How To Stop Whining Dogs

Dogs whine for many different reasons, so when you try to work out how to stop whining, you must first understand the route cause.

It’s important to remember that dogs whine as a way of expressing themselves, and should not be punished for doing so.

We simply want to persuade them to choose a more appropriate and acceptable means of communicating their needs to us.

Dogs will whine because they are feeling:

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Some breeds of dog appear to be more prone to whining than others, and some seem to prefer whining than barking as a means of expressing themselves, but all dogs can be discouraged from this unwanted behaviour with some simple re-training. The key is to be consistent with your message.

Often, when trying to work out how to stop whining in an excited dog, we inadvertently send our dog the message that whining is the best way of achieving his goal!

For example, try to imagine this scenario...

... You have grabbed the house keys, and are just putting your shoes on in preparation for taking your dog for his morning walk. Your dog recognises these ‘signals’, and starts to whine excitedly. He wants to make sure that he is not left behind, and so is doing everything he can to make sure that you are aware of his desire to go on this walk! To stop the whining, you quickly grab his leash and put it on him.

Predictably - the whining stops!

Unfortunately though, you haven't solved your problem of how to stop whining!

This routine has simply confirmed to the dog that the more he whines, the greater his chance of going on the walk.

The trick here is to NOT reward the dogs’ whining by taking him on his walk, but to wait until he sits or lies down in a calm, quiet and attentive state before putting his leash on. Instead of repeating the above scenario (thereby reinforcing the dogs whining behaviour), try this instead ...

1. Give your dog the command to ‘sit’ or lie down’ and then wait for him to obey it
2. If he is still whining, give the command ‘no’, or ‘be quiet’.
3. Say the command just once, and then stay still until he does as you have asked.
4. Do not give your dog eye contact while you wait for him to obey your command.
5. If he does not do so after 10 seconds or so, walk away and begin to do something else which your dog does not associate with going for a walk, e.g. put the house keys back down, take off your shoes again, sit in another room.
6. Now go back and repeat the above steps until he does as you ask. Remember to give lots of praise when he does, as this will improve your chances of getting him to repeat this behaviour next time.

Initially it may take a while for him to get the message, but it is essential that you let him know that YOU are in control and YOU will decide when the walk begins. Consistency is the key when looking at how to stop whining behaviour in your dog.

The same principles apply if you are trying to work out how to stop whining in the car, before feeding, or any other situation where excitement is the cause.

For more tips on how to stop whining, see how to stop a whining dog (page 2).

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