Expert: Madeline Friedman - 7/8/2009

Question
I have a 3 1/2 year old female yorkie poo.  There is a round pillow on our couch that she has been attacking, wrestling, and knocking off of the couch for about three months now.  At first it occured when my husband and I would go to bed or leave the apartment...we would come back to find the pillow on the floor.  At this point, we thought it might just be her way of dealing with us leaving her alone.  However, she has gradually begun to do it in front of us now.  Just in the past couple weeks, we have noticed her making a humping motion either over the pillow as she stands on it or directly on the pillow.  I have read about dominance, hormones, obsessive compulsive disorder, and anxiety...I don't know what, if any, of these apply to her situation.  I thought about removing the pillow...but worried that it would lead to other outlets.  She likes to chew on our walls from time to time as well even though she is 3 1/2 years old...so, I didn't want to increase that (depending on her reasoning for the attacking/humping the pillow).  Any assistance offered would be greatly appreciated!!

Answer
Hi Candice,

Thank you for your selecting me to answer your question at AllExperts.

There may be any number of reasons why your female Yorkiepoo is "humpoing", or mounting, a pillow. One clue that you mentioned is that she started the behaviour upon your leaving her alone.  The behaviour may have started as a response to distress by your leaving, particularly if she was left for long periods of time, although even a short period of time without their owners can have some dogs feeling distress about being separated from them.  

If this is the reason why the pillow mounting started, then the behaviour may have generalized to your being home as well, particularly if she receives relief from her distress by doing the pillow mounting.  The behaviour becomes a vicious cycle and one that becomes difficult to interrupt.  In this manner, a behaviour such as the one you're describing can beome a stereotypy, which is obsessive compulsive order (OCD) in dogs.  In order to test whether this may be true, I would suggest doing a few things.  

First, remove her access to the pillow and instead get her used to some puzzle toys, like Canine Genius Leo toys or stuffed, frozen Kong toys, or even a Kong Time dispenser, several times over several days BEFORE you leave and while you're at home.  If she's exhibiting the mounting behaviour out of distress and/or boredom, the toys may help.  If she is experiencing distress at your leaving, and the distress is minor, the toys when you're gone may distract her.  However, if the distress is beyond mild, they may not distract her or keep her otherwise occupied.  I would be interested to know how easy, or difficult, the behaviour is to interrupt when you're home and offering her goodies - will she opt to take the goodies, or mount the pillow?  

In addition, give her more brain stimulation in the form of training.  You can start with easy things such as tricks (roll over, say "please," target/touch your hand or an item held close to her nose for a treat, etc.), and even add in same basic training such as sit, wait, and come when called for food, attention or play rewards.  Instead of feeding her dinner from a bowl, hand feed her for a couple of weeks for the added attention and have her 'earn' every handful by performing a few tricks or basic training behaviours for you.  

If she starts to respond by ceasing the mounting behaviour, you'll know that what might have occurred was that she was bored and needed more mental stimulation, or distressed, or even both.

You don't say whether your Yorkiepoo is apayed or not, but if not you may be seeing the behaviour because sexual hormones may be influencing her behaviour.  Another contributing factor if she's not spayed could be a new intact male dog on the premises or in a home or apartment nearby.

Certain medications and medical conditions may also cause the humping behavior, such as corticosteroids like prednisone, but you didn't mention whether your female Yorkiepoo is on any medications. Hypothyroidism can also sometimes cause the behaviour and it may be one possibility about which you can ask your veterinarian.  

Dogs' mounting, even inanimate objects, is a normal behaviour unless it becomes so frequent and prevalent that you have to consider the possibility of OCD or another medical condition as the cause.  If it is determined that OCD is the cause, there are medications that your vet can tell you about that can help, such as Reconcile (which is Prozac FDA-approved for use in dogs), Clomipramine, and others. However, medication alone isn't usually the answer, as behavioural intervention with a positive methods dog training professional experienced in the area of behaviour as well  is recommended coupled with any medication to modify OCD behaviour that your dog may be exhibiting.

If nothing else works and is unable to give you any answers within the next couple of weeks, you may want to consult a dog professional that can come to your home to help out or to whom you can go and see, and if you feel it's necessary and worthwhile at any point, a vet or a veterinary behaviourist.

I hope this information helps and please send me an update in a few weeks!  It really gratifies me to know down the road the outcome of a situation or puzzle about which someone wrote me.

Best regards,
Madeline Friedman, M.A.
Innovative Reality Dog Training & Behavior Consulting
www.ny-njDogTrainer.com
Volunteer for AllExperts