Why do female dogs hump?

Female dogs, especially spayed ones aren’t supposed to mount other dogs, are they? Well, some do.

My first two females didn’t, and I enjoyed having a sexless dog that didn’t embarrass me by humping my leg, or a toy, or another dog. Then my third female, a springer named Cassie, liked to hump. What was even weirder is that when Buffy and Chipper (my Mom’s cocker spaniels) moved in with me, they liked to do the triple hump. Buffy was usually on the bottom, with Cassie mounting her, and then Chipper on top. Buffy and Cassie were spayed and Chipper was neutered. They usually avoided my camera, but I did get a picture of them once.

Buffy was usually on the bottom. Now that both Cassie and Chipper have died, Buffy has not humped anything. Now that I think about it, she never was a humper. It was mostly Cassie and Chipper doing the humping.

Cassie was the oldest and lived at my house as the only dog for a decade before my mom died and I took in Buffy and Chipper. Chipper, as the only male, was always subservient to the two females, who occasionally got into fights.

Their mounting behavior seemed related to dominance, but since Chipper was the lowest on the totem pole, why did he sometimes hump Cassie? Arousal, boredom, maybe both?

Why do they hump?

According to an ASPCA article, there are five possible reasons.

• Dominance – at least that was what I thought for my fixed dogs. Whoever is on top is usually trying to show their dominance. Often this behavior is seen at dog parks.
• Play – many dogs mount each other as part of play behavior.
• Stress or excitement – my three spaniels did seem to mount each other more often when excited. I never thought of this as a reaction to stress, but it could be.
• Sex – this is what most people think, even in spayed/neutered dogs. Did you know that dogs masturbate? I always thought they were cleaning themselves, although sometimes excessively. Apparently, males can masturbate to ejaculation and it can make a big mess. I’m glad I never had to deal with that!
  • If a dog licks himself excessively, he may have a urinary tract infection or other problem and need to visit the vet.
• Compulsive disorders—sometimes mounting can become a compulsive habit, especially as a stress response.

What can be done?

My mom used to throw a shoe at her humping dogs to break it up. This often worked, and she usually had on slippers, so they weren’t hurt. Don’t hurt your dog.

What is recommended is teaching the “Leave it” command to get the dogs to stop, or better yet, catch them before they start mounting. Often they will give signals that they are about to mount when they start rubbing, pawing, or licking each other. The “Leave it” command works best at this stage. Often you will need to distract them with something else, either a toy or a treat.

Many dogs don’t like to be mounted and this could cause a fight with another dog. It’s best to watch your dog with a new “friend” and use the “Leave it” command if needed.

If your dog doesn’t mount very often, then don’t worry about it. It’s mostly just embarrassing.

Obedience training will often help to distract your dog from mounting a person’s leg. Tell your dog to sit or lay down which they can’t do while humping. Then reward him with a treat.

It’s too embarrassing when dogs try to mount our guests, so if you have a dog that likes to hump, be prepared with extra obedience training.

Do you have a dog that likes to hump?