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You’re braving the dog park, you’ve come with friends who are used to the dogs, you’ve even come to the park without your dog to scope it out and learn who’s who. You’re ready! Your dog walks in after the initial sniffing exchange at the airlock, and you watch them run for the first time in months since you don’t have a yard. Pure joy.

Then a friendly looking pup walks over and mounts. And doesn’t let go. Your dog isn’t happy. What do you do?

Why Do Dogs Hump Anyway?

Humping has many reasons besides reproductive. It’s a way to say,

• “I’m overstimulated and don’t know what to do”
• “I want to play and you’re not playing”
• “I’m upset”
• “I’m tired”
• “You’re weird”
• “Do something!”

My dog does it when she’s tired or if a male dog is intact. We leave after I remove her from her chosen humpee and lots of uhhhh apologizing, or at least go to the other end of the park if it appears she still wants to sniff or play with other dogs.

When Someone Else’s Dog is Humping Yours

The initial goal is physical separation. The secondary goal is removal of the dogs in each others’ spaces to prevent it from occurring again. Treats, air, or horn can create that two second time period you can swoop in to grab your dog and move away from the other.

As both a pro and as an owner of a humpy dog and what I can say without seeing it with my own eyeballs is you’re completely in the green to say you don’t want this happening beyond five seconds, especially if your dog is getting to the point where they are snapping back or getting into arguments. That’s what I would deem acceptable behavior as a response to being harassed. Some dogs understand humping can be an invitation to play and will start bouncing around in reply. Not every dog is into it, though, and not every humping dog understands an unenthusiastic response like sitting down, shrinking down, or turning and snapping means “no thanks.” (We can train dogs to go away or even prevent the humping to begin with. That’s an option.)

In a perfect world, the owner of the humper would call the dog away from yours, the dog would leave your dog, and the humper would be minded. That, of course, doesn’t consistently occur.

How to Separate Dogs From Least Invasive to More Invasive

I have seen some aggressive stuff by overprotective owners when another dog so much as bark in their dog’s face, including but not limited to a person punting a 10 pound dog who herded their 40 lb dog. What I would find acceptable and reasonable for creating space between dogs would be:

• a shower of treats at the offending dog’s face
  • can the other dog have food allergies? yeah. but diarrhea over a dog with a puncture wound wins every time for me
• using a compressed air can like the pet corrector red can
  • similar to a keyboard cleaner, compressed air fits easily in a pouch or on a belt and it doesn’t matter which direction it is facing to be effective
• an airhorn (I hate this personally)
  • like the compressed air, it’s easy to carry and doesn’t matter which way you hold it
• swooping your arm under the offender’s neck to lift them off your dog
  • this can be done gently
  • I strongly urge practicing it “dry fire” before needing it in realtime
  • practice with a stuffed animal first
  • work towards practicing on a live dog
  • take special care not to damage their windpipe

and so forth with an increase in intensity and force dependent on situation, level of danger, potential for injury, and so forth. There are more physically invasive, aggressive ways to pull dogs apart. I would try this list first before progressing to a two-person jobby that involves angles and care in how you separate to prevent injury for both dogs and humans or exacerbating the situation. Humping is almost always NOT a life threatening situation that requires that level of intensity.

A Note on Pepper Spray When It Comes to Dogs Humping and Dogs Fighting

I strongly encourage people to NOT use a pepper spray for humping or breaking up dog fights. Pepper spray shoots in a mist and will affect everyone in the area, including the humans. Even pepper blasters that use gel or balls can lead to human and dog injury as it is directional, and if that thing isn’t pointed directly at the intended individual, you can injure yourself or other unintended victims with it. When it comes to a fight-fight, as my former self-defense partner put it regarding humans, something like pepper spray will “just make your attacker more angry.” This is part of the LAST RESORT toolbox.

You Can Always Leave. People Are Dumb.

There’s also leashing up your dog and leaving, which is hard to do when another dog is on them. It feels like “losing” when you have to leave due to another’s behavior. But at the end of the day, you’re preventing stress for your dog …which is why I personally take my humpy dog away or out of the park when she does it.

Not everyone considers that dogs have feelings and can have an experience so poorly that they can’t be around other dogs without freaking out. They don’t understand their dog could traumatize another dog like that. “They’ll figure it out,” is something I hear a lot and used to say myself. To a degree? Yes. But there’s so much that can go wrong, I don’t “let them” unless the conditions are okay to make that happen, and I supposedly know what I’m doing.

For those reading and thinking “why doesn’t she train her dog to not hump?” I have, bro! This post is focused on what a person can do when their dog is being harassed in a public setting, not the humper’s side of things.

