staffymad Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 OK as many of you know we have rehomed Ruby a 11 year old staffy girl around 2 weeks ago. Ruby and Snatch get on just fine, however she has a tendency to hump him and any other dog she meets. The process is as follows: Ruby will hump (male or female dog) for about 30 or so seconds. She will then in one action jump of the dog and move straight into a play bow including the barking and movement trying to get the other dog to play. She will back off if Snatch tells her off for not wanting to be humped or play. So I am in two ways about this behaviour. First instinct tells me 'Dominance' but the backing off and the imidiate play bow as a result makes me go Your thoughts and answers are more than welcome. Before I forgett, Snatch is a 13ish year old staffy boy, he is neutered, Ruby well has the scar but we are not sure (she was a stray). Cindy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindsay Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 /Very often this kind of humping is due to excitement which would fit in the case you describe It doesn't sound as if it's causing a problem, are you OK with it? Snatch appears to be telling her how he feels and Ruby's responding to that, so... You may find she calms down a bit once she gets a bit more used to being with him... Lindsay x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tegk68 Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Cassie the EBT, whom you know, humps Bert from time to time but not Aggie. With Cassie I think it may be a dominance thing. Aggie is definately 'Queen' of the household and Bert is definately the Butler, with maybe Cassie in the middle as Princess. Anyhow what I've been thinking is that she only humps Bert as she feels she can and likes to exert a bit of dominance but dare not do it with Aggie. Bert not the sharpest knife in the drawer doesn't seem to mind so I leave well alone. What she does not do is what your Ruby does, in that she then launches into 'play mode'. Cassie once finished a quick bout of humping wanders off. So, I'm thinking maybe along the same lines as Lindsay that Ruby's is born from excitement as much as anything, whereas Cassie's is a dominance thing. I am hoping that this may highlight a difference for you. As Lindsay says, as long as Snatch doesn't mind and you don't then I wouldn't worry. Has she got a fave toy or anything that she could get rid of a bit of excess energy off first before launching into Snatch? You could try distracting her with it. Ruby, what are you like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raceylacy Posted August 10, 2006 Report Share Posted August 10, 2006 The playbow could also actually be appeasement behaviour to calm the other dog down. Especially if the other dog has taken exception to Ruby humping it - she will pick up the slightest subtle body language from the other dog - it may be kinda like 'hey, didn't mean it - i'm harmless really' - something like that - so it could be that the humping behaviour kicks in through habit and on the one hand could be interpreted as a dominance issue but in actual fact Ruby isn't dominant at all and responds accordingly - she is could well be confused .... Am I making sense? Sandra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staffymad Posted August 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2006 Thanks guys. I was thinking along the same lines especially since she does back off when told. She tends to do this when excited or when she meets a new dog out and about. A plain play bow would do the trick but being a staffy everything has to be OTT Thanks Cindy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReikiAnge Posted August 10, 2006 Report Share Posted August 10, 2006 Max used to do this to Cass sometimes when he was excited (not excited like *that* ) but his was certainly not a dominance thing and he would always get off when told. Can't remember the last time he did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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