Whiney Baby

[Borgan]

Hi All,

Morgan and I are having difficulties with Luna in the mornings. She sleeps in her crate at night in our bedroom, and wakes anywhere from 5am - 7am whining away and scratching at the door of the crate. We have tried:

- taking her to pee
- ignoring the whining (for 2 weeks)
- telling her "quiet", then "good quiet"
- banging a couple times on the 'lid' of the crate

The only thing that stops her is putting her in the bed, where she'll sleep until noon, in total silence, if someone is in it with her. But according to the Monks of New Skete (a recent find), having the dog in the bed creates dominant and other bad behaviour. How should we best approach this without losing our minds? She has also recently become VERY food and toy aggressive with other dogs, which really irritates me, as I would like to get a companion Frenchie in the next couple of years, but worry about leaving them alone together, lest they kill eachother over chew bone or something.

Any advice would be welcome!

Thanks,
Brooke.

[Carolyn]

Brooke....my spoiled two sleep in the bed but I have read that if your dog is crate trained...you must ignore their noise for as long as it takes to get them to realize the whinning won't get them anywhere. They are just like kids. Give them an inch and they will take a mile!

As far as food/toy aggression...my male Frenchie (Ferris) will be food aggressive and it is really frustrating. Maybe others can give you more particulars but in our house (I have 4 dogs) I put a lot of space between the food bowls. When I see Ferris about ready to start a problem I pick all the bowls up and give him tons of positive praise for being a good boy. I have learned with Ferris....positive praise does more to deter him than anything. Roosje can probably give you more advice. Good luck. Carolyn

[Borgan]

Hello!

Thanks for the info, ladies! We tried ignoring the whining, but when it lasted from 11pm until 5am, I could take it no longer and had to put her on the bed for my sanity. Any other advice? This dog doesn't seem to have a breaking point.

Thanks!
Brooke.

ps. Roosje- Luna is the dog and Morgan is my husband:) I couldn't stop laughing as I was reading about how to make my husband share toys!!!!! Dogs and men, though...is there really a difference? ;)

[Borgan]

Oh, Roosje!

Don't feel bad! I thought it was so funny! An honest mistake! It really made me laugh :) When I leave for work now, I tell Morgan to "play nice with the other dogs".

In regard to paying attention to Luna, we generally give it when WE want to. However, she is extremely vocal and "talking" all the time. She sounds like a Wookie (like Chewbaca from StarWars). For instance, when I am playing fetch with her, the ball usually rolls under somewhere she can't reach, so she'll paw it like a cat, making her Wookie noises. If I don't get it for her, she'll sit all day (no exageration), "talking" to it. Or, she'll follow me around the house pawing my leg and "asking" me to get it for her. Relentless! It's really been this way since she arrived, so I'm wondering if it's a "factory defect".

[gilazno]

another good book is The dog Listener by Jan Fennell and Culture Clash written by Jean Donaldson whom Roosje suggested..I found the Dog Listener was much easier to read but both were very good.

[Kelly+Manja]

manja "talks" to his toys when they go under the furniture as well! its very funny, as if he's saying to them "come on, come out, please! why did you go under there!?"
Im pretty sure he would do it (the talking) while im out too and annoy the neighbours so I have come up with the solution of tying all his favourite ball toys (or things that could roll under the couch) in pairs together with rags. Now when they go under the couch he can usually pull them out himself with the other end. He also loves the rags and pulls his toys around the house with them.
If this fails though i also do what roosje does and make him sit and wait while i get the toy and then let it sit infront of him for a while before saying "OK!" The look of desperation on his face while waiting is hilarious!

[Deanna67]

Hello!

Thanks for the info, ladies! We tried ignoring the whining, but when it lasted from 11pm until 5am, I could take it no longer and had to put her on the bed for my sanity. Any other advice? This dog doesn't seem to have a breaking point.

Thanks!
Brooke.

ps. Roosje- Luna is the dog and Morgan is my husband:) I couldn't stop laughing as I was reading about how to make my husband share toys!!!!! Dogs and men, though...is there really a difference? ;)


My puppy is being is crate trained , We have her in the bathroom with the door closed with a nightlight on she whines for about 10 minutes now it used to be longer but she has learned that we will not deal go to her. She wakes up every morning between 6 and 7 because that is what time I let her out for potty in the morning.
I say put her somewhere else maybe it is worse because she knows you are right there.

[Martina]

Gigi is way more high-strung than Lola and was much, much whinier when she was littler (now 9.5mo). I think that it's just Gigi's personality. That said, it was AWFUL!! Her whining drove me crazy. So I finally got something called "Comfort Zone Plug-In for Dogs" - available at PetSmart or online at http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444178 0711&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302033167&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023689&bmUID=1106068665084

It is a DAP - or Dog Appeasing Phermone. It's about $40 and then $18 for extra plug-ins. Does it work? I don't know. I put it in the kitchen where they stay during the day and within about two days, her whining was less. I also started letting them out in the yard longer at the same time. And, right about that time they started spending more time in the house as their potty-training got better.

So I couldn't tell you if it was the phermones, the extra exercise, or getting what she wanted (out of the kitchen) that made the change. I've never bought a refill, but was thinking of getting one - so I guess that means I give it some credit!

Hope that helps