Turkey Neck Strategy

Because Porter's humping is rooted in anxiety, punishment only makes matters worse. I try to be proactive by increasing his exercise and training, though he already gets quite a bit of exercise and after a long day of training other people's dogs the last thing I want to do is train my own. If I close the bedroom door and pick up the living room beds, he usually either starts chasing his tail or licking his paws. Last night was the first time that I was able to break the humping spell for any length of time by enticing him with a frozen turkey neck--his favorite treat. He stopped humping, came in the other room, ate the neck and then hung out peacefully with the rest of us. I did close the bedroom door after his exit.

I've gotten him to stop humping in the past by placing frozen turkey necks on the ground, but he's always immediately resumed the randy behavior. The first time I tried this strategy, he stopped humping, picked up the turkey neck, placed in on the bed and started humping again, the neck flopping around like a fish out of water.

I even tried tying a neck to the bedroom doorknob. Prevented from putting it on his bed, Porter ate the neck where it hung at the end of the string but then immediately went back to the bed.

All in all, both the frequency and length of his humping has decreased so I'm hoping time is on my side with this one.