More On Defensive Leash and Dog Handling

If you’re interested in how to safely handle dogs in stressful or dangerous situations, Trish McMillan and Mike Shikashio have defensive dog handling classes and are Names in the Behavior World. The classes may only be online at the time of writing and are a great introduction to what to do in low and high level emergency situations regarding dogs.

If you’re thinking about setting up a sniff spot on property you rent or own, you can always sign up and start it going later! Follow their prompts to set up your account. As far as how to set up your yard? That’s what this article is for.

Conditions Sniffspot renters are looking for:

• no or minimal gopher holes
• no people present
• no other dogs, pets, or livestock present
• access to clean water 
• 2+ water bowls
• completely fenced in
• easy access to gate from parking area
• bin for poops (bonus if there’s a scooper or bags!)
• relatively flat
• no dangerous plants or standing water
• a mix of sun and shade
• a place for the human to sit
• fence at least 4 feet tall
• no pieces of garbage, especially plastic or food, left out

Size Matters (So Does Knowing How To Use It)

Not just any amount of land works for a dog rental yard. If you’re looking to rent to big dogs or groups of dogs, at least a quarter acre is a good size. Other things to consider for those locations are completely enclosed fence area where a dog cannot escape.  If you do not have a fence but would like to get started, There’s relatively easy-to-install staked fencing that you can buy online or at stores.

It’s important to remember who you’re wanting to rent your place; if you’re comfortable with having dogs who don’t like strangers around, make sure they can’t see other people. If the yard is small but works for smaller pups, say it’s best for smaller dogs. State that in your description. Lots of trees? Maybe this yard gives a hiking aesthetic. If you’re wanting to rent to professionals with groups or clients, having multiple water bowls and access to a garbage can for poops goes a long, long way.

In densely populated areas, yards that may be less than a quarter acre but sizable enough for a game of fetch are a godsend. Ask your dog-having friends if your potential dog yard is enough space to rent.

The Importance of Safety

Renters look for:

• maintained fencing
• little to no holes in the ground
• grass and plants trimmed back
• sanitation
• no disturbances when at the yard
• parking with easy access to gate or door

You don’t necessarily need to have an 8 foot wooden fence with no footholds and reinforced with steel. An example fencing that has worked well with my dogs is this type of metal, staked fence. It’s similar to temporary exercise pens but has metal stakes to secure the fencing. It’s not a type of fencing I would feel comfortable leaving adventurous dogs unattended in, but for dogs who are monitored, it works great. Not everyone is comfortable with this less enforced type of fencing. Make sure your photographs and description reflect an honest depiction of your fencing to prevent unhappy customers or escape attempts, and hammer those stakes as deep as they can get.

Some people want something that’s at least 6 feet tall. That’s up to you if you want to get something like that. Regardless of the height you choose, make sure the fencing does not have any holes or gaps. Please make sure to repair or fill in any gaps below the fencing or in between slats. Gates and doors must properly latch shut. More than one client of mine have gates with spring hinges to further prevent “adventures” if their gate were to not properly latch.

Get a few photographs of what the surface looks like.  Showing that the yard area is cared for and kept up is always great, and keep maintaining it. Some dogs have fur that grabs all pieces of debris, so having grass or grasses and plants trimmed back. This basic maintenance will decrease the likelihood of foxtails getting stuck in their fur will help immensely. If you decide to keep out toys or fun additions like kiddie pools, make sure they stay maintained. There’s nothing worse than showing up to something and seeing a lot of places where bacteria or bugs can grow.

Something that a lot of sniff spot people are looking for is no strangers. There are people who will come with dogs who are afraid of and may actually chase or try to bite humans. Please be sure that no family members or workers will be coming in during the times your visitors are renting.

Presentation on Sniffspot: Go the Extra Mile with Description and Photographs

• clear photographs of the fencing and access gate/door
• photos of where the water is
• photos of dogs of different sizes playing 
• explain what your yard offers: size, shade, hills, level land, dig pit?

I feel like this list doesn’t particularly need more explanation.

If you believe you can provide, at minimum, a securely fenced in area with a designated parking spot and relief from interacting with stranger humans or dogs, you may have what it takes to host a Sniffspot. You can take a look on their website to see how signup works.

Use our referral link to get a bonus when you sign up: https://www.sniffspot.com/to/e1lmh

Please note: our referral link will give us a credit on sniffspot, and some of our links will result in a kickback for us. Thanks for supporting our writing in this way!

This post marks when it started. Dundundunnnn.