Do you have a whiny (or verbal) DOG?

[Nette]

Inspired by the whiny cat thread...

We have a puppy (9 months old) who whines CONSTANTLY. She whines when she's in her crate, when she's outside, when she's inside but wants to go out, when she's trying to get petted and when she's just laying on the floor. It is really really irritating. The only time she isn't "talking" is when she's eating, or when it's bedtime (she sleeps in her crate and when lights go out she shuts up).

We love her and she is shaping up to be a good dog, but this is driving us nuts! We've tried completely ignoring it for weeks. We've tried the doggy dazer (think electronic dog whistle). We've tried a sharp "NO" when she starts. It's like she thinks we're carrying on a conversation or something.

Any ideas? Anyone dealt with an extra whiny dog?

 

[npmommie]

I have a whiny adult dog!! she has always been verbal, stares at me, barks at me, whines for attention.
she is very social and has to be with us constantly.
could be the fact that we took her in as a stray after someone gave her the dump in our neighborhood.
she probably has been nervous it will happen again, but we have had her now 12 years, she isn't going anywhere!

 

[Pluto 2]

it wants attention. i will whine too if i was in a little crate. i will whine also if i had to go to the bathroom and the only way i can go if someone will open the door for me to go outside.

 

[MushyMushy]

Oh yes, the dog in my avatar is the most verbal dog I've ever had. She did outgrow the whining at every little thing, but she yips, growls, moans, groans, sighs, and any other noise you can think of.

I love it! She's so entertaining!

 

[puffkin]

My dog is constantly making noises. He howls and whines and harumphs around the house all day. Plus he has pretty bad allergies so he is constantly licking something. That slurping drives me beyond insane. He is a great dog and we love him to death, but this is a big reason we will never get another dog again. One of my 3 year olds first phrases was "Murphy be quiet" because we yell it so much. We try to ignore it but it just grates on my nerves so much. My cats are so silent. They only make noise when I am getting their food ready and occassionaly while playing.

 

[Nette]

it wants attention. i will whine too if i was in a little crate. i will whine also if i had to go to the bathroom and the only way i can go if someone will open the door for me to go outside.

We don't keep her in the crate all the time... only when we aren't home (because she'd destroy the furniture at this stage) and during meal and sleeping times. The sleeping times are also to prevent destruction, and the meal time confinement is so that our other dog has a chance to eat her food w/o puppy getting to it first.

And the only way to let her out is to open the door. There is a clause in the adoption/rescue contract for our older dog that we do not have a dog door. I believe this is to prevent the dog escaping. We always let them out if they show signs of wanting to potty or whatever.

The whining I'm talking about being annoying is the whining when NOTHING is wrong. Full tummy, empty bladder, inside, etc.

 

[padams]

Our 7 month old puppy is a whiner too. I have no solutions but can offer empathy. We've tried ignoring, rattling a soda can filled with coins (the trainer's idea), etc., but nothing has worked.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

My dog is constantly making noises. He howls and whines and harumphs around the house all day. Plus he has pretty bad allergies so he is constantly licking something. That slurping drives me beyond insane. He is a great dog and we love him to death, but this is a big reason we will never get another dog again. One of my 3 year olds first phrases was "Murphy be quiet" because we yell it so much. We try to ignore it but it just grates on my nerves so much. My cats are so silent. They only make noise when I am getting their food ready and occassionaly while playing.

That drives me crazy too, especially when I'm trying to sleep, read, or watch a good movie.

 

[cheermom1]

Yep the little puppy we just got she 8 weeks old now and she is a whiner! sheesh I can't go to the bathroom without her thinking she has to be all up in my business!
she wants me to hold all day long, i can't do that!! but she is so cute

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

My male shih tzu is a whiner. It's partially my fault. I let him whine to let me know when he had to go outside to....ya know. He quickly realized that I'm not willing to ignore him when he whines ...... just in case he really does need to go out. He's doing it right now but he's just been outside and I KNOW he doesn't have to.

