Post a Comment On: A Nod to Nothing

Because I was interested, I went searching and read this answer as to why female dogs hump their stuffed animals:

Dogs (both female and male) use the "Humping" to establish dominance over other dogs and usually has nothing to do with sex. If the dog is doing this to inanimate objects, it's usually because it's the only thing around that it feels superior to, especially if it is the dog's toy and it is around it alot, or if a new stuffed animal toy is presented it may start this right away to establish possesion. This is not an uncommon behavior and is quite normal, however weird or unattractive it may seem to humans.

Which is all fine and good. But then, as usual, I went a bit too far on the web and click into a subsequent link below the fold that answered a completely different question:
Why does your 4 year son old hump stuffed animals? Because YOU let him. This is unwanted behavior, you should stop your son from doing this behavior.

[Added later by another person: My son does this with great enthusiasm. Since he is not in any situation where he could be abused, we checked with a developmental pediatrician on how "appropriate" it was and whether we should be concerned. 1. He said not to be concerned, it's normal for some children. 2. Don't make the child feel guilty about it, even if you ask them not to do it. 3. (What we ended up doing.) Set boundaries. We told our son "special hugs" are only for stuffed animals when he's alone in his bedroom. This worked-- it's still odd-- but it worked.]