[GigoMx]

My male Beagle is 14 months old. He´s been spayed for almost 4 months now. Almost every time we found another male dog in the park, the other male dog humps him with evident matting intentions. This, on top of being really annoying is also becoming a problem when they become aggressive . My dog is not aggressive at all but recently, he has started to show "self defence" signals which I immediately stop. Am I doing right? I cannot afford an aggressive dog as I have a 2 year old baby boy.

Someone told me that because the dog is castrated, he does not smell like a male and therefore, the other dogs hump on him. Is this true? Is there anything I can do to stop/reduce this? I need to stop others dog humping on him.

[JudyKayTee]

I had the same experience and my Vet told me it's an issue of dominance - the dominant males "hump" the others.

I don't know about becoming aggressive. What type of self defense signs is he showing? Do you supervise your son when he is with the dog?

[Wondergirl]

My male Beagle is 14 months old. He´s been spayed for almost 4 months now.

Females are spayed; males are castrated.

[Lucky098]

Males humping males.. Even males humping females and vise versa is a dominance stance.

It really has nothing to do with a dog being fixed... its based on personality of the dog. If your dog was never neutered, he'd probably still be humped by other dogs. His personality in the dog world is probably very weak. It could also be very strong. Humping is a way of asserting dominance within the pack. I think its along the lines of egging on a fight. When dogs hump each other, two things happen, play is initiated, or a fight is.

To help your dog not get antagonized so bad, take along a vinigar spray bottle. Other people need to control their dogs. Its not right or fair that they allow their dogs to pester yours to the breaking point. Spray the other dogs in the face and tell them to go away. That's what I would do anyway.

Do you go to the dog park when this happens? Or is it just random dogs. If it is the same dog over and over again, then there is definitely a power stuggle going on.

Your dog being neutered doesn't take away the "male" dog smell from him. He's still a boy. He's a young enough dog that he never developed that type of scent anyway. Usually the older dogs develop that musky smell.

It's a dominance thing. Just be careful. Be aware of your dogs body postures. He does need to stand up for himself otherwise this issue will never stop. But just don't allow a spanking to go any further.

[Aurora_Bell]

Neutered male dogs take on a scent similar to females because they stop producing testosterone. It's actually the amount of serotonin in the dogs brain that compels them to hump. Intact males hump to assert dominance, in the wild only the most dominate is allowed to produce. It's not uncommon for altered or unaltered animals to hump. It's what behaviorists call "displaced sexual behavior", much like masturbation.

Like others have mentioned it's a dominance thing, and like Lucky mentioned, these other pet owners need to take control over their dogs. A spray bottle filled with water wouldn't be a bad idea, when the other dogs begin to mount a quick spray of water usually curbs their enthusiasm.