Dalmatian Behavior: 5 Ways To Avoid Accidental Sexual Excitability In Your Dog

December 9, 2006 on 2:15 pm | In Dalmatian Articles |

When it comes to Dalmatian’s behavior based on natural reflexes, there is one subject that is not discussed much. And that subject is the tendency of pet dogs to initiate sexual behavior and/or to respond with sexual arousal or overt sexual behavior to certain physical or social stimulation from the owners.

Of course we lover our pets and want to make them happy by giving them attention, especially physical petting and rubbing. Not only does your dog love getting stroked by its owner, but this also creates pleasure for us as well. Unfortunately, you may be causing some excitability and sexual frustration because of this. Following are some stimuli about which few owners are aware, but which can sexually excite dogs:

1. dogs that are roughhousing with other Dalmatian dogs, children, or adults can excite dogs to the point of getting sexually stimulated.

2. Rubbing or petting your dog on the chest and between the forelegs is another way that can lead to your dog getting inadvertently sexually excited.

3. Prolonged petting or playful bumping on the sides of your dog’s neck, above the shoulders, below the ears, or on the throat is another behavior that you can stop which may be exciting your Dalmatian.

4. Prolonged scratching beside the base of the tail when it causes a lateral movement of the tail, in both intact and spayed females.

5. Physical stimulation of the genital region of either sex, as during bathing.

In roughhousing, a dog usually begins precopulatory clasping with the forelegs, nose-bunting or mouthing, or sexual mounting with pelvic thrusts.

Most dogs respond affectionately to the petting, scratching or playful bumping mentioned, without initiating overt sexual behavior. However, when it is prolonged, some dogs may attempt precopulatory “nudging,” display penile erection, or even persistently and aggressively mount people.

Usually the responses stop when the owner stops the stimulation. But the side effects of such handling are seen in various sorts of behavior, such as whining, renewed approaches for petting and attention, and extreme (or mild) anxiety when left alone or ignored by the owner and not surprisingly, aggression toward other people in the area, either immediately or later. Owners rarely associate this delayed aggression with their frustrating extended petting or naive sexual stimulation of the Dalmatian, so it is generally labeled as protective.