HOW I RESPOND TO HUMPING!Humping can be a sign of anxiety or over arousal. Part of the arousal can indeed be contributed to by sexual hormones- which is the case for Barry White here….I’ve laid off using tug toys with Mohawk for a while due to his arousal elevating too easily , but we are currently enrolled in a sheep dog skills course which creates a lot of positive arousal (we regulate session frequency and duration to reduce over arousal). He is not trying to dominate me. When he sees me pick up the ‘sheep’ he gets excited and expresses this using the behaviour that feels most appropriate at that point of time.Why tell them off? You can see staying calm achieves the same outcome in stopping the behaviour. Getting angry elevates his and my stress- which may result in more humping! He's not trying to be 'bad' or 'naughty'. He's just a teenage boy responding to his body's physiology. Note how slowly I walk off? I also say very little and am careful not to loom over him.All the while, I look for cues. If he did this every time I picked up the sheep- I need to help him do an alternative behaviour. Why react to a problem if you can prevent it?....#dogbehaviourist #dogbehaviour #dogtrainingtips #dogtrainingadvice #dogshumping #bordercolliesofinstagram #bluebordercollie #adolescentdogs | The Mutty Professor