Help!

[tracey.s]

I am looking after my sister's springer spaniel while she is on holiday. He is a very sweet loveable yet manic little thing. He never stops. He is constantly on the go When the weather is like it is at the moment the back door is constantly open so, it's not a problem. He can loon around the garden to his hearts content. He pulls like a steam train on lead so, she's bought a halti harness which is helping.

TBH he's not really had a great deal of training. He did come to training classes and did very well but he has only ever had one course.

He loves coming here as he gets loads of attention and he has Ice to play with. (at home his day is mostly spent in the dining room on his own )

Which brings me to the problem. As you know ice has a weak back end and alfie has this need to constantly hump ice He was neutered and also chemically castrated which stopped the humping of inanimate objects. But he still feels the need to hump ice. When i see him doing it or attempting to i tell him no and he does stop but, obviously i need to stop him attempting it. The last time he was here ice gave him what for but, he must be exceptionally stoopid as he hasn't learnt from it.

Can anyone give me any advice as to

 

A.......Knacker him out

B.......Stop him humping Ice

 

Springers aren't really my breed and i've never had a dog that humps

 

Thankyou

[~Canis-Equus~]

IF he was mine, id put him on a raw diet, and do lots and lots of little training sessions with him.

 

The humping is dominance/frustration based, and yep some dogs just dont take the hint. Pteppic doesnt hump (despite being 16 months and entire)but he DOES act like a royal pain in the arse and does NOT seem to take any n otice of the tellinsg off he gets.

 

What id do is take note of whenand why the humping happens.... pinpoint the trigger for wanting to hump and then redirect him onto something else.

 

If he does get to hump, make that experience very unrewarding, id probably take the other dog away from him and leave him on his own for a few minutes to chill out.

 

HTH

 

Em

[tracey.s]

Thanks em. I did wonder about a dominance thing but it doesn't fit with his personality. He has really hurt Ice 3 times now. When i catch him doing it he is getting a stern No and i am taking HIM away from ice and putting him on his bed. But it's not working. Ice isn't telling him off this time either. He did last time Ice just really yelps. so, more often that not i'm not even catching him doing it. There's no set pattern to it. Ice can be stood up sniffing something or laid down.

Any other ideas?

[taylor]

If I was you Tracey I wouldnt leave them alone together at all, and I would employ a baby gate with one dog either side, Its really not fair on Ice in his present state of health to be hurt further.

If you really wanted to tackle it you could use a small noise aversion but would need to talk it through properly with an established trainer, and also be absolutely sure that it wasnt casing a phobia to the humper or Ice.

However as the spaniel is here on a temp basis I would probably just for this time keep them apart, Poor Ice give him a cuddle from me

Edited July 24, 2006 by taylor

[tracey.s]

thanks sally,

I have already got a stairgate on the kitchen door and alfie's bed is in the kitchen. They have been apart most of the time since he started again. I really can't understand it. Alfie is not only neutered but the vet chemically castrated him as well.

Ice is really enjoying the doggy company. (He's never really been on his own since we got him as we have more often than not had a foster here.) And he seems to have picked up a bit since alfie came so, it's a shame alfie can't behave himself. Ice is back at the vets today so, i'll have a word with her when we see her.

 

Thanks again

[~Canis-Equus~]

Yeah, when i say 'dominance' what i actually mean (and i should have said bad bad me), is really, he is attempting to dominate, and tbh, he probably doesnt even know why, its just an instinctive thing , especialy with a young male and an older one and even more so when the older one is doddery for some reason.

 

Pteppic isnt 'dominant' but his behaviour is attempting this, he gets no where because my other dogs slap him back down and tbh he doesnt relaly know WHY he is compelled to put paws over their necks etc, sadly nor does he know WHY they then bite him or pin him down and shout in his face.....

 

Em

[JoC]

It can often be innappropriate play, does he do it when he gets excited?

 

When dogs get really excited, they try to play their favourite game, Charlie would pick up a toy, Lenny would jump about in circles and try to nip hands, and some dogs will hump.

 

You can have a lightweight lead on (check your pound shop, they often have puppy leads in which are perfect, you can cut them down to a reasonable length) and then you can lead him off whenever he tries to mount Ice.

 

Also play other games with him, playing with a tennis ball or tuggy, and really get THAT to be his favourite game, so when he gets wound up he tries to instigate play with you rather than Ice.

 

Also, rather than mad dashes around the garden that get him hyped up, try to tire him out mentally, lots of training (especially self control exercises) and problem solving games (scatter feedingn rather than out of a bowl, activity toys etc) which will hopefully focus him rather than wind him up.

 

Sometimes hyper dogs don't need more exercise, they need less, and need to learn to calm down and relax rather than run around loads.

 

Given you're just dogsititng, I'd go for control and management rather than treatment, ie, using a houseline to control and seperating the dogs when you can't supervise.