ends the humping behavior
2) It reminds them in a peaceful way that the one who is ACTUALLY in charge is YOU!
3) It distracts them and gets their mind off the humping behavior
4) And it gives you something positive you can reward them for
If your dogs don't have a good Down/Stay trained already, spend some time with them separately, and then together to get this behavior well-established so that you can ask for it and know you'll get their compliance, even in the presence of distractions.
I hope this helps!
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