I already see the flood gates open. Anyhow. The issue is that yesterday I was upstairs and my friend was down stairs with my 12 week old pup (Mal) and they were playing. In the middle of playing he started humping their leg. They push him off and say no and he started again.
What is going on?

It is normal. Your wife's reaction was fine.

Some dogs, when they get excited or overly aroused, as can occur during play, will exhibit humping behavior; whether it be "air-humping" or "object-humping." When he does this, it isn't necessary to shake him by the scruff. Just stop playing, firmly tell him no, and make him stop, and walk away. IF making him stop means you have to take him by the scruff and set him back down on the floor, that is fine, but at this point I do not see the need to grab him by the scruff and shake him. Give him a few minutes for his excitement level to come down a bit before starting play again. He will learn that humping when he gets excited is not appropriate.

I had this issue with my foster dog, Charlie, when I first got him just over a month ago. He is about 1.5 year old. He and Gypsy, my dog, would be playing, and then he would start humping her. I would step in and tell him no, and make him stop. It only took 4 or 5 times for him to learn that it was inappropriate, and he does not do it anymore.

You may want to go ahead and call your vet or low-cost spay/neuter clinic to schedule his neutering. At 12 weeks, he's plenty big enough to have it done. While his humping behavior NOW doesn't have anything to do with sexuality, as he matures, it will.

You may want to go ahead and call your vet or low-cost spay/neuter clinic to schedule his neutering. At 12 weeks, he's plenty big enough to have it done Woh woh - He certainly isnt plenty big enough to have it done. There are many reasons why this is to early to be neutered.

For one at this age any stressfull encounter at the vet will have a lasting effect on him.

Have it done to early and you it will effect the dogs growth - you will end up an overly tall dog.

By cutting off his nuts you are basically cutting of his testosterone supply - which is needed for growth of muscle, coat qulaity, drive of the dog etc etc etc.

I dont think many people would recomend that you get your dog neutered just yet.

Let your dog grow first at the very least to 6 months.

I dont plan on neutering him till he is at least 18 months and probably more towards 2, if at all.

Tim, while it IS a good idea to wait until a dog is at least two years old before having him neutered if he's a member of one of the giant breeds because of the reasons you mentioned, a mal is not considered a giant breed and so can be neutered earlier.
If the owner chooses to wait, that's fine, but just wanted to put it out there. Because of the severe overpopulation problem, many vets are doing the surgeries much earlier than in the past. My dog was spayed at 2.5 months old

I dont plan on neutering him till he is at least 18 months and probably more towards 2, if at all. Chad, why would you not?????

Ed's reply to someone who asked about this subject:

"If you want the dog for any form of personal protection, do not neuter the dog before 2 years. Do not listen to a vet on this because 99.999% of the vets in this country do not have a clue on personal protection training. This is not a slam on vets, but simply a fact. A lot of vets have egos that do not allow them to consider the fact that they do not know very much about dog training (also a fact).

The dogs need the hormones to go through puberty. After 20 months there is not problem."

I have spoke with others who feel the same way.

I am sure at some point this will happen.

Good job Chad, you've done your homework!

KRISTEN WROTE: "Because of the severe overpopulation problem, many vets are doing the surgeries much earlier than in the past."

sounds good. Let's all do our part to make sure the idiots of the world don't have to be accountable for their actions and surgically alter another mammal in the name of convenience.

Intact dogs don't cause overpopulation. Irresponsible owners do.

I agree...using this as a 'convenient form of birth control' is ridiculous...I've had dogs (intact) for over 30 years (multiple dog household males and females) and have yet to have an accidental breeding/pregnancy.

OK just a pet-peeve of mine lol...off my soapbox! (and yes I feel better now!) :rolleyes:

Brigita

Chad, I was not aware that you wanted to use the dog as a protection dog. You never made mention of that.

 Quote:

Intact dogs don't cause overpopulation. Irresponsible owners do.

This is true, but how many irresponsible owners are there out there? A good bit more than there are responsible ones that's for sure.

 Quote:

Let's all do our part to make sure the idiots of the world don't have to be accountable for their actions and surgically alter another mammal in the name of convenience.

It isn't just "convenience" that spaying and neutering is important. Not only does it prevent unwanted pregnancies in female dogs and undesirable behaviors in male dogs, but it also prevents many diseases and disorders (pyometra, prostate cancer, and mammary cancer being three examples) and completely eliminates the risk of others (such as ovarian or uterine cancer). There are more benefits to spaying a female than there are neutering a male, but for the majority of dog owners, because the majority of dog owners is irresponsible, spaying and neutering their animals is very important.

I'm not speaking about working dogs. As I said already, I was not aware that this Malamute was going to become a personal protection dog. No one ever made mention of that until message #6.

Once the dog has reached two years, why not go ahead and neuter him? That's the part I don't understand. It won't affect his ability to do the work; Ed even said as much.

What's the point in keeping the animal intact if it isn't breeding-quality, and you aren't breeding to better the breed, and you don't have experience with breeding?