Dog Sex Toys And Other Methods To Help Deal With Humping

Dogs, much like any other mammal, have their heat cycles which can cause them to become somewhat erratic when there’s no way to expel that energy and satisfy their sexual behavior. This is where dog sex toys come in, but what are they really?

Well, dog sex toys won’t clearly be labelled, and the ones that are on offer can be pretty expensive, all things considered, so it’s often better to look for some alternatives.

However, not all humping behavior is caused by sexual arousal, some of it can come from certain medical problems and allergies as well as bouts of emotional turmoil. It’s up to you to figure out what it is and how to stop it.

You don’t want your dog mounting and humping someone all of a sudden, especially not on the street which would end up causing you all sorts of problems.

That’s why I’m here writing this article today as I’ve had to deal with many such situations, embarrassing or otherwise and would like to transfer what I’ve learned to you so you can hopefully control the situation and prevent any ensuing behavioral problems.

So read on if you’d like to find out what exactly you can do to help resolve this problem, be it toys or alternatives.

Are There Any Dog Sex Toys?

There most certainly are, however, they’re vastly overpriced and often sell for thousands of dollars from various specialized sites, most of them not exactly trustworthy.

That said, some toys can be used as an alternate way of helping calm your dog’s behavior whose main intent isn’t to be a dog sex toy in the first place, but something to bring your dear doggy entertainment and something for him to focus on.

If you don’t want to go down the nuclear route to spay or neuter your dog, then it’s best to give him something to hump.

The best option, and the least harmful one, is to get him a stuffed animal of some kind for him to expel this energy on.

Most dogs usually do it to their favorite toy as they end up growing a certain fondness for it, again, completely normal behavior for any doggo, regardless of breed, gender or size.

If you’re looking for one that would be most adequate for this, it’s best to get one that’s shaped like a dog.

It’ll promote a healthier means of dealing with this behavior and won’t alienate him from the act if you ever decide to mate him with another dog.

It may also help prevent him from trying to hump other dogs during walks in the dog park or similar.

A teddy bear or any other animal shape can work too, but not to the extent that the dog one would.

However, it may be better to get him a distractory toy instead, to keep his mind off humping entirely.

3 Good Toy Distractions For Dogs With Humping Behavior

Here are a few examples of each type of different toy that can help your dear doggo deal with his undesirable behavior without encouraging it like a dog sex toy would.

I’ve only chosen one candidate each so as to not flood you with too many options, but trust me when I say that these are some of the best toys dogs could get regardless if they have an issue or not.

1. Wobble Wag Giggle Ball

One of the better examples of a neat time waster would be the wobble wag giggle ball, a toy with a funny name, but a very ingenious design.

It’s a silly little thing, producing sounds as the ball is rolled through the 3 tubes located inside it, keeping your dog’s attention on it and away from misbehaving.

It’s an inexpensive solution to keep your darling doggy’s mind focused on something else other than humping, especially considering how it doesn’t need any extra upkeep costs through batteries and the like as it doesn’t need them.

Plus, it’s colorful, durable and is guaranteed to occupy your canine companion for hours if need be.

2. Nylabone Double Bone Power Chew

If it’s not just mindless fun you’re looking for to keep your canine companion’s attention occupied and you want him to stay put, give the Nylabone double bone a try.

Another relatively inexpensive dog toy that will not only distract your dog from trying to hump your furniture to death, but it will also help clean his teeth out from tartar and plaque while keeping him glued to it thanks to the nice bacon flavor infused within.

And don’t worry, it accommodates dogs of all sizes and isn’t a hassle to bite down on thanks to its design that makes any bite a successful one so your dog won’t get frustrated and leave it.

Plus, it’s extremely durable so your dog won’t tear through it.

3. Starmark Treat Dispensing Chew Ball

The final option on offer is a treat dispensing dog toy, the Starmark chew ball.

A good example of a puzzle toy that will automatically do the treat dispensing process for a job well done in case you’re not around to do so.

