How to deal with a Whining Dog
Whining in puppies
As
puppies, it comes naturally: a very young puppy will
whine without even realizing it when she’s hungry,
tired, or cold. The mother dog will respond to this
whining with milk, warmth, and a safe place to sleep
– and as time goes on, the puppy begins to realize
the association between the two. This is when she
begins to whine deliberately, to notify her mom that
something’s amiss or that she needs something.
When you adopt your pup, she should be between eight
and ten weeks old. This is the time that a puppy will
either learn that whining doesn’t work with
her new, human family; or, she’ll learn to use
whining as a manipulative tool (of sorts) to motivate
her new “mommy” (that’s you!) to
give her what she wants.
This is why it’s generally advocated for you
to leave your new puppy alone on her first night –
if you respond to whining with positive attention
(cooing, patting, sympathy, taking her out of the
crate and cuddling her) how can she help but learn
to whine until she gets what she wants?
You’ll need to use your common sense and good
judgment, of course. For a really panic-stricken pup,
she probably does actually need some attention and
affection, if only to distract her from the scariness
of her unfamiliar new surroundings. The trick is to
respond in a timely manner so that she doesn’t
feel like it’s her whining that’s got
the result (or else you’re conditioning her
to whine whenever she wants something, which is paving
the road to hell).
For a puppy that’s working herself up into
a real frenzy of crying and whining, don’t feel
like you have to cold-bloodedly ignore her. By all
means, pay her a bit of attention and calm her down
– just initiate the contact when she’s
no longer whining. It’s not always realistic
to wait until she’s stopped whining altogether
– contrary to popular (albeit misguided) opinion,
some puppies simply do not stop whining and really
will continue for hours on end. If you suspect that
this may be the case, you don’t have to prolong
your pup’s misery: just wait til she’s
stopped for even a few seconds, then seize your moment
and open the crate door. It’s not ideal, but
under the circumstances, it’s likely the best
you’ll be able to manage.
Whining in adult dogs
Whining is not a natural form of communication between
humans and dogs. Most dogs grow out of whining around
the six-month age; if your dog is whining after this
period, it means she’s either doing it unconsciously,
or she’s learned that it’s a useful motivatory
tool to get her something that she wants or needs.
As an adult dog, there are a variety of reasons as
to why she might be whining:
In pain
Bored/lonely
Needs to go outside
Afraid/anxious
Your response to her whining really depends on the
cause of it. Sometimes whining is justified, and does
require a response – and sometimes, it’s
just plain manipulative. Other times it may be justified,
but the response that comes most naturally won’t
necessarily help your dog.
To clarify things, the more common reasons for whining
– and suggested ways for you to react –
are listed below.
When she’s whining out of pain
A dog that starts whining all of a sudden, and then
keeps it up steadily afterwards, may be whining out
of pain. This isn’t just limited to older dogs:
puppies and young dogs can be subjected to some pretty
severe growing pains, so don’t rule out this
possibility on the basis of age. If you think your
dog may be in pain, check her over to see whether
there’s any merit to this belief. First, check
for the obvious signs: is she holding any paws off
the ground, or favoring a limb/side of her body? Check
her face and body for scratches and splinters. Next,
you can palpate her limbs and joints for inflammation
(like arthritis) and possible injuries. Remember to
be very gentle: if she’s in pain, you don’t
want to make it worse. Simply rub your hands along
each leg, pausing at the joints to give each one a
gentle squeeze. Run your hand down her tail to check
for lumps and bumps, too. Even if you can’t
find anything seriously amiss, if you think she’s
whining out of pain, a trip to the vet is in short
order.
When she’s whining out of boredom and/or loneliness
You’ll be able to tell if this is the cause
because she’ll be wandering around the house
(probably following you around, or pacing about the
room you’re in), whining aimlessly and without
direction (i.e. she’s whining to herself). The
best cure for a dog that’s whining out of boredom
is a quick shot of exercise: take her out for a brisk
walk as soon as you can, and on a more general level,
try to ramp up her daily exercise quotient. A tired
dog is almost never a bored dog. For a dog that’s
whining from loneliness, you’ll have to try
your best to spend more quality, interactive time
with her. If you don’t have a lot of spare time
to spend with your dog, then make the time that you
do spend together really count: play, groom, train,
cuddle.
When she’s whining out of fear/anxiety
Normally, it’ll be fairly easy to tell whether
she’s whining out of fear or anxiety. When she’s
afraid, it means there’s a direct cause to her
fear – like a thunderstorm or a windy afternoon
that’s rattling the windowpanes and spooking
her a bit. If she’s anxious, it means there’s
no direct, tangible cause for her edginess –
she might be a bit on edge because you’re a
bit stressed and she’s feeding off your energy,
or perhaps there’s been a change to her daily
routine (she didn’t get her normal morning walk,
for instance). Without spending any more time quibbling
pedantically over semantics, your response to this
sort of whining should always be one of discouragement.
Don’t attempt to punish or correct her for whining
out of fear or anxiety – that will simply increase
her stress, making her feel worse and making the whining
worse, too. Instead, simply ignore her. It’s
a bit hard to do at first – in fact, it can
feel like the least natural reaction in the world!
But it really is the best thing for you to do. If
you lend unwonted credence to your dog’s mood
with an excessive reaction – patting, sympathy,
cooing – she won’t be comforted; she’ll
actually be more worried, because you’ve just
validated her fear. If it seems to her like you think
she’s got a good reason to be worried/afraid
– and if you react with comforting words and
soothing pats, that’s how it’ll come across
– then she’ll be more afraid. Not less.
So in this case, you need to ignore the whining outright.
Don’t molly-coddle her; instead, distract her
with play, or run through a quick obedience routine.
Get her thinking about something else.
If she needs to go outside
If your dog’s whining because she needs to
go outside, first of all you should give yourself
– and her – a big pat on the back: it’s
the sign of a genuinely well-trained dog. She needs
to go badly enough to be whining about it, but she
knows not to do it inside – and she’s
smart enough to try and let you know that she needs
to go out, too. This one’s easy: if she’s
standing near the door, or just has That Expression
(if you’ve had her for a while, you’ll
grow to know That Expression – it’s different
for every dog, but most owners are able to easily
and correctly interpret it as meaning, “Let
me out – now!”), you should let her out.
It’s as easy as that.
Further Reading
For more information on dog ownership, including
a huge variety of detailed information on canine problem
behaviors, dog psychology, and the most effective
ways to train your dog, take a look at Secrets
To Dog Training. It’s the ultimate
resource for the intelligent dog owner, and it covers
just about every subject pertaining to the care of
your beloved dog that you’ll ever need to know
about.
You can visit Secrets To Dog Training
by clicking on the link below:
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