Dogo argentino puppy hump

  • Dogo argentino puppy hump

    Posted by Staskies on May 6, 2021 at 12:54 PM

    Hi, I hope I can pick your brains a bit on the following situation. We have a puppy since last week Saturday and we started with potty training and crate training. Additionally we train 5 times a day (training/playing through luring), we are working on commands like sit, down, recall, in a playful matter. He is a smart little fellow, picks up really fast. But of course also bad behaviour can be picked up as easily as good behaviour. What we have encountered is that our puppy’s ( 8weeks and 4 days) already tried to hump my kids (4 and 6 years) and me as well. I am the one who is training him. At this moment I don’t know what to think of it. Our breeder told us to correct it very strongly and firmly so he will stop doing that (our breeder chose this puppy for us because he was dominated by his siblings in the litter and was not dominant at all). However I am not sure if I need to correct it strongly and if it will back fire if the puppy humps just because he is too excited. I really appreciate your response as I really want to make right decisions and not to postponing it. Thanks in advance!

    Staskies replied 2 years, 10 months ago 4 Members · 5 Replies
  • 5 Replies
  • Bill

    Member
    May 7, 2021 at 8:52 AM

    HI Staskies – I would offer for your consideration that as they are pack animals, dogs are happiest when they know where they fall in the pack structure. As you and your breeder chose a less dominate dog for your pack, that dog is now looking to determine its place in the pecking order in its new pack (your family). You cannot allow it to dominate you or the other pack members. Whether it is simply excited or not is irrelevant, humping is not an acceptable behavior and it needs to stop. As pack members, dogs accept their position in the pack once it is established. Beyond that, you have to consider whether this behavior will be an allowed expression for excitement when it is an adult, I would submit it is not acceptable and is much easier to stop now then when the dog is larger and actually attempting to dominate. I am not sure exactly what the breeder recommends in the “strongly but firmly” correction for the behavior though I’d think you can accomplish that with firm voice tone and “NO!” and then do something else. Your breeder’s experience with the breed should be able to guide you with more specifics if you need to escalate but a young puppy learns fast and will catch on quickly as it is simply trying to determine where it falls in the pack order. Your work with training and luring sounds terrific – Happy Training!!

  • Zvonimir

    Member
    May 8, 2021 at 3:37 AM

    Hi Staskies, was there a particular reason to choose Dogo Argentino, and specifically a puppy from the back of the litter? This is not meant to be a judgement at all, but rather a concerned reply. Don’t get me wrong: considering that you are unsure what to do, that the situation left you confused, I’m concluding that particular combination of breed and puppy is perhaps not the best choice for your family.

    Early age humping is not a good sign overall – the puppy is already taking over as a pack leader and must be corrected immediately, because you have a dangerous dog in the making. Sometimes with male puppies, testosterone can hit them as early as month and a half. Older dominant dogs as well, regardless of their sex, will try to mount other pups, people, and kids. That is just one side of dominance; the aggression will be next, because the dog will assume leadership, and begin correcting everyone around.

    When it comes to family dogs, with kids around them, then consider your kid’s school friends, neighbours, wider family, etc., it is best to get a puppy and a breed you can comfortably steer through all of it. That is, a puppy that will be comfortable with its lowest position in the pack and that position deems that it becomes friendly to everyone. But you have the opposite of it.

    • Staskies

      Member
      May 10, 2021 at 9:17 AM

      the breeder chose the more stable and submissive puppy. And we have talked to the breeder and explained to him what we are looking/expecting from the dog as it will come to the family with the kids of 4 and 6. The reason why we chose Dogo is that the dog needs to be capable of protecting the house and also protecting my wife when she is jogging (after the dog full-grown of course). She trains for a half marathon and runs early morning (5,30 am). So protection is a welcome asset because summer days are fine as long there is light but during the winter it is a different story. . So the criteria were a protective and athletic dog who will be able to keep you with my five and it should be a family friend. I hear a lot that Dogo loves kids and they are really great with the family. So for those reasons we have chosen Dogo.

      What is frustrating is that every trainer has his own opinion and the way of training. The one trainer saying that you need to be more positive and no harsh correction with Dogo. Another trainer saying you have to suppress this behaviour asap and be on top of that if necessary do it harsh way by punishing physically. One way or another if the dog gets screwed along the way, I am the one who gets into trouble, not them… So therefore I was asking for extra input.

  • Cameron

    Member
    May 11, 2021 at 5:09 AM

    I used to breed Dogos. They have a very high prey drive, and are extremely intelligent. They bond extremely well with a family, but can also bond to just one member if a single person does all the feeding and training. That’s something to be careful of, moreso than some other breeds as they are fiercely protective of their family (or who they perceive as family).

    They respond well for many things with clicker training, but you need to be consistent (again maybe more than some other breeds because they are so smart, inconsistent behavior can be misinterpreted by them).

    I found they are loyal but can also get jealous and rebellious. You definitely need a firm hand with them, but that doesn’t mean beating them. Physically, I’m not sure you could hurt an adult dogo, short of hitting it with a car. They are tough.

    Another trait of theirs is an unreal focus. If they get going at something, it’s near impossible to stop them. No training I’ve seen could do it. The key is to refocus them on you immediately so they don’t get into that mindset. I think much of Robert’s training philosophies will work extremely well with the dogos and I would adopt that philosophy. Make them understand what you want and you can make the do or not do what you want, but you have to be clear with them.

    We are training a mal puppy now. My wife will tell him NO loudly when he plays too hard with one of the older dogs, but he didn’t understand what she was saying. In the short term I redirected him to distract. I am teaching him the leave it, and modifying it for leave the pug alone, and you’ll get a treat. It’s not an overnight process but he understands it now so we can stop it verbally (still with treats most times though).

    I Used to tell my puppy buyers the dogos were smart and watch for it. I recently got caught myself with my mal being smarter than me. After a morning training, I sat down to have a coffee and read while he played in the room. As he would wander out of the room, I would call him and give hima treat. After a few repetitions, I thought I would extent the time so he wouldn’t see the routine. Just before I was going to call him, he walked into the room and right up to me, expecting his treat. He outsmarted me and saw the pattern before I did. It’s humorous but illustrates how smart dogs can see things. Dogos are very much the same (but physically much tougher)as the mal from my limited mal experience.

    I stopped my Chesapeake Bay Retriever from humping everything in the parks with an ecollar. It worked quickly, but he needs to be older for it. Try redirecting and correcting to stop the behavior setting now. When you can use an e collar, I expect it will make things easier if applied correctly. I hadn’t discovered e collars when I raised dogos, but I wish I had.

    As a side note, comments on breed choice after the decision is made aren’t likely helpful. Speaking for myself only, I bond to my dogs quickly and the idea of giving one up after even a month would be heartbreaking. I will suggest that professional training on such a powerful, willful dog is a good idea. Research trainers! We found quite a few that were not what they represented themselves as.

    We are still narrowing down trainers due to covid restrictions. It’s a pain.

  • Staskies

    Member
    May 26, 2021 at 10:13 AM

    thank you for your reply!

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