Humping a teddybear!

Killme00

I have a five and a half month old Beagle bitch. Recently she started humping a large teddy bear and also my girlfriend leg. Ive never seen this behaviour in a female before and ws wondering what it is all about. Is it something to do with the change she is going through or a dominance thing?

Also,

My Vet advised us to have her spayed/neutered at 6 months of age. That would be Christmas week and just in case there are any complications or i need to take here back to the Vets i have decided to wait until the first week of January. Will delaying the procedure cause any complications, i read recently that it is better to get you pet spayed before her first heat cycle and also that getting it done before the first heat cycle also reduced the risk of mamarian cancer even further. Am i going to cause any problems by waiting?

Thanks:D

peasant

A bit of humping (as long as it's not excessive) would be considered normal for "teenagers" ...just forbid it.

As for the neutering ...I see no problems with waiting for another week. It also wouldn't be tragic if she had her first heat cycle before neutering ...just make sure she isn't actually in heat when neutering.


(some people say that it is better to wait until after first heat, as the hormones produced during sexual maturation regulate growth hormones and also change behaviour to a degree towards more adult behaviour ...so there are arguments for neutering/spaying either side of the first heat cycle)

jameshayes

I got one of mine done after her first heat and she then had a phantom pregnancy which led to depression, her personality completly changed. We then later found out that it's quite common and that if you let a bitch have her first heat you should let her have a litter. Again, this could be one of those 'you shoul' blurbs but it's from 1st hand experience.

My advise is to get her done as close to this side of her six months as possible.

Toots

Mine went through a phase where she humped EVERYTHING!! :D I'd mentioned to the vet that she was humping things and it turned out there was this gland in her bum that was blocked! :eek::eek:(bleeeuuuurgh!!!) and he cleaned out the gland (basically by squeezing near her anus and it was gross) but he said this wasn't something I would need to do at home thankfully. Once that was done the humping stopped, the only thing she now does from time to time is hump this one specific towel which is in the basket she has in my Mum's house. The vet said some occassional humping is normal, but if she's really going nuts maybe mention it to the vet - could be the same thing that my one had. (Not being gross, but has she had an upset tummy lately? Seemingly that can cause problems down there )

As for the neutering, I had her spayed bang on 6 months and there weren't any complications, she was only in for the day (dropped her off at 10am, picked her up at 4pm). Only problem was she had to wear a cone on her head to stop her going at the stitches, which was funny for us but she hated it. I had to bring her in a week later for a check and then again 3 days after that to get the stitches out. I had always thought it was better to let them have thier first season, but vet assured me this was not true as another poster has outlined, getting it done before reduces risks of cancer etc. Also, I used to work in kennels and it's no picnic having a dog in heat around. You can literally have every male dog in the area roaming round your house, and if one of them does have his wicked way with her, you could end up with a litter of pups to vaccinate and find homes for.

The pup could go into heat before the first week in January. I'd agree with JamesHayes, get her done as close to 6 months as possible. Phone your vet and outline your concerns, see what they say, it could be that they can't fit you in until then anyway, but they'll be able to advise you better than we can! Good luck!