Humping at the dog park

[choo_choo_bear]

I've just discovered a fenced dog park that's a 15-minute drive from my place. I've taken my 1-year-old Cocker Spaniel (Dexter) there twice now, and each time he's humped other dogs. The other dog owners (the "regulars" at the park) are less than impressed, and have made it clear that this is something I should train him not to do. What bothers me

Comments

[datista]

"if another dog doesn't want to be mounted, IT should tell off my dog (by snapping, growling, or giving some other warning)"
"if an owner is worried about their dog biting another dog, THEIR dog shouldn't be allowed at the dog park."
Logic fail! By leaving the correction up to the other dog, you have to accept that their first response might be a very serious bite. YOUR DOG will be provoking the attack by humping the other dog. Not all dogs will tolerate humping, nor should they have to. It's like having a random man run up and hug your arms to your sides. Some people will freeze and hope he lets go, some will just yell, but some will knee him in the nuts and kick him while he's down. You have no way of knowing how tolerant the other dogs are of your dog's rude behavior (yes, it's a very, very rude behavior, and will likely get him bit if you don't retrain his behavior). Letting another dog "tell off" your dog is much more dangerous than a correction on your part. Did you read that list you linked to?
Humping (Mounting): This is a common and normal dog behavior that is unrelated to sex or mating, but is an instinctive behavior for establishing rank. Humping is generally unacceptable at the dog park because it often escalates into more combative interactions. If your dog is the humper, calmly call it off and move to another location. If your dog is the humpee, do not overreact. Simply ask the other dog owner to call their dog off. If the other owner does not respond, calmly approach the dogs, clap your hands, make noise, or body block until the other dog stops. Leash your dog and move to another area of the park.
By asking you to remove your humper, the other owners are showing proper concern for their dogs. It sounds like your dog needs a lot more manners (this means a lot of one on one socialization) before he's ready to be off leash at a dog park with strange dogs.
If you can't call your dog off and you have to walk over and haul him off by his collar DO IT, then take him away from that dog and play somewhere else. Make it more fun not to hump. Work on a solid "leave it" and get your recall to where you can call him off as soon as he looks like he's going to mount another dog.
Almost all the bad fights I've seen at the dog park start with a dog humping another self-confident, not going to take it dog and the humper almost always looks shocked when the humpee bites them. Don't let your dog be that dog. You'll save on vet bills.