Find me somebody to love....

Arguably the behavior that seems to drive most people into a frenzy at the dog park (other than a serious fight) is dogs mounting. The most curious thing about this is listening to the aftermath of owners discussing the reasons why this is happening. I'd say the number one thing I hear most is "he/she is being dominant".

I'm going to try not to go into detail about dominance in this post and save that for another time since I want to specifically just discuss mounting - but I'll argue that dominance is usually the number one reason given for mounting.

Go ahead and try to Google 'mounting in dogs' and see what you get. The very first article I see talks about dogs being like wolves, alpha's, and dogs mounting for dominance. Guess that explains why google isn't a good dog trainer and you need to take great care when looking for practical information on the Internet!

I find this topic really interesting because despite the obvious answer to why this behavior occurs, no one seems to want to accept it. So whats mounting then? It's sex. Pure and simple. Rather, its "play" sex. Let me explain

Dogs and all animals come loaded with certain behavior patterns pre-programmed into them. These are referred to as fixed action patterns "FAP's". One good example is a mother dog that bites the umbilical cord of a new born puppy, or puppies that lick the face of their mother to make her regurgitate food. The dogs were never trained to do these things, they are born with the knowledge to help them survive. Usually these fixed patterns have to do with fighting, fleeing, reproducing and eating. When dogs play and get aroused, these patterns come out - dogs will play fight, play chase and yes, play mount.

Ever see a human male get "aroused" and try to "mount" everything he sees in the night club?

Mounting can be a sign of a dog who is unsure or unsocialized. Usually this is because when presented with an unfamiliar situation - the dog gets easily aroused and the FAP's start to show up. While two previous dog friends might have established good rapport to do some play chasing and wrestling - unfamiliar dogs may not engage in that right away, so the mounting FAP shows up instead.

One thing that makes dogs different from wolves is their sexual behavior. In wolves only the 'breeding pair' or what was referred to as alpha male and female would mate. The chief reason for this was to control population to ensure they didn't reproduce more than the food source could handle - however dogs are different.

Dogs don't form packs the way wolves do - dogs in the "wild" form loose social groups that are normally close to human settlements and they live off scraps of food and garbage dumps. Dogs are scavengers and don't hunt big game, so they have no need of packs. As such their sexual behavior is quite promiscuous and will mate with anyone, anywhere. Wolf males are only able to reproduce seasonally, while male dogs are able to reproduce at anytime.

Another difference is the testosterone levels of dogs. An adolescent dog's testosterone levels actually rise above the levels of an adult dog and level off later - so mounting can be much more prevalent during this time.

Another pretty good argument for mounting being sex play is that mounting is greatly reduced after neutering. Mounting may not stop if a dog is neutered later in life and has been play mounting for a while. He's likely to continue the behavior simply because it's been rewarding (Fun) to do in the past.

So what about females? Well one FAP of courtship is to flirt - and one way a female flirts is to quickly mount the male and run off. I'd also argue that mounting in females much more rare than in males.

So what about certain TV personalities arguments that mounting is dominance? Well normally we see mounting behavior follow this pattern -

1) Dog A mounts or starts to mount Dog B
2) Dog B runs away, snaps, growls snarls and dog A gets off
3) Dog A might try again right away or in a few minutes

What should be the reaction if one were trying to establish dominance? Dog A should attack dog B for daring to fight back. However this is very rarely the case and likely has very little to do with his mounting being rejected but rather a response to the aggression of Dog B.

Dominance hierarchies do exist between wolves in captivity in relation to items, however it's normally based on strength - hence when the alpha wolf in captivity is weak or hurt - someone else takes over. It's very common however to see very physically inferior dogs try to mount physically superior dogs, even after being snapped at or growled at as described above.

So when it comes to mounting - the simplest explanation is the correct one. Dogs just get excited and mount sometimes. It's up to us to teach them that mounting isn't an appropriate behavior and to teach them what is. One way to prevent it is to remove your dog from play when he mounts (negative punishment) or to simply tell him to "Sit" if he's well trained.

So remember, if your dog decides to mount you, he's not showing dominance or trying to take over the house - he just really likes you :)