My dog got neutered but is still horny...

truecrippler

Hey there, my dog is 1 and a half years old and we got him neutered about 6 months ago yet he is still horny and getting up on family members.
Is this normal or has he just got some testosterone left in him?

peasant

He's not "horny" ...he's trying to tell you something

Castrated males still get sexually excited when bitches in heat are around, but dry humping peoples legs is something non sexual.

Can you guess what?

(starts with F and ends in U )

truecrippler

Ah I see ok .
The thing is, there's no female dogs around but dare I say it... my mother.
Without sounding wrong, would she have an influence on him?

Thank you.

peasant

emmm ...no

(forget what you saw or heard in some dark corner of the internet, dogs don't "desire" humans)

At one and a half he's in his "rebellious teenager" phase ...he's just showing you and everybody else who's boss (hint ...it's not you:D)

Lauragoesmad

Its a total dominance issue. Just make sure for the next few days, whoever he is humping should take his bowl of food from him in the middle of him eating it and pretend to have some. It shows the dog that the person is higher up the ranks then him and he will eventually learn his place. Works every time!!;)

peasant

Lauragoesmad wrote: »

Its a total dominance issue. Just make sure for the next few days, whoever he is humping should take his bowl of food from him in the middle of him eating it and pretend to have some. It shows the dog that the person is higher up the ranks then him and he will eventually learn his place. Works every time!!;)

I'd be careful with that. Depending on how rebellious the dog is, he might take you up on that challenge ...it could end in uneccessary confrontation and tears.

Instead make him "work" for everything he wants. A little "sit" before the door opens, before the toy comes out, before the ball flies, before he gets massaged behind the ears and before the food bowl comes down.

This way he'll learn very quickly who controls the resources around the house ...not him, but the boss.

Lauragoesmad

peasant wrote: »

I'd be careful with that. Depending on how rebellious the dog is, he might take you up on that challenge ...it could end in uneccessary confrontation and tears.

Instead make him "work" for everything he wants. A little "sit" before the door opens, before the toy comes out, before the ball flies, before he gets massaged behind the ears and before the food bowl comes down.

This way he'll learn very quickly who controls the resources around the house ...not him, but the boss.

I've done it with a good few dogs and its always worked, even my nightmare job of training a weimaraner!! Once you are firm with the dog, they never try to snap or bite. Another thing you can try is if you let your dog sit on the couch, gently push him down on to the floor on random occasions and he'l get the message that you are pack leader and what you say, goes!

peasant

Lauragoesmad wrote: »

I've done it with a good few dogs and its always worked, even my nightmare job of training a weimaraner!! Once you are firm with the dog, they never try to snap or bite.

Problem is ...if it goes wrong, then you have war on your hands. Once the dog gets away with biting you, then it's an alltogether different scenario.

I'd wait with interfering with a feeding dog until I'm SURE that it recognises my authority ...actually I'd leave it alltogether. Needlessly taking a dogs food away while it is in the middle of eating doesn't exactly create that warm and fuzzy feeling of trust (in you) in your dog.

The safest and least confrontational way to show a dog who's boss is to control the resources and to establish and maintain discipline.

The same few (sensible) rules applied with consequence every time, that does it.


Oh ...and instruct your kids never to interfere with the dogs food ...you (the boss) might get away with it, kids mightn't.

hadook

Lauragoesmad wrote: »

Its a total dominance issue. Just make sure for the next few days, whoever he is humping should take his bowl of food from him in the middle of him eating it and pretend to have some. It shows the dog that the person is higher up the ranks then him and he will eventually learn his place. Works every time!!;)

In all fairness taking his food away teaches him that you take food away. You're much better off teaching him things like a sit & stay before giving him the food along with a command to eat (thus reinforcing that he's allowed to eat when you say so) if you want this type of control.

Here's another thought - every single dog behaviourist I've spoken to says that you don't take food away from a dog without given another high value item in return or this may cause problems in the future.

The rank theory is one that I'm not entirely sure I buy as well after much thought. Dogs live with us in our homes. We are not part of dog packs and shouldn't aim to be - we're not dogs. We create boundaries (ie, dogs don't sleep on the bed, sit on the table, eat from my plate, hump my mother etc) explain them to the dog and in return provide shelter, food, love, attention, exercise etc. It's worked for years - why are we striving to be top of the pack now?

Lauragoesmad wrote: »

I've done it with a good few dogs and its always worked, even my nightmare job of training a weimaraner!! Once you are firm with the dog, they never try to snap or bite.

I think you are coming from a similar direction as I am in that you suggest that firmness is the key. The word I'd use would be consistency though.

Training a dog is about repitition, clear rules and consistency.

OP - another thing that popped into my head reading this is that if leg humping is a learned thing that gets the dog attention then he'll keep doing it.
When he humps someone take him calmly by the collar and put him in another room without making eye contact or saying anything if you can help it. After a few mins let him back in. Repeat as necessary. Treat him like a puppy who's exhibiting unwelcome behaviour by taking away the interaction that he craves from the people around him.

Lauragoesmad

hadook wrote: »

In all fairness taking his food away teaches him that you take food away. You're much better off teaching him things like a sit & stay before giving him the food along with a command to eat (thus reinforcing that he's allowed to eat when you say so) if you want this type of control.







I think you are coming from a similar direction as I am in that you suggest that firmness is the key. The word I'd use would be consistency though.

First off, I totally phrased that wrong. What I meant was when you feed your dog, pretend to eat some from his/her bowl before you give it to them.
Should really give myself a minute or two to wake up before posting!!:D

Well obviously you have to be consistent.

Annika30

Lauragoesmad wrote: »

First off, I totally phrased that wrong. What I meant was when you feed your dog, pretend to eat some from his/her bowl before you give it to them.
Should really give myself a minute or two to wake up before posting!!:D

Well obviously you have to be consistent.

Do you mind explaining to me what exactly that will teach your dog, do you think dogs do that to each other to show who's the boss?? There's some crazy ideas out there!!

hadook, I'm right with you!:D

hadook

Lauragoesmad wrote: »

First off, I totally phrased that wrong. What I meant was when you feed your dog, pretend to eat some from his/her bowl before you give it to them.

Amusingly my "top" dog tends to eat last. He never causes a fuss over food but if he has a high value food item and one of the others even attempts to take it off him *one single look* is enough to stop the other dog in their tracks Even the cats respect him and I've seen Mia Kitty practically climb into the Danes mouth after a tasty morsel :rolleyes:

He's content to womble along doing his thing and rarely has to bother with anything more than a look or a single growl to sort the others out on the very rare occasions that I've seen him exercise his power. I should also point out that my "top" dog is a Collie & he "ranks" above a Great Dane

Using what I've learned from watching my dogs interact, taking the dogs food away and pretending to eat it before giving it to him does not automatically "rank" me higher...