And so it begins….the shame.


  • Maybe he's stressed from his alone time training. 😃 Whatever the reason, your story cracked me up!


  • And remember this is typical basenji breeding season… many of the males will "rut" especially young males....


  • @AJs:

    If you're not planning on breeding him, I suggest you get him neutered.

    I'll probably get in trouble for that one too.

    If I do that, then I am getting HIM into more trouble. Neutered dogs give off a different smell, and since most dogs here are not neutered they will attack and be hostile towards him.

    I talked to a dog owner at the park a while back and she regretted neutering her dog, he is never left alone and is often in conflicts.

    Oh, and btw, me writing about "hornyness" was an attempt at adding a bit humor when writing my story…

    @barklessk9:

    Maybe he's stressed from his alone time training. 😃 Whatever the reason, your story cracked me up!

    Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! 🙂

    @renaultf1:

    Actually, from a lot of what I've read, many times it isn't dominance…it is a stress reliever for many dogs. So it could be that he is actually stressed.

    Actually I think it's also a way to get attention. There where a lot of dogs at the park that day, but try as he might he never got anyone to interact with him. That's when he started "jumping" on them.

    I also witnessed this with another dog a previous day, when 3 dogs where playing, and he too was left out. Thats when the "jumping" started for that dog as well.


  • We are still in rut season and humping and penis crowning are very common during this time. The dogs are all sort of on edge this time of year, it doesn't seem to matter if they are neutered or not they all know there is something going on even if they aren't sure what.


  • @lvoss:

    We are still in rut season and humping and penis crowning are very common during this time. The dogs are all sort of on edge this time of year, it doesn't seem to matter if they are neutered or not they all know there is something going on even if they aren't sure what.

    That would explain why my B chose not to eat this morning. I have a feeling this will be a fun week. :o

    When does the season usually end?


  • It depends on the dog but usually by Thanksgiving though it can last into December.

  • Houston

    Just to put a spin on things…my daughter's Schnauzer/Yorkie mix, Luna, sometimes humps the boys, so in her case it is definitely dominance, she even lifts her leg when she pees on certain mailbox poles. Our newbie, Moses was humping or should I say tried pathetically to hump Otis this weeekend, Otis spoke up, loud and clear and Moses will not be doing that again, Otis is the boss..if Luna isn't in the room..LOL.
    I think either dominance, or stress could bring that behaviour out, unless of course he is just an early boy.. making daddy proud, or embarrassed.:);):D


  • @NerdyDogOwner:

    If I do that, then I am getting HIM into more trouble. Neutered dogs give off a different smell, and since most dogs here are not neutered they will attack and be hostile towards him.

    I talked to a dog owner at the park a while back and she regretted neutering her dog, he is never left alone and is often in conflicts..

    I have to say I have always… ALWAYS neutered and spayed my dogs and have NEVER seen this to be true. NEVER.

    In fact, In my experience, the neutered dogs get along much better.


  • Really? Hm, I should do some reading on neutering. Listening to a random person at the dog park is not a reliable source. lol


  • @NerdyDogOwner:

    Really? Hm, I should do some reading on neutering. Listening to a random person at the dog park is not a reliable source. lol

    Indeed.

    I was set for awhile to not neuter my B. There's a lot of great literature out there about the Pro's and Con's.

    It eventually came down to managing his behavior while intact. He was more prone to be further anxious if left intact and that was something I did not want him to deal with, considering he's high-strung as it is.

    I'm happy with my choice to neuter. Although I support those who choose not to even if they are not planning on breeding. 🙂


  • Been googling around, and so far there is very little negative sides to neutering, besides the inability to breed and the chance of gaining weight.

    The desire to "roam" cuts down, dominance behavior falls dramatically, territorial behavior is close to gone, health benefits (testicular cancer). Cleaner and calmer dog.

    I also read: Spaying and neutering before sexual maturity also offers a temperament benefit. Males neutered early in life tend to be less aggressive and less distracted.

    Hmm, I really should make up my mind fast.

    Of course being a male myself I am VERY reluctant in doing this to my buddy….lol


  • I got Lenny neutered when he was 2.5 years old. It has been over a year now and I did not see much of a change with his personality toward people or toward Tayda. He is less aggressive toward other dogs though. And he did not gain weight….

    just my experience.

    Tayda likes to hump lenny. But she does it kind of on the side - it's hilarious to watch. He just carries on like he doesn't notice. Lenny, on the other hand, has never humped anything or anyone.


  • Your embarrassment is endearing and also (sorry) totally hysterical. Your choice of words and humor were not lost on me. I laughed most of the way through your original post.

    Hope you find all the info you need to make an informed decision. My boy was neutered at 2 years old. He did not gain weight, and his core disposition never changed (he was always a laid back love bug). He was a mad humper before the snip-snip, and never humped again in a sexual way after; only a handful of times to stop an unwanted behavior of his Basenji sister. The minute she stopped, he stopped. Haven't seen the dominance humping in ages.

    Good luck with Gizmo. He's adorable.


  • @NerdyDogOwner:

    Been googling around, and so far there is very little negative sides to neutering, besides the inability to breed and the chance of gaining weight.

