Help needed - 6 month puppy mounting dogs on walks

blacklab

My 6 month puppy is very well behaved at home and on walks he walks to heel, but when he comes across another dog he has really bad manners and sniffs them underneath and lunges at them to mount them. We can deal with this while he is on lead but if walking him off lead with my friends dogs all he wants to do is constantly mount the other dogs. Any ideas? would neutering help? he shows no signs of aggression at all and loves to play with the other dogs but just won't give them a minute and is constantly trying to mount them.

littlelab

Sounds like his horomones are raging to me Laughing

He is going through that stage now which is the equivilant of teenage hood in humans, he will grow out of it, all I will say is work on you recall. Very Happy

Neutering is not the be all and end all of modifying behaviour, although from the point of view of unwanted litters then I would advocate neutering from 9mths onwards, it certainly helps calm them down too.
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Natalie and Co xxx

Violette

Teenagers, eh? Rolling Eyes

A water pistol (or washing up liquid bottle filled with water) ready for squirting can help (I sound like somebody from "Blue Peter" Laughing

).

But, of course, if he is a lab, he might think water squirting was all part of the fun..... Wink

blacklab

Water pistol sounds like a good idea. His recall is excellent but as soon as he is allowed to go back and play he just carries on mounting the dogs.
I'm happy to try anything!

Violette

Worth a try. I have never had that problem, exactly, as I have always had bitches. But the water pistol is a good help when walking a bitch around her season - I never get them spayed until they have had at least one. No matter how you try to keep away from dogs, at least one Romeo will find you and a squirt of cold water can buy you valuable time Wink

.

But I have found that it doesn't always work with labs - they love water so much that it can just add to the fun. Rolling Eyes

But certainly worth a try. If it doesn't work, maybe something that makes a sudden loud noise might distract him enough for you to get his attention back for recall? Coke can filled with pebbles?

When training puppies in the house, I have sometimes used a biscuit tin lid to get attention at the times when they JUST WILL NOT HEAR YOU! Hit it with your fist, or with a stick. But that would be a wee bit cumbersome and awkward to take on walks......

Beckyess

It's highly unlikely to be aggression nor sexual behaviour but more than likely displacement behaviour, remember dogs don't communicate like we do. My Wilson when he get's excited and doesn't know what to do with himself he mounts my leg, never does it at home only when out in training class, it's simply that he is so excited he has to do something lol!
Becky
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Love is a Posse of Poodles and Percy