When your dog is humping everything in sight
Pet humping can start off funny, but be careful of health concerns
I hadn’t been in their home for more than 10 minutes before the Labrador Retriever puppy scratched his owners’ arms, tried to leap over a baby gate, snatched a pet toy from an older Lab, and paced back-and-forth trying to get to me. I wasn’t quite scared. However, I was concerned about how I would manage to keep an excitable 50-pound puppy busy for several days with his 60-pound-roommate growing mildly irritated by these antics. Finally one of the owners looked at the puppy and snapped, “Don’t embarrass me!”
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That Black Lab puppy looked over at her, walked over to the couch and started humping the hell out of the couch pillows. I could no longer keep my composure. I almost fell out of my seat laughing at the timing of it all. Right at that moment, I accepted the dog sitting job. Even if these two dogs gave me a run for my money, I knew this would be one of my most memorable dog sitting jobs — and it was. (The puppy bit my toe and drank tea from my mug.)
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My own Lab was never neutered, and he went to town humping this blanket my parents gave him as a puppy. Completely out of nowhere, he’d just go at it with that blanket, then ignore that bulky piece of cloth for several days. Maybe a few weeks later and after a fresh wash, he was back at it again. While pet health sites will commonly say that dogs that are neutered or spayed live longer — somewhere between 7 years versus 9 years — the average life span of a Labrador Retriever is 10 to 12 years. And my never-neutered Lab died of old age at 13, so I’m not completely sold on that idea.
The good news is the American Kennel Club confirms that humping is a very common behavior, linked to harmless expressions of excitement. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also gives it a reasonable pass, confirming that, “If your dog mounts infrequently (once or twice a day at most) and it isn’t bothersome to you, other people or other dogs, it’s not necessary to stop his behavior.”
Sometimes it’s difficult to tell if/when your dog is going to do it though. Just because a dog licks, pants, whines or rubs against a person does not mean he’s going to go to town on their legs. Could he? Yes. Does he? In my case, I don’t recall my Lab ever humping any human being; he had a monogamous relationship with that blanket.