humping the air /helper during bitework training - Page 1

Hi guys, I have a 6 month old female working line german shepherd, she likes to air hump when jumping up and biting a rag or tug - her sister and brother do it too but not as bad as her. I have also heard the sire of the litter humps everything.
any ideas on what I can do to stop this during bite work training. will it just stop on its own?

Stupid German...
What's the meaning of "air hump" ?
Not jumping straight forward, focussed on the goal?
Lost in translation, sorry.

could be plenty of reason.
in calm situation this is usual way for the dog to affirm its own dominant role over another dog.
in your case most likely is her response to excitement, stress or anxiety.
try to figure out what exactly dictate such behavior and then to work out solution.

Susie, humping is ... mounting/sex motions.

Does she do it when playing tug with you only or also with helper?

Thank you, Reliya!
Interesting question, Koots.
During bite work a dog should be in prey and/or civil drive.
Are you sure your dog is trying to mount, or is it kind of grapping?
A lot of dogs, when trying to get something, but don't want to bite out of any reason, will start to grap instead.

Sounds like a fault in the beginning- during training the dog should not get the chance to show unwanted behavior- tight leash, no playing around, no chance to "mount" at all, always the fight: helper pulling, dog trying to pull harder.
In case you train in prey-carrying the prey as a reward is okay, but never stand still. As soon as the dog stops to carry, the prey has to be gone.
In case you are your own helper-tie the dog to a pole or to a tree, never work "freestyle"-no chance to correct wrong behavior...

My old girl would air hump when tugging sometimes - usually around her heat cycles, but I think it freaked people out to where they would let go, and she got into that habit thinking she would win lol.

My old girl would air hump when tugging sometimes - usually around her heat cycles, but I think it freaked people out to where they would let go, and she got into that habit thinking she would win lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmDmWF6PFiI

Stupid englishwoman, has to ask ... Susie, what is "grap / grapping" ? 

Thank you, valK, for the splendid graphic illustration.   A male on the ground with a sleeve is one thing, though - I am still trying to picture this OP's bitch doing it in the air halfway up a decoy !  Heidii, can you provide video of her 'jumping' while humping ?

 

[Nah, I don't know how you stop it - if she was mine I'd just hope she grows out of it, and that eventually the exercise itself becomes more important to her so that it distracts her !  I think at the moment if its mainly while 'playing tug', it is just that she is getting over-excited - she's still a puppy, after all.]

 

Incidentally, my last male was still a manic 'humper' of everything and everybody when I took him on at 17 months.  I finally managed to discourage the behaviour by the time he was two & a half, but I was hard on him and would not recommend that to everyone.  I found Obedience Training helped him to concentrate; he didn't do bitework.