Why Do Female Dogs Hump Things?

Imagine this: You’re having friends over who have yet to meet your new canine best friend. Suddenly, she’s humping one of your guest’s legs mid-conversation. How awkward is that? Why did that happen? 

Your dog’s behavior doesn’t have to be puzzling. Several factors can contribute to female dogs' humping behavior, in particular. Read on to learn more about these contributing factors and the ways to manage and prevent humping behavior in female dogs while keeping your dog healthy and happy.

Is it Normal for Female Dogs to Hump?

It’s more commonly known for dog parents to experience their male dog humping a pillow, someone’s leg or another dog. It turns out that female dogs hump just like male dogs, and yes, it’s usually normal behavior for female dogs to hump. However, knowing when and how to address that behavior is important.

Why Do Female Dogs Hump?

Why do girl dogs hump? Causes for female dogs' humping behavior may include: 

• Anxiety: She might start humping due to stress if there were any recent changes in your home. Both male and female dogs may use humping to relieve anxiety.  
• Playfulness: As funny as it may seem, female dogs may flirt with other dogs through playful pawing, which leads to humping.  
• Sexual Maturity: When a female dog enters her first heat, she can hump as a response to arousal. 
• Underlying Health Issues: Abnormal hormone production may cause sudden humping in your female pup. If you’re wondering why do dogs hump out of nowhere, they don’t, and it’s a good idea to consult with your veterinarian. 
• Other Behavioral Problems: Humping can be attention-seeking behavior if it consistently gets a response from humans. That’s why it’s essential to know how to train your dog to stop humping.

Why Do Female Dogs Hump After Being Spayed?

You might ask yourself, Why does a female dog hump after being spayed? It can take as many as three months for a female dog’s hormones to leave her body after being spayed. Remaining hormones may be the culprit for continued humping from your female pup after being spayed or neutered. 

Why Do Dogs Hump People?

If you’re wondering why do dogs hump people or specific things, know that male and female dogs alike will often hump the people that will respond with the biggest reactions, which encourages their behavior (which we can also refer to as “attention-seeking behavior”). They may also hump specific things due to anxiety. 

Why Do Female Dogs Hump Another Female Dog?

Due to anxiety, you may notice your female dog humping another female dog. Especially when female dogs are humping, it’s often due to anxiety. This is more often the case than play behaviors. After you’ve identified the source of stress, a professional trainer can help curb the humping.

Why Does My Female Dog Hump My Male Dog?

If not for reproduction, the same goes for male and female dogs. They may be exhibiting stress. Again, this is more often the case than just play. 

Why Does My Female Dog Hump Me?

If you’re wondering, Why does my dog hump me? – your female dog might start humping you due to a particular kind of stress: separation anxiety. Also, she might hump you because she’s likely to get attention from you by doing so. If your dog starts humping you, it’s essential to ignore her in that moment. A professional dog trainer may also help if she’s excessively persistent.

How to Stop a Dog From Humping

If you’re having trouble stopping your female dog from humping, here’s how you can be more at ease when having guests at your house around your dog. 

A few of the ways to manage and prevent humping behavior in female dogs include:  

• Training: Training your dog with the “leave it” command will help her to stop humping. Once she learns that command, she’ll quickly step away from guests, other dogs or objects.   
• Professional Obedience Training: It becomes harder to train a dog the more years she has ingrained with her habits. Professional obedience training may be the solution if you’re having difficulty training your dog yourself. 
• Exercise: Female dogs sometimes start humping when bored. Exercise can help. If your dog is going from pacing to lying around and then humping things, then you can prevent humping by giving more exercise time through playtime with you. 
• Spaying: Spaying or neutering your dog before she enters her first heat can not only help prevent her from humping, but it can also reduce her risk of mammary cancer. 
• Relaxation/Enrichment: Help reduce anxiousness through relaxation techniques and/or enrichment games. 
• Talking with Your Veterinarian: Talking with your veterinarian can help rule out all underlying medical conditions. Veterinarians may also be able to help manage anxiety/stress.

As a common rule of thumb, if your dog is humping another dog, and the dog on the receiving end looks unhappy in any way, you should train your dog towards more appropriate behaviors. Healthy dog treats and toys can be used as encouragement to give her something else to focus on. 

For more expert tips on dog behaviors, explore our other articles about understanding dogs.