Female "humping"

[RamonaAnne]

Hi NN'ers...

My neighbors have a Lab/Husky (near as anyone can tell) mix...I love most dogs...This dog, I'm still trying to form an opinion of, and I've known her for over a year...If that tells you guys anything...

Part of the reason I'm still trying to decide how I feel about her is this...

She is VERY stubborn and strong willed...(and her people are pushovers...)

I often get "humped" by her when I go there...We'll be visiting and if I'm sitting down, she will come over and hump my leg...

Usually what happens after this is her people tie her back outside (where she actually spends a lot of her time...unfortunately...)

I'm pretty sure she does it because she is trying to show pack rank above me...And then by her people stepping in, all it seems to do is reinforce that I am below her in pack rank...

Shouldn't I be able to be the one to correct her?...Wouldn't having them let me put her out help the dog to learn that I am above her?...And really, wouldn't there be, in general, a better way to deal with the issue?...

I don't visit them often enough to really get terribly involved...Part of the reason I don't visit them much is that I just don't know how to handle the dog issue...

The thing is they've asked me for advice in how to handle their dog before, and any time I suggest anything, they totally blow it off...

So...Does anyone have any advice?...

 

[lotus]

Do you think they would be offended if you asked them to correct her? Politely say with a smile" I can stop this behavior if you'd let me?"
If they don't take you seriously, I would'nt go anymore and if they ask you why I would politely tell them why.
I had a friend who's dog yellow lab would run up to you and immediately start ramming his head in your crouch, it wasn't a sniff but he would hang around you the entire time. I would get furious. they wouldn't say a word but he does that to everybody. They NEVER onced stopped him! They pretened he wasn't being rude! I asked them nicely to please control him.... thought it was a joke....i cut that friendship off...

 

[RamonaAnne]

Hi there!

I don't know how they'd feel...They used to ask me for help with how to train her when she was a puppy...They got her from an abusive home, and I think she was about 6 months old or so...

I tried working with them and with her...The thing is both her "people" have different "parenting" styles...So I feel like it's hopeless...

I do limit my time down there, because I really am not overly fond of the dog's behavior...

Of course, she's very poorly socialized...Her life mostly consists of being tied up outside or inside with her people but then if she starts misbehaving, she gets tied out again...

I love dogs...And want one to no end...However, even if they *paid me* AND my mom said I could have her for a dog, I still wouldn't want to take her...So that might tell you something...She's a VERY strong dog...(Husky, I would think more than the Lab)... And she loves to run...She won't come back when she's called if she gets loose or slips her collar...She's extremely stubborn, strong willed, etc...I really think she'd be a GREAT dog --- in the right hands...

My neighbors aren't the right hands...

I don't like when dogs are rude!!...Not at all!!...

The dog she had before this one, a shepherd mix named Joshua, who is waiting at the Rainbow Bridge, was an AMAZING dog....

One day, I was going to get the mail (the driveway is 1/10th of a mile long) and Joshua was sleeping under the porch...She was mowing the lawn (she has 15 & 1/2 acres...) I was one of Joshua's favorite neighbors...I called to him and he loped out to greet me and we walked to the mailbox together...

There is a brook that runs under the driveway and goes behind the mailboxes...There are bushes between the mailboxes and the brook...On this particular day, I heard a little rustling noise in the bushes...Not knowing what it was, I gently reached down and scritched Joshua's ears then slipped my hand down to his collar and took his collar in my hands and spoke a hushed "sit, Joshua" to him...Which he did...

We waited and then a beautiful baby fawn -- still with all it's spots!! -- emerged from the bushes...It was maybe 20 feet away, if even that....Joshua just sat there and let out a very soft noise...It wasn't even a whine...We both just watched as the fawn walked across in front of us and went over to find another place to rest...

Not once did he try to go after it, chase it, or anything like that...

So she went from having a dog that was THAT awesome to the one she has now...

I REALLY miss Joshua...And I'm so glad I have that *very* special memory of him...

I wish more people would take time to REALLY do their homework before getting a dog...

I know her and her husband at the time (he's passed away now) worked LONG and HARD with Joshua...She and her fiancee' have worked very little with Princess...

Of course it's not the dog's fault she's that way...

I guess I'll just grin and bear it?...Or ask them to just put her away....

I only visit them every couple of months...So really, I don't know if it's worth trying to "fix" or not?...I really think she's gotten worse since they had her spayed...

 

[sendchocolate]

Sounds like she's bored, with pent-up energy. Do they walk her at all? A tired dog is a happy dog, and makes for an even happier family!

As for you being "above" her...why would she think that? You don't live in her pack, so therefore, she doesn't see you as part of the pack order. Just something to think about. It will require training from her alpha to stop it, and not just tying her outside. They need to put her on lead, inside the house when you visit. And just not allow that behavior. But you cannot think just because you are human that you are above her. The dog may not see it that way, and has to be taught.