I have a year and a month old german shepherd male, and I love to take him to our dog park.
At the dog park, he's happy and playful and plays nicely with all the other dogs (I've taken him there since he was ~4 months), but lately, just about every time he singles out a dog out there and chases them around for ~20 minutes and humps him/her at any opportunity.
He's not violent, he doesn't snarl or bite or act aggressively, he'll just mount them and hump if they don't move, which most of them do before long. And if they're running around, he'll just chase them with "that" look in his eye.
It hasn't really been a problem, it's just a bit embarrassing, and I'm sure the other dog parents don't terribly appreciate it. He is still intact, which I'm sure is part of the problem, but I'm wondering if there's a good way to discourage this behavior (especially because it's hard to keep up with him in the park).
I also fear him getting a bitch pregnant, and though the park says it doesn't allow females in heat, I'm sure that won't / doesn't stop people. However, whenever he gets humpy, I check to see if it's female (usually not), and if so, I ask to see if they're fixed and the answer has always been yes.
Is this just a thing dogs his age do, especially intact ones? i've seen many dogs get a bit humpy at the park (even females), but I have to admit that he's worse than most.
If not, is there a way to prevent or correct this behavior? Again, it's difficult to keep this behavior in check, because it's hard to keep him within arm's reach at all times, which is pretty much the point of going there in the first place - to go and let him run and play with his own kind.
Come to think of it, there's a very large off-leash park in part of a state park that I take him to sometimes, and he almost never gets humpy there. It's much, MUCH larger, though. Not sure if that makes any difference.
At the dog park, he's happy and playful and plays nicely with all the other dogs (I've taken him there since he was ~4 months), but lately, just about every time he singles out a dog out there and chases them around for ~20 minutes and humps him/her at any opportunity.
He's not violent, he doesn't snarl or bite or act aggressively, he'll just mount them and hump if they don't move, which most of them do before long. And if they're running around, he'll just chase them with "that" look in his eye.
It hasn't really been a problem, it's just a bit embarrassing, and I'm sure the other dog parents don't terribly appreciate it. He is still intact, which I'm sure is part of the problem, but I'm wondering if there's a good way to discourage this behavior (especially because it's hard to keep up with him in the park).
I also fear him getting a bitch pregnant, and though the park says it doesn't allow females in heat, I'm sure that won't / doesn't stop people. However, whenever he gets humpy, I check to see if it's female (usually not), and if so, I ask to see if they're fixed and the answer has always been yes.
Is this just a thing dogs his age do, especially intact ones? i've seen many dogs get a bit humpy at the park (even females), but I have to admit that he's worse than most.
If not, is there a way to prevent or correct this behavior? Again, it's difficult to keep this behavior in check, because it's hard to keep him within arm's reach at all times, which is pretty much the point of going there in the first place - to go and let him run and play with his own kind.
Come to think of it, there's a very large off-leash park in part of a state park that I take him to sometimes, and he almost never gets humpy there. It's much, MUCH larger, though. Not sure if that makes any difference.