    The desire to "roam" cuts down, dominance behavior falls dramatically, territorial behavior is close to gone, health benefits (testicular cancer). Cleaner and calmer dog.

    I also read: Spaying and neutering before sexual maturity also offers a temperament benefit. Males neutered early in life tend to be less aggressive and less distracted.

    Hmm, I really should make up my mind fast.

    Of course being a male myself I am VERY reluctant in doing this to my buddy….lol

    There are benefits to neutering them when they reach 12 months of age. I'd suggest doing some further reading, you'll be happy you did. 😃

    I had mine neutered @ 14 months of age.

    There are health negatives to neutering. There's a good PDF floating around somewhere about a study done comparing the two options. Testicular cancer is reduced with neutering, but there's a slightly higher chance of prostate cancer. I think overall though, there are marginal differences when you really look at things. I will say that my B has packed on a couple lbs since being neutered. The good thing is weight can be easily managed if you know what you're doing. Work on the food portions and exercise. Simple enough.

    I'm a big fan of waiting until they reach a year old to neuter though. Lots of literature about how they develop a bit more naturally (bone structure and such) if you allow them to remain intact while their growth plates are in action (6mo-12mo of age I believe).

    I'm sure someone will jump in with a few more things, but there are a few choices. If you choose to neuter make sure you are certain on the time to do it. 🙂


  • Humping can be spurred by hormones raging at this time…and it can be a dominance display, and it can be caused by all kinds of other triggers. In this case, I would lean towards hormones, since he is humping grass hillls, etc. 😉 Either way, humping other dogs should not be tolerated in a dog park, because it can turn into a horrendous fight. If this were my dog, I would simply remove him from the park when he started this behavior...no yelling, no correction...just leave.

    In my experience young males 4-6 months old do hump A LOT, for all kinds of reasons...and it slows down to more appropriate times as they mature. I understand that in Europe neuter is not as commonplace as it is in North America, but it can really improve the behavior and impulse control of most males.


  • Hormones do play a role in bone and muscle growth. However, if neutered early, the marking and dominance behavior doesn't set in as much.

    Men seem to have a harder time with this decision. They have the same reason you do: I wouldn't want it done to me. However, the dog will not miss them. If it's a matter of cosmetics, and it makes you feel better, there are prosthetic testicles that can replace the originals. Nobody except you, the vet and your dog need to know he's not a breeder.

    AJ is about a pound heavy, but that's weight that I put on him after I got him as an adult. He did not gain weight with his previous owner after his neuter. He's a very sweet boy and if there are problems with other dogs, usually it's his problem. He wasn't neutered until after he bred twice and had the dominance behavior ingrained. I haven't noticed other dogs treating him differently because of his neuter.

    I have, however, noticed them getting annoyed when he acts like a jerk.


  • Well you guys are gonna love this one….

    Like I mentioned I have done some reading on neutering, and late last night I had made up my mind to go for it.

    But today, when calling my vet I was met with some interesting (and perhaps shocking to some) news.
    Norway actually forbids neutering on dogs/animals, without proper cause to do so. So if I wanted to neuter just due to the facts I have read, such as calmer etc, this is not a valid reason. She informed me that here in Norway we usually wait until the animal is 1 year old to get a proper look at his/her behavior.

    So I guess my decision was already made for me from the very start...how about that?


  • It had never occurred to me that any government would want to tell you what health decisions you are allowed to make for your own dog.

    That is completely baffling to me.


  • AJs Human…European countries don't have the same problem with pet overpopulation that we do here. So spay and neuter isn't something that is really done there, unless there is a medical reason. Whether correct, or not...it is considered an un-necessary surgical procedure. Many European countries also don't allow ear cropping or tail docking for the same reasons.

    I wonder if human plastic surgery is allowed? 😉 Of course, in that case, the human itself is making the decision to go under the knife.

  • Houston

    I actually talked to my parents ( in Sweden) last night to discusss this further.
    I was told by my dad that we did not neuter our Westie, Bobo, when I was a child, because there was never a need for it. He wasn't behviour wise bad, nor did he mark, he lived to be 16 yrs old and was a very happy, even keel type of dog.
    My dad has a female King Cavalier Spaniel that just lately had to undergo a spay, as she came down uterine cancer,she is now fine., at 16 yrs of age.
    They have a friend with a King Cavalier Spaniel male, that was "chemically" neutered, meaning, as far as my dad knew, inplanted with something that made his system go into the less hormone mode, yet he still had them there, they do this to see how the dogs behaviour gets, incase he changes too much, then they can remove the implant and he would live normally ( as the pet owner knows him) again, with his testies. I don't know really what this would be called here, or if it even is an option, thought it was interesting though..

    But yes, Quercus, hit the head on the nail…Europe does not have the overpopulation with dogs, mutts or purebreds, roaming the streets. Shoot, Sweden doesn't even have shelters.
    I am part of a swedish Basenji blog as well, and not to long ago, somebody listed their B on a craigslist" type website,. over there...you should've seen the uproar resulting from that posting, unbelievable..you just don't get a dog and not stick with it through thick and thin, moves, job changes, more or less money coming in, new baby or anything..you just don't, you make changes in your life until you part ways naturally..you make it work, their is no plan B in pet ownership..

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