# 7 week old golden humping my daughters leg



## goldiefanintexas (Jan 29, 2012)

Our new male golden has humped my 8 year old daughters leg two times now and we instantly put a stop to it but I feel it may continue. 

I believe this is a dominance issue. I don't think my golden understands his place in our pack.


What are some dominance/pack training that we could use to train him?


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

It is not a dominant issue.
A puppy that doesn't know what to do with itself when very happy, excited will choose to do something natural (to them) such as hump. Just because it is natural for the pup to do doesn't mean that any of us think it is acceptable or appropriate behavior. At this point I would calmly and/or gently remove the pup from your daughter. If the pup then goes to do it again, gently remove the pup and put the pup behind a gate/x-pen /crate or behind a door. Do not do this as a punishment, what you are after is that the pup calms itself down. When you put the pup behind the gate/crate/x-pen or door you can give the pup a chew toy for quiet play time. 

Dominance theory has been debunked. It isn't good science and those professionals with the behavior degrees have found that often by following those practices that you hurt the bond between the human and the pup.


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

Please don't label a 7 week old puppy 'dominant' - it can skew your view of him for life. He is doing what puppies do - playing! Humping is often a result of getting over excited during play - they just get too wound up and need a 'short time out' to settle down. If he is humping your daughter's leg - ask her to move away from him and ignore while you distract and give him something 'appropriate' to do or calmly move him into an xpen or crate with a chew toy.


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## morbidangel (Dec 19, 2011)

a 7 week old puppy & dominance lol ...
HE'S MORE LIKE A BRAINLESS BALL OF FUR WHOSE ALWAYS HIGH ..
just pick your pup & redirect his attention to something else simple that should solve the problem 

frankly speak the pack orientated thinking , does not make any sense to me at all ..
& i can never agree with the dominance part of it too ...

you don't have to be dominating mentally or physically to a dog if you can understand the dog & it's needs ... all that cessar crap has brainwashed a lot of people .

even a human child is not born with knowing all the right & wrongs ..we teach dem we don't dominate dem . even human kids go bad some kill & some die for others .. love your pup n it ll love u back .

& most importantly rather than focusing all your energy on showing your dog what's wrong , show him what's right & he ll never do the wrong thing


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## darbysdad (Dec 23, 2011)

I agree with all the above replies. Neutering will eventually curtail a lot of it anyhow. Ignoring and correcting the act now is the best approach. Don't expect too much "understanding or comprehension" from a 7 week old puppy. If that don't work, change your phone number, refuse dinner dates, and no more movie dates unless chaperoned.......


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

This is not a dominance issue, he is a puppy just playing like he would with littermates, since he was taken away from littermates too young he is playing with his human family as he would with his dog family. Just redirect him calmly to toys instead, don't be harsh, he's really just baby.

Please throw out the whole place in the pack and dominance theories. Just love him, redirect him to other appropriate play, and be patient with him.


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## goldiefanintexas (Jan 29, 2012)

Well he has graduated from humping just my daughters leg to now both my leg and my young son's leg. We push him off and tell him know and try to redirect. The Vet recommended we put him in his cage for a few minutes with a toy to try to calm him down. We are going to try that. We also notice he's pooing and peeing in the house alot more now even though he may have just gone outside and done the same thing.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

goldiefanintexas said:


> Well he has graduated from humping just my daughters leg to now both my leg and my young son's leg. We push him off and tell him know and try to redirect. The Vet recommended we put him in his cage for a few minutes with a toy to try to calm him down. We are going to try that. We also notice he's pooing and peeing in the house alot more now even though he may have just gone outside and done the same thing.


And humping is still not a dominance issue, it's not something to get angry or upset about. Be consistent with removing him when he starts he will eventually learn not to do it. You could also try getting his attention with a ball or toy and toss it to get him to go chase the toy instead. Teach him sit instead. Try to find other things to get him to do instead of humping.

At 7 weeks old he needs to be taken out to potty probably every 20 minutes when he is awake and playing, if he is having accidents sooner then take him out every 15 minutes. He is really, really young and his bladder is not big enough or mature enough to hold it, the same goes for his poo, he is so little that when he feels the urge to go he will just go. 

When you take him outside use the same word or phrase to ask him to potty, when he does potty praise him and give him a treat. Act like going potty in the right place the best thing he's ever done, have a party give him treats, "good potty, good potty". 

But keep in mind he is very young and it will take several months for him to mature and be able to wait to go potty.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

Here is a link from the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior about Dominance.

http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/dominance%20statement.pdf


Little puppies don't show up trained. They don't know how to be well mannered house dogs until we train them. Training young puppies works best by showing the puppy what you want him to do and giving lots of rewards for the pup following through.


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