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Comfort Humping?
I work at a doggy daycare and we have a dog that is constantly obsessively humped by all the dogs in the pen. This particular dog suffers from a lot of anxiety, this is becoming a huge problem to have this dog in the group and I was told it was them trying to comfort hump the anxious dog. What can I do about this problem?
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4 Replies
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Hi @Annalynn ,
I’ve never heard of ‘comfort humping’ before. But I am very worried about this dog remaining in a daycare environment when this is happening a lot.How realistic would it be for you and/or other staff to interrupt the very first signs of any humping to see if you can steadily discourage the other dogs from doing it? If that’s not realistic, I don’t think this is the right setting for this anxious dog.
I also vaguely recall a former post/thread about humping and someone trying a specific scent (?) on the dog to discourage this behavior… @catherine , am I hallucinating or do you recall this too? -
@Annalynn Thanks for bringing this case! You mentioned that this poor pup suffers from anxiety. Is the anxiety only present at daycare? What are the associated behaviors (besides humping) that makes you say he’s anxious? Would he do better with a different group of dogs?
Humping can be an anxious behavior. So, adding any kind of punishment like scolding or spraying him away will only increase the anxiety. He may not be a good candidate for a high arousal environment like daycare.
Your options are limited if he remains in the group. If you can call him away before he starts humping, and give him someplace to relax away from the other dogs, he may learn that he can “ask” for a removal before he gets over threshold.
Yes, @virginiad we did talk about a product called Lust Buster, but that’s for male dogs who are obsessing over females in season. This sounds like a different situation. If considering adding any scent, I’d look toward a DAP collar or diffuser in that room to see if it calms him down.
@Annalynn Let us know what you try!
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Oh yes, Lust Buster! Thanks for the reminder!
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Okay! I will!
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