First Dog Park Experience and the weird thing that happened!

[Badassboxer]

Okay, we had our first Dog Park day today! I must say, I had a great time and Debo had a BLAST! He is a very sociable dog! It was a small park, so I was not nervous about Debo getting away (he has a weak "come" command). I met a girl there who had a pit bull with natural ears! He and Debo had the EXACT same coat on one side! It was neat, but they looked NOTHING alike, I don't see how people can ask me if Debo is a pit bull???

Anyway one thing did happen, this pit bull (male about 6/7 months old) kept humping poor Debo everywhere, on his back, side, front non-stop - I mean they played well and I didn't worry about it and I didn't get mad but put it this way - I wasn't into petting my dog after all was said and done! BATH TIME! It was kinda gross.

So my question is why do dogs do this when it's the same sex? I know Debo is submissive, because he's belly up to anyone or anything, but it didn't seem to be an "aggressive" behavior or a "dominant" behavior because Debo was playing the whole time, not really "acting" submissive (just a few times, he would roll over, showing his belly)...anyway, I'm confused about this behavior and should I put up with that at a Dog Park...I'm assuming it's just what dogs do - while my husband was saying I should have ran around telling the other dog "no" (yeah right)...

Well opinions are appreciated!

------------------
Asy
Debo's Mom
01/23/2000
Brindle, male, nat. ears

 

[Tooma's Mom]

Sounds like the other owner should of been correcting there dog. Natural but..rude Debo's just not that kind of a dog! Most likely, just male starting to find out he is a male, doesn't yet know what to do... Time for vet appointment

 

[GillianF]

We have a friend with a male Boxer who visits occasionally for the dogs to play - all Max wants to do is hump Ttakas (the male) all the time they are here, while Bronte (the female) looks on - go figure! They don't really 'play' as such - just keep chasing about 'humping' each other!!!! Why??
Bronte, in the meantime would love to play.

------------------
Ttakas - Flashy fawn (Male).
Bronte - Flashy brindle (Female.
Littermates - born May 9/97 and real clowns!!

 

[Jennifer -Pharaoh's Mom]

Humping is generally a sign of dominance. It is also a sign of sexual maturity, meaning that the dog is more than likely going through a "Sexual" peak time in their venture to adulthood. Positive corrections are the key here. Saying, "No" and distracting the dog typically works best. Although, this is something the owner must do and probably wouldn't sit well with them if you corrected their dog, but that doesn't mean you couldn't say, "You know, I read about this somewhere....here's how you treat this incident". Debo may be submissive now, but that doesn't mean he'll be like that for long. One day, some dog is gonna wish he didn't try to stick him. Ha.
Jennifer

------------------
Pharaoh/Fawn/Black Mask
Born 9-8-96

www.geocities.com/jemjen24

For the "BOXERWORLD REG'S" PAGE ...CLICK THIS LINK...

www.geocities.com/jemjen24/boxerworldregs.html

Here you can see the Boxerwold REG's with their families and dogs

 

[ChrisM]

My reaction would have been to ask the owner to please keep their dog off mine or to leash him. It is rude on their part to allow their dog to do that, gross and rude! I think that some dog owners are like some parents, it just takes too much energy for them to "parent" their "children" properly and is much easier to let them run wild.

Maybe you shoud take a squirt bottle with lemon juice next time and squirt the humper in the mouth if he tries to mount Debo again. Hey, if the owners don't like it, they can control their dog!

------------------

Mom to:
LADY - White female, natural ears. Rainbow Bridge February 2000

TESS - Flashy Fawn female, born Dec, 1999, natural ears

ZELDA - Semi-flashy Female, natural ears, born May 31, 2000

 

[Brutus and Amaya's Mom]

Humping is usually dominance related. I would guess that the pit bull was trying to show poor Debo who top dog was and strutting their stuff.

Dogs are always aware of which dog is top dog even when playing. Our neighbors Rot (Bodie) is the top neighborhood dog. She will occasionally sit on other dogs (her parents are good and wil correct her) and recently she was at another neighbors house(Bailey). Bailey was sitting in her pool. Bodie walked over, barked and Baily jumped out so Bodie could have the pool. They know whose on top

------------------
Brutus & Amayas Mom
Brutus 9/23/99 Flashy Fawn
Amaya 3/22/00 Flashy Brindle

 

[JoAnn]

That was really gross, poor Debo. My question is my inlaws have a maltese mix who was neutered at 3 months and still humps any dog when they come over. So does it make any difference it they are neutered or not? I had a chihuahua/pom mix growing up and his favorite thing to hump was my pillow, so needless to say I had to be extra careful to check it before I put my head down to sleep at night.