Mounting

[Puji]

Hi all,

Lexi is almost 8 months old now. This past week, she started mounting Charlie (almost 20 months, neutered). Often, she'll do it when he's busy with something else, though sometimes it happens when they're wrestling, too. Charlie lets her do it for a bit, but eventually tells her 'that's enough' with a turn and a snarl. (Charlie and Lexi like each other and get along well… except that Charlie can be a bully at times, growling at her to give him his space or his toys.) The other day, Lexi met another dog on a walk, and mounted him, too! It looked like it was an attempt to play, though, because she started out with some play bows.

We were going to have her spayed around 6 months, but she started her heat cycle just around then. So, now we're waiting for it to finish. It seems that it's almost done - after over a month! She's not bleeding anymore, and the swelling is almost all gone.

So, do you think Lexi's behaviour is play-related? or is it related to her finishing her heat cycle? or is it related to her stage of puppy development, where she's trying to move up the social ladder?

Also, we're not sure whether to just let her go ahead and mount Charlie, and let Charlie deal with it as he wants to... or whether we should ask Lexi not to mount other dogs. We never had to deal with this issue before, since Charlie has never once mounted another dog. Any thoughts?

[kiroja]

It could very well be due to her cycle. In a lot of species, especially cows, it's typical for females to mount each other when they are in estrus and ready to breed. Happens in dogs too. lol Those hormones are taking over.

Mounting is also a dominance behavior, so time will probably tell what's going on with her. As long as it isn't causing any major flare-ups, you can let them sort it out themselves. Keep an eye on things though when she's visiting new dogs. Some might take offence to her raunchy behavior.