It’s simple, durable and relatively cheap considering the potential problems it can solve for you outside of serving as a distraction for your dog’s behavior.

It also functions as a great way of entertaining your furry friend and helps him develop less destructive habits overall, be it from learning how to cope with separation anxiety to giving him an outlet to chew on that isn’t your furniture.

EXTRA: What Not To Buy As A Distraction

These 3 may be effective in their purpose, but just because one toy in the specific category of fun toy, chew toy and puzzle toy works, it doesn’t mean all of them do.

Personally, I’d avoid anything too large and ‘humpable’ as it’ll encourage the very behavior you’re trying to prevent.

Secondly, I suggest getting something relatively small regardless of the size of the dog so it’s portable.

Thirdly, avoid getting anything remotely animal shaped as that might only further encourage humping behavior.

And finally, get something durable so it doesn’t get ruined after a few uses.

Why Is My Dog Humping In The First Place?

Why do dogs hump in the first place? To understand this, you must first understand that humping is very normal behavior for male and female dogs alike.

According to animal behaviorists and many different dog breeders, it’ll usually start appearing when they’re 7 to 10 months of age as that’s when they reach sexual maturity and all of these new feelings start to bubble up.

Think of it like dog puberty in a sense, except their way of dealing with these new urges is more instinctual, primal in a way.

For male dogs, it gets even worse if a female dog is nearby and is going through her estrus cycle, also referred to as ‘being in heat’, as it can drive them absolutely wild.

Humping As A Sign Of Dominance

While not confirmed still, some animal behaviorists theorize that dogs will exhibit mounting behavior outside of a mating process to show a level of dominance over the others, but only when others are present.

But again, none of that has been officially confirmed.

Playhumping

One of the other common reasons as to why dogs hump in the first place, a confirmed one this time is simply as a sign of play behavior, playhumping between other dogs.

This usually happens between other friendly dogs or littermates even, as long as there’s some sort of understanding between the actors and as long as neither of the parties minds.

It serves as a sort of prep, training for a potential future mate so neither is caught lacking.

Trying To Deal With A Persistent Erection

For male dogs, the main reason behind humping is trying to deal with an erection that sprung up for whatever reason, be it a sudden onset of excitement from a recent outing or maybe your dog sniffed out the pheromones of a female dog.

Whatever it is, it’s usually not within their reach to expel it through mating, so they have to resort to the next best thing, trying to hump something (or someone) until they can get off.

If this is the reason, it’s often seen as a form of masturbation considering they can’t exactly do it themselves to get the relief they crave when their hormones act up.

The masturbation reason refers to why female dogs hump too, as, once again, they seek relief that they can’t sate otherwise since there’s no male dog in sight.

Humping As A Sign Of A Potential Medical Condition

There are non-sexual reasons for humping as well, some of them being a latent medical issue that might need looking into.

An example of this would be any form of urinary tract infection or an issue with the prostate or simply urinary incontinence.

One not particularly related to the genitalia could be a skin allergy too, all of which would provide some sort of irritation down below, some itch that the dog can’t scratch.

That’s why he resorts to humping a toy, a couch or a person to try and rub his crotch against it to relieve himself.

If you suspect any of this to be an issue, I recommend contacting your pet’s veterinarian to schedule a check-up and diagnose the potential problem, then following his advice in helping resolve the issue at hand.

While there might not be any, it’s better to be safe than sorry, especially when your darling doggo is concerned.

Humping As A Way To Deal With A Stressful Situation

The other non-sexual reason for a dog to begin humping is a, sort of coping mechanism with a source of stress or emotional turmoil.

Dogs are very emotional and empathetic animals and react strongly to negative events in their life, especially ones that leave them traumatized, or simply have them puzzled on how to react.

This, in turn, leads to them just instinctually humping the first thing that comes into view.

It’s an odd reaction, but one that’s quite common in dogs, especially ones with strong hormonal reactions.

