Dog whining

[Roo]

Anyone have a whiner and if so what have you done to try and curb it? We have a 16 month old GSP that when kennelled whines rather badly. I know she wants to be social but there are times she needs her kennel.

[Spuddieselwwu]

My lab started doing that at about 4 months.  I hooked up a 6ft lead on her while she was in the kennel... When she'd whine or yelp, I'd pull it tight (maybe not the nicest thing for me to do, but after about a week it worked- she cut the habit)

[Huntbear]

Anyone have a whiner and if so what have you done to try and curb it? We have a 16 month old GSP that when kennelled whines rather badly. I know she wants to be social but there are times she needs her kennel.

Welcome to the club...  My German Wirehair does it so bad, you can hear it through doors and walls, and... well you get the picture.  I started by saying NO every time he did the whiny thing.. I slowly incorporated the shock collar... now if he whines in the house, he gets zapped on setting #1 and told no.. and it has mostly stopped... but it takes correcting him every single time.. no matter what else is going on.  It has gotten a lot better.. in fact he is no where near as bad...  but I am very very consistent.  The dog has to know that is not wanted behavior just like jumping on people when they greet them, etc...

[Heredoggydoggy]

Whatever you do, DON'T go out there while the dog is barking or whining.  That's what they want.  You can reprimand the dog to the point of death, but the dog doesn't care.  It whined and you came--he won!  I had to do it while I was babysitting my buddy's dog last week.  The dog was with me in the back yard while I was repairing an irrigation line, and I locked the dog in the back yard while I put the tools away.  The dog started barking and howling as soon as I was out of sight, and didn't stop for an hour.  I went out after it had stopped barking for 15 minutes, and let him out.  The next time he barked for 5 minutes and stopped, and 15 minutes later I let him out.  My buddy came after him that night, so I don't know if the lesson stuck...

[AspenBud]

Anyone have a whiner and if so what have you done to try and curb it? We have a 16 month old GSP that when kennelled whines rather badly. I know she wants to be social but there are times she needs her kennel.

Do you have a garage or basement? If so, put the crate there and follow Heredoggydoggy's advice.

[BIGINNER]

Whatever you do, DON'T go out there while the dog is barking or whining.  That's what they want.  You can reprimand the dog to the point of death, but the dog doesn't care.  It whined and you came--he won!

 

I had at least 3 or 4 whiners.  I used a shock collar and corrected them every time.  now my dogs never bark unless someone not part of the family is in the yard.  best alarm ever.   

[Stilly bay]

Anyone have a whiner and if so what have you done to try and curb it? We have a 16 month old GSP that when kennelled whines rather badly. I know she wants to be social but there are times she needs her kennel.

Do you have a garage or basement? If so, put the crate there and follow Heredoggydoggy's advice.

if the dog is outside don't poke your head out side to look at them. don't crack the blinds to take a peek. I don't care if the dog sounds like he getting torn apart by coyotes. just seeing your face strengthens their resolve- even if your just coming out to whup their ass- all they want is some sort of reaction from you, don't give them one.

some dogs just have to whine. my male lab is one of them. he screams when he is on the line waiting to be sent out.  he squeals in the blind when the ducks are coming. I have found the more I try and reprimand him for it, the worse it gets. I think its an anxiety thing. the more he whined the more he wanted to whine, it was like he was just winding himself up and I only contributed. I just let it slide now and the problem has simmered down from what it was, and a bark collar took care of the rest.

the best - easiest , least stress for you and the dog and the most consistent way to get a dog to shut the EF up is: crack your wallet open and buy a real bark collar. they are cheap at any price. don't waste your time with an e-collar. with an e-collar they will only learn that its not okay to bark when you are near. when you are gone its game on.
buy a bark collar, strap it on and forget about it, because all your dog noise problems should be solved soon and your neighbors will stop flipping you off every time they see you.

plus you can't put a price on getting to hear bowser's first and only short bark after you put that collar on... money well spent!

[Bmcox86]

 

[andersonjk4]

  X2

Stilly said it all.  I'm pretty sure GSPs are just a whiny breed.  Mine whines like crazy and always has.  And like Stilly said you cannot beat it out, or shock it out of them with an e-collar.  Trust me, I've tried.  The bark collar works great (tri-tronics bark limiter), but only works while he has it on.  I also agree with him that it is an anxiety/excitement thing.  And the more you stress them while they are whining the worse it gets.  The bark collar and e-collar are the only things I've found that works for mine.  And I've tried countless times to let them stop before going to them and it still never seemed to catch on with my GSP.  He is just a stubborn, whiny ass dog.  But I love him anyways.  And after awhile you will learn to live with it.   

