Humping is a common behaviour in dogs and is seen in both males and females, even if they are desexed. Contrary to a lot of peoples’ misconception humping or mounting is not just a dominant or sexual behaviour.

When dogs play, they are constantly incorporating a multitude of behaviours in different sequences. When playing dogs can imitate natural behaviours like: chasing, stalking, and pouncing which are cues displayed when hunting; mouthing and wrestling are fighting behaviours; and humping is can be a sexual cue.

Many Animal Behaviour experts believe that play is practice for natural situations where this behaviours may be needed. During play, dogs also display other behavioural cues that show their play mates that this is not for real and I’m having lots of fun.

Humping can be a sign of stress or anxiety, this behaviour can be seen in dogs when they are over excited. Although it really isn’t a true sign of anxiety, it can be a sign that the dog is over stimulated or a signal that your dog is not coping with the current situation, this behaviour can also be known as “displacement.” When dogs are both into a situation that they are not comfortable with they can display cues like scratching. Licking lips and even humping. Similar in human, we display displacement cues as well, like playing with our jewellery, checking our watches and most common constantly looking at our phones. Another common reason why dogs hump can be due to boredom or seeking attention, if this is the case you may need to look whether your dog is getting enough mental and physical exercise.

The best ways to stop your dog from doing this is to work out what is trigging this behaviour and try to remove or reduce their exposure to this situation; the most important thing is that everyone in your family needs to be constant. When your dog goes to hump, everyone needs to ignore it. This, however, will not be enough since it is self-reinforcing. Try and do as much as you can to prevent this occurring. It is recommended that you teach a more appropriate alternative; for example you may want to teach them how to sit and lay down! If you see your dog starting to hump or mount something or someone, distract them get them calm and turn this into a training session with lots of praise and rewards.