His sister on the other hand doesn't whine....she just quietly sits at the door. She's 3 years older than him and I just assumed that he would follow her lead..no luck.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

My 6 year old lab is verbal my 10 week old lab is a whiner but I guess it is still excpected at this age

 

[KandD]

Our husky is a talker. If you say something to him and he doesn't know what you want from him, he will MOAN. If you want him to do something that he doesn't want to do, he will talk back. If you are eating something that he wants, he will bark/whine at you.
But surprisingly enough out of my three dogs (plus a foster dog) he hardly ever barks! It is just the moaning and whining.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We love her and she is shaping up to be a good dog, but this is driving us nuts! We've tried completely ignoring it for weeks. We've tried the doggy dazer (think electronic dog whistle). We've tried a sharp "NO" when she starts. It's like she thinks we're carrying on a conversation or something.

Any ideas? Anyone dealt with an extra whiny dog?

Our dog is very vocal. German Shepherds are known for being "whiny". Our vets always comment on it. But my current Shepherd is more vocal the the other Shepherds we've had.

One thing that's worked for us is teaching her the "Settle" command. When we give it, she knows she has to completely chill out. We don't overuse it, because it would just be too incongruent to her general OCD personality, so we save it for times that we really need her to settle down and be quiet.

You teach it by finding a nice quiet time with your dog. Have her lay down and get comfortable. (Obviously it helps if you've done some basic training, and don't hype the dog up to begin with - I'm always surprised how many people do this.) Tell the dog to Settle, and place your hand gently but firmly on her to reinforce what you want her to do. Stay there quietly for a little while (just a short time to start, and increase the amount of time as she gets better at it). Don't keep talking to her (or you'll teach dependence on it); do something quiet yourself nearby and take your hand off her but make her stay. The expectation being she'll stay put and chill. When you're ready for her to get up, praise her and give her the release command, like OK. Practice this often at quiet times.

 

[hereyago]

I have had several dogs, including 2 GS, they were relatively quiet. HOWEVER, I have a GS who will be 1 on Valentines' Day and he has complete conversations. My other GS would look at him like Shut up.

He has gotten better about it, but when DD comes home from school. SHe won't say a word and he is trying to tell her how his day was. Then at the vet, he has a favorite vet tech who just talks to him-uh no-he starts talking to her.

 

[glitterkittyy]

My dog is a talker. She doesn't bark as much as she tries really hard to talk. It's like she thinks she's human. lol She can say "Mom" and "I love you" quite clearly. As soon as I walk in the door, she says "mom, mom, mom" while running around in circles then says "I LOVEEEEEEEE RUUUUUUUUUUUUU" and waits for me to pat her on the head (that turns into belly rubs).

But she says other "words"...always talking. I just don't think they're in English. lol

My talking dog, Lyla...

 

[pixiegoose]

My family's old dog (who passed away last year at 13) was a talker. She would hold entire conversations with you. I can remember one specific time when she was whining to my now-DH and he had no idea what she wanted. Finally I asked her to show me what she wanted and immediately she headed over to my dad's desk, where my mom had hidden one of her toys from her. She always understood you, you didn't always understand her!

Their dog now is not a talker- she prefers to use the "puppy dog eyes" to get what she wants. They only time she ever makes much noise is when she's playing with my DH or when she sees her doggie friends out the window.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Yes, I have a 7 month old beagle who is extremely vocal.

 

[hsmamato2]

we have a noisy little dog- she's a chihuahua mix,and she growls like crazy,mixing it with whines and various breathy noises,depending on how much we talk back to her,she can go for a long time....when we first got her,all the growling worried us,till we realized it meant nothing except it was her verbalizing. I kid you not,she looks like she's about to bite your nose off,with all types of growls, when in reality we can lay our face right on hers,and she is 'talking' and loving it all! I get annoyed by all the noise sometimes,but my dh loves it. so now it's a family game,talking to the dog....

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Our dog is very vocal. German Shepherds are known for being "whiny".

We have a GSD who will be 9 next week. He's very whiny. A trainer told us when he was a puppy that he would outgrow it...he didn't.

 

[Nette]

We have a GSD who will be 9 next week. He's very whiny. A trainer told us when he was a puppy that he would outgrow it...he didn't.

Oh goody...