I have a 2 1/2 yr old Mini Daschund I had him fixed when he was a baby because he was humping when he was only 8 weeks old, but then he started humping stuffed animals and now he tries to hump my foot all the time while I am laying on the couch watching TV. It is very annoying because I constantly tell him no! And he sits there and continues to bark at me non stop, he has a very loud bark for such a little dog. I do not know what to do to get him to stop doing this, not to mention that he latches onto my leg and digs his nails in and it hurts. He also has a barking issue, whenever he doesn't get what he wants he barks, while I am eating he barks, when a car goes by he barks, I recently moved and I cannot have him doing this non stop. He is my baby, so I want to correct what he is doing but I do not know where to start any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


Also he gets very angry when I am wearing shoes and he tries to do this he bites my pant legs!

You need to become top dog in your house, right now he truly believes he is in chargen I would suggest some leadership training/exercises. I believe Labman has some in his sticky at the top of the dog page. Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer is big on leadership training, there are plenty of videos and articles online or your best bet would be to get a dog trainer. Regardless, leadership doesn't mean yelling, hitting... you need training. The experts (which I certainly am not) such as Shaz will be on soon to offer their excellent advice! :)

. He is my baby, so I want to correct what he is doing but I do not know where to start any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

You first need to change your outlook towards him. He is not your baby, he is your dog. A dog does not respond well to constant cuddling and having every need met instantly.

There are libraries full of training techniques, even for re-training spoiled babies such as you have described, but the best advice I can give you is to remember that he is a dog, not a baby.

I would suggest some obedience classes.
Even if your dog is trained, obedience classes are a great way to bring dog and owner together and establish who is in charge.

I'm in the naughty category in often saying my dogs are my babies :o
But in saying that they do know I am the boss, and if I tell then to stop doing something, they darn well do it.

he tries to hump my foot all the time while I am laying on the couch watching TV. It is very annoying because I constantly tell him no! And he sits there and continues to bark at me non stop

What do you do when he does this? Do you correct his bad behavior or do you just live with it?


I do not know what to do to get him to stop doing this, not to mention that he latches onto my leg and digs his nails in and it hurts.

Why is he being allowed to "latch on"? Who's the boss, you or him?


He also has a barking issue, whenever he doesn't get what he wants he barks, while I am eating he barks, when a car goes by he barks, I recently moved and I cannot have him doing this non stop.

How often do you walk him? Is he getting enough exercise? He sounds very frustrated to me.


He is my baby, so I want to correct what he is doing but I do not know where to start any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Ah, now I know why. He's your baby? No, he's not. Look again. He's a dog! You can love him, because you're human and that's what we do, but trust me, he doesn't love you the way you want him to. He's a dog. His needs are that of a dog. Don't fulfill those needs and you'll have a dog that humps and barks and misbehaves. Don't meet his needs and he'll assume the alpha position. The sad fact is, he's not an alpha. Someone has to be and it's not you, so even though he isn't equipped to be alpha, he has to take on the role because that's what his instincts tell him.

If you take on the alpha dog role then he'll finally find balance as a dog.


Also he gets very angry when I am wearing shoes and he tries to do this he bites my pant legs!

Again, you're putting human emotion on your dog. He doesn't feel anger because you're wearing shoes. He's a dog. He could care less about your shoes.

You're not meeting his needs. He's a leaf in the wind. As long as you continue to treat him like a human you'll continue to have problems.

He is my baby, so I want to correct what he is doing but I do not know where to start any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Besides dogs and cats, I have raised two children. They started as babies (I still call them my babies at times). However, as soon as they were old enough to realize the correlation between what they did and what I did, I tried to set boundaries. Mommy plays games as long as Mommy wants to play games. When Mommy says playtime is over, playtime is over. Mommy will not play fetch the thrown toy when Mommy doesn't want to. A toy that is thrown and a temper tantrum to get it back results in not getting the toy or Mommy.

We teach our young, both human and furred (feathered, too) what we expect of them by how we act and react. We teach boundaries by setting them and keeping them. We teach every minute of every day. Not just when they are in school or on a leash.

That said, in an older episode of Victoria Stillwell's It's Me or the Dog series, she had a bulldog that humped everyone a lot. He was intact when she began showing the couple how to deal with him so part of his problem was hormonal. Part of it was the same thing that you are dealing with, behavioral. Part of the training she used for him was to have a pen to put him in as soon as he started humping. He transgressed-he was in time out. That quickly and emotionless. A quick 'no' with no other attention given. A five minutes later he is released. It may be six hours of you putting him up, releasing him, putting him again until he understands that MOMMY isn't playing his game. With the barking added in, DO NOT release him if he is making a fuss. Only give him attention when he is calm and quiet.

Yelling at him to be quiet or telling him over and over again to stop only makes the problem worse. He thinks you are joining in. Teach him that a quiet dog gets attention. A loud dog doesn't get what it wants.