Why is Your Dog Whining Today?
Good news. You don’t have to live with an incessant whining in your ears.
You don’t always know what personality your new dog will have. Certain personalities relate to certain breeds, but each dog is still unique. What you do have control over is how you reinforce certain tendencies or habits.
Whining is an action you can decide how to respond to.
First of all, don’t confuse whining with normal crying. The sounds are made for different reasons, so you must train yourself to discern which one is in play.
There are good and bad reasons for whining.
Normal Reasons
Here are a few regular occurrences you won’t have to worry about:
- Submission: If your dog whines in the presence of other dogs it may simply communicate its submission. You don’t have to worry.
- Greetings: Whining can be accompanied with joy, such as getting excited when you return home. Once again no need for concern. However, if your dog’s whining is disruptive each time someone arrives, the tips below are for you.
Worrisome Reasons
Then there are situations where you need to decide the best course of action:
- Physical pain: This obviously requires your immediate attention. When you know which type of whine relates to pain you’ll know to respond in future.
- A need to go out: Is your dog in need of a bathroom break?
- Attention: Dogs will try anything to get what they want. It includes barking, whining and grunting. If no other reason for whining applies and you realize your dog simply needs attention, you must go at it carefully. If you respond every time and reinforce the habit, your puppy whining will happen more often.
- Excitement: You probably see this each time you get home after a long trip. Once again, if it’s excessive, use the tips listed below.
- Anxiety: Your dog may feel anxious—perhaps because of thunder outside—and whining is how it expresses it. You need to make sure your dog is comforted, but confirm it’s not only seeking attention.
Yes, whining is a normal thing for dogs to do. But as the owner you must show him or her how to handle the situation.
Your Role as Owner
Did you know you are your dogs’ pack leader?
They look to you as a source of comfort and guidance. If their whining relates to an insecurity, your action will confirm or refute the feeling. If you don’t want them to express excitement with excessive whining, you need to teach them a different way. And your example determines whether they’ll eventually calm down or whine even more.
Want to take back control of each situation? Try these tips at home.
Practical Solutions
Don’t Scold
You won’t get anywhere by screaming or intimidating your dog. Above we mentioned that anxiety is a source of whining. Letting your dog feel more anxious won’t fix the problem.
Boost Confidence
What you do want is boost their confidence. They’ll be less affected when alone and therefore less emotional when you arrive home. This is easily done by:
- Playing interactive games with your dog.
- Puppy school to learn tricks and build confidence
- Reward it each time it stops whining
Don’t Get Excited Yourself
If your dog whines when you or people arrive at your home, you may be to blame. Excessive excitement during greetings will affect your dog.
Learn to greet more sedately if you don’t want a whining, jumping canine ruining everyone’s clothing.
Tricks Can Distract
What you need is something you and the dog will prefer to whining. Using treats as rewards you can let your dog do tricks. Now when guests arrive you won’t have your dog jumping on everyone.
Reward Silence
Reinforce the behavior you prefer and you’ll have fewer hassles. If your dog realizes it gets treats when it’s calm, not whining for food or attention, it will change its habits.
Medicate if Necessary
In extreme cases, a dog’s anxiety can be treated with medication. This is especially relevant to prevent a thunderstorm from traumatizing your dog.
This is a sponsored post which means I was compensated for posting it. I hope you find the information to be useful.
Calvin says
Very nice tips, my cat whines a lot, these help that too.
desiree says
i had the problem ub what is king was abusivive and i had to be patient with him and then i got him a buddy princess but she was a busive pup and then they new what happen like i now what happen you baby kin is her big brother and watcher
Abe Liandro says
luckily my puppy never whined too much.
Sunny Flower says
i always keep silent when my puppy is whining as he understands its not an acceptable behaviour. i like the artist as its very informative and very knowledgeable.