Whining

[Daisy_Mae]

Hello all,

Need advice on a beagle we rescued. Our boy Charlie was a older stray we took in (probably a lost hunting or kennel dog) and were supposed to re-home but..well you know how that story goes!

As most rescues have some sort of anxiety from being moved around and re-homed, Charlie was no exception. Charlie has separation anxiety and in the last 3 months we have owned him we have made great progress.

The last feat is the whining when we leave him to go to another room. He is better and is only underfoot 50% of the time now compared to all the time. If he can't see or be with us (for instance when we shower or go in the basement for a second) he whines. He is getting better at sit/stay for dealing with him being clingy but it does nothing for the whining. It used to be all the time but it is getting better as time goes by and he becomes more accustomed to our routine.

I decided to see a new trainer who does positive reinforcement and correctional methods and she gave me several options. (I normally deal with positive reinforcement only)

1.Crate train and learn to be alone. Charlie has severe anxiety in a crate and I don't care to do that with an older dog that is reliable in the house. Plus I work full time and he would be in the crate for far too long. He does much better spending the day sleeping by our other dog then being in a crate. I used a crate for his housetraining only but he never liked it and would get severely stressed no matter if it was 2 minutes or 20. She suggested I put him in and if he whined tell him "quiet" and if he did it again give the crate a bit of a bang off the ground and tell him "quiet" again. I don't have a crate at the moment since I don't foster much anymore, so the trainer offered to crate train if I brought him to her daycare, which I didn’t think was a bad idea since she can keep an eye on him all day but I am still not convinced that it will stop the whining. And I am not convinced of her method of crate training since it goes against most of what I know. I do like the idea of daycare for him to be more independent without his mom.

2.Sneak up on him when he whines and spray him with a water bottle. Yeah right! That never worked, no matter how quiet I was he could always here me coming and he would just stop whining until I walked away. Then he would just tolerate the water after a few weeks.

3.Collar correction (I think people refer to it hear as “dinking’?). That is not possible as the whining is when we are out of the room with no one to do the correction.

4.Last but not least..a shock collar ..not a chance in hell would I use one of those especially on a beagle! I personally think it would traumatize him no matter how low the voltage.

So we are trying to teach Charlie the command “quiet” and it’s not going the best. He will stop when we say quiet but will start again and then eventually stop but I would like to find a way to get him to stop whining altogether without being told several times.

I kinda figure he will eventually stop as time goes by since it is getting better the more settled in he gets but in the back of my mind I worry if I don’t find something effective now, it may get harder to trainer him to stop.

Ideas?

[Prin]

You can't just ignore the crying? Seems to me any attention, positive or negative when he is crying is still attention, which is what he's asking for...

[mummummum]

Gotta say - I think your gut instincts are RIGHT about the trainer's methods being WRONG! Why in heaven's name would anyone want to scare an already anxious dawg in a crate by banging on it or use a crate for punishment when that doggie is ALREADY an unhappy camper in the crate in ideal circumstances ??? Yikes! It sounds like your methods are working well so far in diminishing the unwanted behaviours and you've made alot of progress over a very short period of time. This should tell you that your approach is the right one - just a few more "tricks of the trade" are needed.

[mafiaprincess]

I have a whiner. She whines when things aren't going her way.. if you are eating and not giving her as much as she feels she is entitled to, if you are training and she doesn't do the correct command so you don't treat and praise, if she sees a dog she wants to see, etc..

With some of them I ignore it and it stops, with others like vocalizing for my food I tell her enough.

The trainer's banging on the crate idea is awful. I think Cider hated her airline crate because when she was a pup she would non stop howl cry and bark, and when nothing worked I'd hit the top with my hand to get her attention. I wasn't a forum reader, and I didn't know.. She got better over time, but was very vocal in there. I got a wire crate a few months ago, and she's a different dog in it. I think I'd helped her make bad associations to the old crate by rocking her house,.. and no good trainer would suggest that I don't think.

[Daisy_Mae]

Thanks for your reinforcement everyone, I didn't like ANY of the methods she suggested so I ought to know that my instincts are usually right, guess I just needed to here it from someone else.

Prin, we have ignored the crying for 3 months, and didn't really help at all, so we use the word "quiet" and he is starting to catch on. I see where you are going and I too thought any attention, even if negative would make it continue, hence the reason we ignored it completely, but it didn't help. After all, he is a beagle, and he sure is stubborn when it comes to doing something he wants when he wants! I love him to pieces and could suck him up every time he cried for me, which I have been guilty of on occasion when I can't help myself but it makes his separation anxiety so much worse that I know better then to give into his whims for attention. Plus, when I leave the house he drives my husband bonkers crying for me. He did it for 3 hours straight, crying and whining for me when I left for the day.

Irresistible isn't he?


Charlie is stray pooch that someone adopted to me from their farm where he was hanging around. He just has a lot to learn for a dog that was never a pet that someone didn't care for and was 100% outdoors. He has made SO much progress with consistent training and a routine that I think time is all we need now. I was just putting the question out there in case someone knew of any methods that were humane.

[SarahLynn123]

We have a whiner to! and she also was an outdoor dog before we got her. She follows us around whining and for the most part we ignore her, sometimes I will say "enough" if she is getting carried away, but I suppose you would be walking around around saying that all the time!!!

My only suggestion is that when you leave and your husband is home, maybe he could spend some time with Charlie and try to keep his mind off of you leaving him. He could take him for a walk, teach a new trick, practice tricks, hide treats and let the dog find them etc. It would also give them time to bond and maybe lessen the whining when you leave.

If my dog (Shadow) is really getting to be alot I will jam a kong full of stuff for her, she works on it forever and I get peace and quiet. Shadow doesn't seem to be anywhere near as whiney as your little guy!

Good luck
Sarah

[Daisy_Mae]

Originally Posted by SarahLynn123

My only suggestion is that when you leave and your husband is home, maybe he could spend some time with Charlie

Been there..tried that..my husband was never a dog person so it's taking him some time to get used to dogs and my love for them. He still doesn't get why I hug and kiss and snuggle the dogs. Although I have caught him snuggling Charlie on the couch and I haven't heard him complain in awhile that Charlie cries when I leave so I think Charlie is getting to him. He just doesn't want me to find out! Cause if I do find out he likes our dogs then I might ask him to help out..and god knows he wouldn't want to do that! It a chore to get him to take a walk with me, I practically have to beg!

I am cool with it though, I walk the dogs, he helps clean, does all the yard work and cooks supper 75% of the time. He is a good guy, just not a dog lover!