As an affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases on Amazon. We get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
Dogs can be mischievous. You may observe them humping a few items on your house or even your visitors – very embarrassing. But do dogs masturbate?
Are there specific reasons why your dogs could be humping things around the house? What could be the cause of all this? Are there ways you can help them better cope with this?
How about their heat cycle, does it have anything to do with this unusual behavior?
In this article, we will be looking at whether dogs really masturbate and identify some of the reasons for this if they actually do it.
Let’s now get right into it.
Do Dogs Masturbate?
Male and female dogs both do masturbate. This behavior is mostly witnessed in younger dogs than in older dogs. It’s also more likely to be observed from intact dogs than from spayed or neutered dogs. Most spayed or neutered dogs will grow out of this act over time. Dog masturbation comes in the form of either humping or licking of their private part, especially in female dogs. They’ll hump the living hell out of everything – stuffed toys, pillows, or one of your visitors.
This is always very embarrassing to most dog owners and the worst part is, there isn’t much that you can do about it.
To help prevent this from being a recurring behavior, it’s recommended to get your doggo neutered or spayed as this has been known to reduce this over time.
If you own a young dog that is just maturing sexually, you are more likely to see this happening more often than their spayed or neutered older counterparts.
Sexually maturity (puberty) in dogs is the period between sexual maturity and social maturity. It happens when your dog is in the ages of seven months to two years, depending on the breed. This comes with multiple physical and behavioral changes in your doggo.
But why do dogs masturbate?
Why Do Dogs Masturbate? Why Do They Hump?
Dogs masturbate (hump) mostly due to reasons associated with sexual behaviors. As they mature sexually the need to relieve their sexual frustrations through humping becomes much more common and necessary for your dog. Another key reason associated with your dog humping everything around the house is a show of dominance.
Let’s dive deeper into some of these and other key reasons.
Dogs will mount things in your house including you for a number of reasons.
Below are nine of the most common reasons why your dog could be mounting (humping):
Sexual Behaviour
This is by far the most common reason why they do it. When a dog is sexually matured and enters heat it’ll be observed “masturbating” by humping things around the house. The mounting will always continue until they are neutered or spayed.
The spaying or neutering wouldn’t immediately stop the act but will help and gradually he’ll stop humping things.
Social Behaviour
As your dog gets to puberty part of the changes are social behavior changes. They’ll now want to explore the world from an adult dog’s eye. They’ll be seen humping in public as they try to prove their dominance.
This behavior has been observed on both male and female dogs. They’ll hump other dogs and things as a show of dominance within that pack.
Fun or Playing
Dogs are always very playful. Their playful nature sometimes comes with them humping other dogs as they try to initiate play. Dogs that are not that well socialized will jump on each other and start humping.
There are certain dogs that may also get aroused while playing. This will later lead to humping.
Overexcitement
Overexcitement comes with some level of energy. This comes with some sort of stimulation. If the dog is excited about meeting another dog for the very first time, it may go straight away and start humping that dog in excitement.
This could either be from sexual stimulation or as a way to try and initiate play-time with the other dog.
Due to Stress
When your dog is stressed or nervous, it may use humping as a way to calm itself down during such times. Stress could come in the form of lack of playtime or missing the daily walk that they are so accustomed to.
Your pillow, stuff animals in the house as well as your legs will suffer the wrath of their humping from the high energy levels that they’ll be aiming to relieve from the humping.
Habitual
This is due to them constantly masturbating (humping) things very often. This may end up being a compulsive habit or disorder that may require some medical attention. It’s recommended to get him checked by your local vet who is most likely to prescribe neutering or spaying if not done already.
Attention Seeking
Dogs can sometimes get bored or lonely. When they find themselves in such a state, some may try to take actions that will lead to attention being given to them. One such act may be mounting things in the house.
A little bit of attention and daily exercise may help prevent them from partaking in such behaviors.
Health Issue
Certain health issues are also known to trigger humping (dog masturbation) in dogs. Although this is rare, medical issues such as urinary tract infection, incontinence, priapism, and skin allergies can trigger humping behavior.
Prenatal Masculinization in Female Dogs
This is mostly on female dogs. Scientists believe dominant mounting in females could be a result of prenatal masculinization. This occurrence in female dogs is believed to occur in female dogs that were outnumbered by male puppies while in the womb. This is believed to cause a hormonal transfer during prenatal development.
Preventing Them from Humping & Masturbating
To prevent your dog from excessive masturbation and humping, you’ll need to pay close attention to them. For starters, neutering and spaying your sexually matured dog will eventually help in preventing them from humping things around.
This method is not recommended for owners who plan on breeding dogs in the near future.
You may also want to distract them by keeping them busy with other activities. Taking them for a walk every single day will help them release all their energies and keep them healthy. Just be careful you don’t want to give them excessive exercise that might lead to sore muscles.
You may also train them not to mount on stuff by using positive distractions. This may come in the form of a treat or by initiating some sort of game that will switch their mind from the humping.
Is Dog Mounting/Humping a Sign of Dominance?
Mounting or humping in dogs is a sign of dominance in dogs. Dogs will try and establish control of the pack by humping the other dogs in the pack. Dominance in this case could also be a show of control when it comes to access to resources within that household. Both male and female dogs have been known to show dominance through humping all the other dogs in a specific pack.
Serotonin, which is a chemical in the brain has been associated with the need of dogs to be dominant on their pack. This chemical also plays a role in influencing the humping behavior.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to dogs masturbation, dogs are known to do this either by humping things around or by licking their private parts, especially in female dogs.
Dogs humping behavior can be associated with some key reasons such as due to their sexual activity, social behavior, when they are seeking attention, overexcitement, or stress.
To help prevent them from humping things around it’s recommended to neuter or spay them especially if you are not planning to breed them in the near future.
What’s more, training them will save you lots of embarrassment as well as prevent any injuries from aggressive dogs that are easily agitated from being mounted by other dogs.