When Does Humping Become A Problem?

Humping often becomes a problem when it starts affecting others, especially when it turns the dog aggressive to the point where he’d destroy toys or furniture or even go as far as attack people to mount and hump them.

This usually starts happening when humping turns into an addiction of sorts, a compulsive behavior that provides satisfaction so the dog seeks to receive it through said means.

At that point, it’s time to try and resolve the issue, whether it’s through the use of dog humping toys or some more extreme measures like having to spay or neuter your dog to put a permanent pin in any such behavior.

How To Get Rid Of Unwarranted Humping Behavior?

Thankfully, there are a number of solutions to help keep this behavior in check ranging from mild to extreme, but each of them ultimately being for the dog’s own good. Here are some of the more efficient methods.

Dog Sex Toys

Obviously, the first and best thing to help put humping in check is to use some form of outlet, a ‘sex toy’ of some kind that’ll help your dog let off some steam and help calm him down before he has to go out for a walk or similar.

The best candidates here are always going to be stuffed animals, especially ones of size proportional to the size of the dog for a more ‘appealing’ target, so to speak.

It’s a form of therapy, but can be notoriously hard to clean after, and can often end up being a shredded mess on the floor if not made to be durable.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, there are alternative options made specifically for this purpose from individual manufacturers, but they are proven to be quite expensive and don’t really have a lot of reviews to go off of and gauge the quality of the product.

While they do offer a more durable toy with a silicone space specifically designed to deal with humping and its aftereffects, especially the mess, I again don’t think it’s worth the trouble honestly, even if the price was lower.

Unless there’s a properly legitimate source, I’d say stick to regular stuffed toys, but try finding more durable ones, especially if you have a heavy chewer.

However, do be warned that the toys won’t ultimately get rid of the problem, but will only serve as a temporary reprieve. Unless properly sorted out, the problem may grow worse over time.

Behavioral Training

The best non-aggressive way to help deal with humping in a more permanent sense is through some behavioral training.

There are plenty of ways to enforce some preventative measures that’ll keep your dog still when he gets a desire to hump other dogs or humans even.

If you’d like to leave it to a professional, you can always hire a dog trainer to do all the work for you, but I suggest only seeking verbal guidance from them, or asking an animal behaviorist for help.

Let them construct a plan that will work for your dog, but leave it to yourself to enforce it so you can build a level of authority with your furry friend.

While this can vary from dog to dog, there are some basic steps that you’ll almost always get recommended.

Physical Denial

The first one is physical denial. When your dog moves to hump you or anything in your vicinity that isn’t okay, simply walk up to him and shove him off, showing him an example of what’s not appropriate behavior for a dog.

Verbal Denial

Next, you’ll want to follow up on said physical denial with a dose of verbal scolding in case the earlier step didn’t work, affirming it with a strong shake of your finger and a firm “Stop!” or “Bad dog!” often does the trick.

“No!” isn’t as good in this case since it’s a pretty common word used in conversation so it won’t have as strong of an impact as the other ones would have.

The Time Out Corner

If neither of the two work, another, somewhat more cruel way to do it is by taking him by the collar and getting him into an isolated room whenever he tries to hump something inappropriate.

It’ll help him learn that it’s bad behavior that shouldn’t be done if you time him out enough times and he should hopefully get around to stopping it altogether.

Take His Toy Away

The hardest part of training your pet is that you have to be tough, but fair throughout it, and having to take your dog’s humping toy to help correct that behavior may feel cruel, but is ultimately the right thing when you decide to wean him off it.

Don’t try getting him off it cold turkey though, make some sort of routine, designate allowed humping times in a sense.

Dogs are creatures of habit after all, much like their owners, so slowly restricting access to the toy will help them get used to needing it less and less over time, like trying to get rid of an addiction.

Reward Good Behavior

If you see your dog improve in his behavior to the point where he needs the use of dog sex toys less and less or even stops humping altogether, make sure to have a treat at the ready or some other form of reward to give him.