[NW-GSP]

E collar is the only thing that helps my dog stop whining

[AspenBud]

GSPs are just a whiny breed.

Why I own English Pointers instead.        

[ghosthunter]

I bought a higher end bark collar for my 7 month old. It increases the correction the more she barks.
Takes car of the problem.

[87Ford]

My Lab only whines when he knows he's either going to the river for a swim or headed out for a pheasant hunt.  I can live with that.  If it got too annoying I'd go with a bark collar like ghosthunter suggested.  That would stop it..

[Heredoggydoggy]

Whining and yelping in excitement is different from whining and barking for attention.  I would never discourage a dog from his eagerness.  Electronic collars are a modern contrivance, and I doubt that the guy who wrote the book I read years ago on how to break a dog from barking and howling for attention lived long enough to see them.  I did eventually meet his son, though.
The process involved putting the dog in back of a pickup, canopy preferred, and going to a restaraunt and going in for a cup of coffee.  After a cup or so of coffee, go to the door and listen.  If the dog is still barking, go back and have another cup of coffee.  Do not go out to the truck until the dog stops barking.  His theory was that nobody cared if a dog was barking in a restaraunt parking lot.  I did this with my last Setter pup, and never had a problem after that.

[Stilly bay]

Whining and yelping in excitement is different from whining and barking for attention. 

IMO they are almost one in the same. whining or barking for attention, whining and barking because of excitement  are both an expression of anxiety.

[Heredoggydoggy]

Whining and yelping in excitement is different from whining and barking for attention. 

IMO they are almost one in the same. whining or barking for attention, whining and barking because of excitement  are both an expression of anxiety.

It's just a dog's way of saying "Oh boy! We're going hunting!".  Kind of like a kid saying "Oh boy!  We're going for ice cream!"   

[timberhunter]

my gsp does the same thing and i have not had any luck correcting it. he does it when he wants attention and while hunting. i use him to retrieve ducks and he can really test your patients while trying to hunt with him. i think it is just the breed, but if you find something please share!

[Heredoggydoggy]

my gsp does the same thing and i have not had any luck correcting it. he does it when he wants attention and while hunting. i use him to retrieve ducks and he can really test your patients while trying to hunt with him. i think it is just the breed, but if you find something please share!

Curing the "attention" part might solve the hunting issue, too.  My Setter whined when I made her sit in the blind, and she could hear the Chukhars on the hillside.  She HATED duck hunting. 

[andersonjk4]

Whining and yelping in excitement is different from whining and barking for attention. 

IMO they are almost one in the same. whining or barking for attention, whining and barking because of excitement  are both an expression of anxiety.

Again I agree with Stilly here.  At least as far as shorthairs go.  When my GSP is whining it is because he wants something and he's not getting it.  It could be that he knows we are going to go do something fun, or that I just put him in his dog run and he wants out, or that I'm not throwing his tennis ball fast enough.  It is all because he's not getting what he wants.  In the case of excitement, I feel like he's not saying "Oh Boy! We're going hunting!".... he's saying "Hurry up I want to go now and you're not going fast enough" or "Take me! Don't leave me! I really want to go!"  Its all based on him not getting what he wants at that moment. 

On a side note there is one case where I am glad he is a whiner and that is when he has to go outside to potty.  He will always go sit at the door and if you aren't there to let him out after a few minutes he will start to whine and progressively get louder.  This is nice for when you are distracted by something and don't notice he's sitting by the door.  Where my Vizsla will just go sit by the door and not make a peep (unless she has the runs and she is in dire need of going out).  I just feel bad for them if they have to sit there and hold it when they have to go. 

[Heredoggydoggy]

  When my GSP is whining it is because he wants something and he's not getting it.   Its all based on him not getting what he wants at that moment. 

That's the "German" part of him.   

[justsomedude]

My GSP used to whine like crazy in his kennel.  I would go out the front door and sneak around back behind the kennel.  When he’d start to whine I’d hit the plastic tarp on the back of the kennel.  It would take 2-3 hits on the plastic for him to stop and within a couple of days he quit whining altogether.