Humping is normal behavior and is used for dominance displays as well as sexual purposes.
I suspect that Fuggle is more dominant and that he has a genetic coat issue that is going to leave him with far less than the normal pomeranian full coat.
Females cannot get pregnant until they come in heat and the males cannot penetrate without the heat hormones opening the reproductive tract on the female.
But the minute the female comes in heat both males are apt to fight over her and also try to breed her.
Neutering at around 5 1/2 months can resolve that.
The hereditary coat loss issue may be the problem with Fuggles thinner coat. The coat loss problem in Pomeranians is called SHLS (Severe Hair Loss Syndrome) and may also be known as Black Skin Disease. It is seen mainly in males. They may have fluffy puppy coats with no guard hairs. When the puppy coat sheds,new coat does not grow back. At a later age another type of this condition may show up. The dog starts with a normal appearing coat. That coat slowly starts to thin out, starting with fur loss at the back of the thighs and buttocks and moving up the back.
You can read about Alopecia X here
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_alopecia_x.html
Hope this helps you!
Hi Nancy,
Thanks so much for getting back to me on this. In terms of males penetrating, I read that they don't have to be erect to be able to penetrate as with dogs they go erect after they are already in. In this case, how do I know that Fuggle is just play humping and not accidentally harrassing his friends? With male pups, how do you tell when they are sexually mature?
In the meantime, I'll ask the vet to perform some tests on Fuggle to find out does he have a skin problem. Will his brother also have the same issue in terms of humping, maturization and hair loss?
Thanks again for your reply, would really appreciate it if you can help me clarify. Thanks!
Male dogs become sexually mature usually between 6-8 months of age same as the females.
Male dogs must be erect to breed and they do tie due to the bulbus glandis being gripped by the female.
However, until the female is in heat it is physically impossible for the female to be mated as the reproductive tract is not open enough to allow it.
You might have your vet check to see if Mr Fuggle is actually the same age as the other pups. That can be checked by the development of the teeth.
He's cute but I fear if its not a skin infection that he may have little to no coat when he matures.
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30+ yrs dog home vet care & nursing, rescue, behavior&training, responsible show breeding, genetics