Much like the earlier scolding, this will teach him what the right and what the wrong thing to do is over time and he’ll hopefully stop humping entirely given enough time.

Take His Mind Off It

Finally, the best way to stave off the need to hump someone or something in the moment is to teach your dog a command that you’d use whenever he seems to feel the urge or his hormones start building up.

Something like making him sit to get a treat or just to heel or look at you will help a little bit.

The other way of keeping his mind off of it in the house or in your yard, a bit less so during a walk, is to have a non-sexual toy to help distract him.

Something that’ll occupy his brain and focus his attention on trying to fiddle with it.

The ideal options usually revolve around puzzle toys of some kind which also offer rewards when properly solved, or any toys that will provide them with hours of entertainment.

The Toughest Choice: Spaying And Neutering

In case the act of humping grows to become a real problem, to the point where it makes your dog aggressive toward other humans or their pets, it may be time to do a little snip to curb the hormones down.

No dog owner ever wants to make this difficult decision, but sometimes, the decision has to be made.

However, before you do so, make sure you’ve exhausted all other options by consulting with an animal behaviorist or a certified veterinarian on the matter as the process is very much irreversible.

The price isn’t high in monetary terms, but it is for your doggo’s satisfaction as it will severely cut down on his hormone production to minimize these types of behaviors in the future.

It has other ups and downs. For female dogs, it helps reduce risk of breast cancer and helps prevent some UTIs (urinary tract infections) while in male dogs, the procedure helps prevent testicular cancer.

The downsides of spayed and neutered dogs mostly relate to some form of urinary incontinence which, as stated prior, could also be a reason for potential humping.

But, it’ll at least be less harmful since the aggressive behavior will be severely stunted by this process.

The procedure itself is pretty routine, so it should pose no risk to your dog’s overall safety, especially considering that the dog is examined prior to it just to ensure he doesn’t have any medical issues that may make the procedure more difficult.

Also keep in mind that your dog may end up getting hit by a severe depression after the procedure as the heavy disruption in hormonal distribution is bound to trigger such a reaction.

It may take a while for the hormones to balance out, but I assure you that he’ll be back to his happy self soon enough. It usually takes anywhere between 24 hours all the way up to a couple of days.

Should your dog still feel unmotivated to do anything or look depressed after about 3 days have passed, it’s wise to take him back to the vet again for a check-up to see if anything has gone wrong or if the incision had gotten infected.

Speaking of which, your dog will have to remain as docile as he can be over the course of the next week and a half or so, however long it takes his incision to heal back up, otherwise complications may start to pop up.

Though, once again, I implore you to not take this lightly and always consult with a veterinarian about this sort of decision.

Is Spaying Or Neutering Your Dog The Ultimate Cure?

Not exactly. Your dog didn’t get all of his hormones flushed out of his system. He’ll still produce them and he’ll still get sexual urges, but it won’t be nearly as severe and you won’t carry the risk of your dog producing puppies.

For this case, it’s still best to try and find a good outlet for him for the odd time that he does get the urge, or to train him to do better and occupy his time with something else.

In Conclusion

Dog sex toys certainly exist in different forms, but ultimately they only stave the problem away for a bit and don’t get rid of it entirely.

Proper training, good distractions, or, ultimately, spaying or neutering your dog will have more concrete results.

Whatever the case may be, always consult with your vet or a certified animal behaviorist on the matter before taking any drastic measures that may only make the problem worse.

I’m certain that you’ll be able to make the right decision for your dog in the end. Until next time.

RELATED LINKS:

• Why Do Dogs Hump The Air? 7 Reasons For This Weird Behavior

• 9 Signs Your Dog Needs To Be Neutered

• Can Dogs Get Sexually Attracted To Humans? What You Need To Know

• Signs That A Male Dog Wants To Mate: Male Dog In Heat Behavior