Does your dog whine? Irritating isn’t it. But before you loose your patience, you need to make an evaluation of why your dog is whining. Is there something wrong? Does he need something like– to go out to the bathroom? Or, is he demanding something, like your attention?
Since our dogs can’t talk, their only forms of communication are barking and whining. When a dog consistently whines, the very first thing to check for are any medical issues. If your dog is in some type of pain, his way to deal with it is to whine. Especially if you have an older dog, arthritis can be very painful and the dog’s only way of telling you it’s in pain is to whine.
Fear can be another reason dogs whine. If they are in a situation that is causing them to be afraid, again the way they can communicate that is to whine. If you placate those feelings by saying something such as: it’s ok, and pet, pet, pet you are actually reinforcing the dog’s belief that he should be afraid.
Instead, use your leadership role, using your calm energy to signal the dog that you have everything under control and he has no need to be afraid. Distract with a jolly routine.
Boredom is another reason dog’s whine. Dogs are intelligent creatures and their intellect must be properly stimulated with exercise and training. Dogs need a job to do. Their job can be anything from working on basic obedience a few times a day, to tracking, to walking with you appropriately on a leash for a nice walk.
Demanding attention and being bossy are also reasons dogs will whine. If this is the cause of your dog’s whining, you again, must use your good dog parenting skills and leadership to let the dog know that whining does not get him what he wants. You can choose to ignore the dog and see if the whining stops. Once the whining stops you must IMMEDIATELY tell
the dog he’s done a good thing by saying something as simple as Good Quiet!
Again, if training begins the moment your bring your dog or puppy home and good leadership is put into place, the dog will be less inclined to be bossy and try to run the show. Obedience training, coupled with understanding what your dog needs to be balanced, is so much easier to incorporate than to wait until you have learned behavior from your dog
that you dislike.
Remember, train, be consistent and train again.
Be as comfortable with the trainer of your dog as you are the teacher of your children. And remember, Opportunity Barks!
My dog not only whines, she stomps her foot when she’s demanding something (usually she wants to be fed or wants a treat).
She’ll also go to the patio door and hit it, signaling she has to go out, but then when I get up and open the door she’ll sometimes instead turn right into the kitchen, which is next to the patio door, and walk up to the refrigerator instead of going outside to potty. Her ploy is to get me up off the couch and into the kitchen to give her something to eat. I turn around and go back to the family room when she does this as I won’t give in to terrorists!
She’s a 10 yr old golden, smart as a whip, and just a little spoiled.
Boredom is the main reason my dog whines. He is a big lab mix and it is funny to hear such a big dog make high pitched cries when he wants something. Just tonight he was standing next to me staring at me whining and whining because he wanted to play ball. Dogs are wonderful…
my sister has a dog that is small 4.5 lbs but not that small it whines all the time when excited, nervous, scared, happy …etc..she has tried everything but the dog just keeps whining…it stop for short periods then starts again…. at our wits end…