Do you have a horny dog that just won’t leave you alone? It can be a tiresome and very embarrassing ordeal to have your dog continuously trying to hump the living daylights out of you.
Even more so if this happens in a public place or when you have guests over.
It is natural for dogs to have a very aggressive libido, especially when they are not neutered or spayed.
I used to fear going to my sister’s home because her dog is a humping maniac that leaves no leg ‘unhumped’.
But is it possible to calm down a horny dog?
Fortunately, there are effective methods that you can use to calm down your horny dog. It is also key for you to understand what is causing your dog’s behavior in order to handle it.
Let us look at how you can go about deflating your dog’s sex drive to a manageable level.
Is It Normal For My Dog To Be Horny?
It is natural for many dogs to reach sexual maturity by the time they are 7-10 months of age. Larger dog breeds will take a longer time to mature as compared to smaller breeds.
But a dog will be rather to mate and be a parent by the time they are 2 years old.
The horniness of a dog tends to be in line with its age with the majority of dogs having the strongest desire to mate when they reach puberty and young adult years.
Male dogs will naturally be hornier than female dogs due to having more testosterone, the male sex hormone, in their body.
An intact male will have close to 9x more testosterone compared to a female dog.
Even puppies who have yet to reach sexual maturity will hump people and objects to practice for the main event one day.
How Do You Calm A Horny Dog?
Dealing with a horny dog isn’t just about having to tell with the incessant humping. Horny dogs are also usually in a hyper mode which can make them hard to handle.
If you have a dog that is starting to get on your nerves with its endless libido, here are some methods to help keep your dog under control.
Sterilize Your Dog
To all you dog owners out there, here’s a winning tip. If you really want to get your horny dog to calm down, get it neutered or spayed.
Unneutered dogs have way more sexual aggression in them due to the presence of sex hormones as compared to neutered dogs.
I know of many owners who think that sterilizing their dogs is a cruel act. But personally, I feel that bringing more unwanted pups into the world is even worse.
Our shelters are already packed to the brim and many that can’t get adopted are eventually euthanized.
If you have two dogs of different gender who are living in the same house and are not sterilized, it is only a matter of time before the female dog gets pregnant.
Fixing your dog also gives them a better quality of life as the procedure reduces the risk of certain health issues and unwanted behavior.
Some dog parents think that fixing their pooches prevents their dogs from getting blue balls.
The only time that you can consider not fixing your dog is when you’re a licensed and responsible breeder.
When To Sterilize Your Dog?
It is possible to sterilize a puppy as young as 8 weeks old but many dog owners prefer to wait until their dogs are about a year old to do it. Some will even wait until the dog is two.
By delaying the sterilizing process to a later age, it allows the dog to fully develop before doing so.
Some large dog breeds can suffer from orthopedic problems if sterilized too young.
Teach Your Dog Impulse Control
You can’t expect your dog to rationalize its own behavior since it is an animal. But you can help it stay out of trouble and curb bad behavior by teaching your dog to control its impulses.
This form of training will come in handy when your dog is starting to get hyper from its sexual energy. It can start to climb on your or hump other strangers and dogs in public.
As a dog owner myself, I am rather pissed off when a random dog tries to hump me, my dog or both of us.
Not too long ago, there was a little dog that was off-leash at the park. It made a beeline for us when we appeared and wanted to hump my dog.
Because this little dog was 1/3 the size of my dog, it only was successful in humping my dog’s elbow.
The owner suddenly appeared looking very winded from chasing her dog and tried to get her dog off mine.
My dog was rather chilled about the whole debacle but I could see that he was starting to get annoyed.
The lady tried to command her dog off mine but it was too deep in a horny trance to care. She had to basically pry its death grip apart from my dog and drag it away.
That little dog got off easy.
A more aggressive dog would have bitten her as other dogs are not fans of being mounted or humped as it displays dominance.
Don’t Use Your Hands Or Feet
There are times when we are encouraging our dog’s bad behavior without even realizing it.
One bad habit which I see many dog owners do is using their limbs as playthings for their dogs.
This isn’t ideal as it forms the association in your dog’s mind that your arm and legs are not out of bounds.
And when our dog gets honey and feels the urge to hump something, it wouldn’t hesitate to scratch its itch on your arm or leg.
Another more serious matter is allowing your dog to bite your hand or feet. It is painless and adorable when your dog is a puppy but not when it is a 100 lbs German Shepherd.
You don’t want to be put in a bad spot when your dog accidentally plays that way with a stranger and draws blood instead.
Tire Your Dog Out
When your dog is feeling libidious, it is feeling a lot of sexual energy in its body. You will hardly find a lazy or tired dog who wants to hump.
In order to dissipate some of this energy to a more manageable level for your dog, start putting it through more rigorous activities.
If you usually go for a walk with your dog, you can try doing a little dog or increasing the distance of the walk.
But make sure you do not go overboard with the distance which your dog can comfortably handle.
For dogs that aren’t suited for physical activity like the bulldog, you can do more mental games indoors. In fact, mental games tend to tire dogs out more than physical exercise.
If you have a female dog, it can get more frisky during her heat cycle which happens once every six months and can last for several weeks.
You might want to ramp up the mental and physical activities for your dog to keep her energy levels in check.
Divert Your Dog’s Attention
Your dog might not be after your arms or legs when it starts to feel horny. It is perfectly normal for dogs to hump inanimate objects as well.
When my dog was in his humping stage, he liked getting down and dirty with this small elephant statue that I had in my living room.
When you notice your dog humping something in your house such as a pillow, make sure to remove it immediately from your dog.
Once the object is completely out of your dog’s focus, distract your dog with its favorite toy or give it a command to go to its crate.
Make sure to lavish your dog with lots of praise and treats when it does something that you want.
Please do not scold or strike your dog as that will only reinforce more bad behaviors in it.
Why Do Dogs Hump?
Humping is a very common action in dogs but humping doesn’t always mean that it is about procreation. There are many neutered dogs that hump frequently as well.
Excessive humping could indicate that your dog is having a behavioral or medical issue. Dogs can hump when they are feeling stressed or anxious.
A male dog with prostrate problems can also start humping more often.
Humping is part and parcel of being a dog but it can become problematic when your dog starts humping strangers and other dogs.
If your dog is exhibiting other symptoms which might indicate a medical condition, I would strongly suggest that you take your dog to the vet for a physical examination.
Otherwise, it’s time to start putting it on an impulse training routine.