Dear dog, please stop whining

[OneGrayPony]

I have two lovely dobermans and a sheltie mix.

One of my dobies (the female) is very well behaved. My male dobie is…frustrating. He whines almost constantly when things aren’t “his way”. For instance, at the present moment he is whining because he would prefer that I be sitting in the living room so he can sit on the couch (he won’t leave my side) instead of the kitchen table (where I need to do work). He’s also whining because his sister is laying directly next to me, and he’d prefer to lay there. She’s dominant though, so he’s laying about 3 feet from me on the floor making this god-awful pheee noise through his nose and groaning periodically.

He does this…all…the…time.

He wants to go out. “PHEEEEE”, someone is not home who he thinks should be home “PHEEEEEEEEEE”, Bella took his ball “PHEEEEEEEE”, Tikka has his bone “PHEEEEEEEE”, there’s a squirrel outside “PHEEEEEEE”, there’s a fly in his water “PHEEEEEEE”, there’s a fly on the window “PHEEEEEEE”, it’s going to rain “PHEEEEEE”, he is itchy “PHEEEEE”, he is sleeping “PHEEEEE” (maybe he is having bad dreams? I don’t know)…

O.M.G.

His health checks out (he’s fine, except for his CDA, which doesn’t have anything to do with the Phee noise). He’s very stinking smart. He believes that at some point he will get us to do whatever it is that will stop the Phee noise. And the reason that I realize that it’s his intelligence is that this is a dog who also figured out how to open baby gates, turn doorknobs, and open drawers.

Some people, like my husband, cannot stand the noise to the point that they do indulge him. I try not to, but it’s like nails on a chalkboard.

I’ve tried praising him when he is silent (he is highly praise/pack driven, not interested in treats). But it doesn’t seem to change his highly conversant behavior.

I think this is a dog that would talk your ear off, if he could talk. But man, I think he’d be complaining all the time. laughing

Unfortunately a citronella collar of any sort is out of the question since the noise doesn’t generate from his throat, it is strictly in his sinus cavities. He has a very long nose, so it is a very loud phee noise. And high pitched. Did I mention high pitched?

So…solutions? Earplugs? Xanax for our nerves?

[RobinL]

Maybe Xanax for his nerves

[Foxtrot_s]

The dog psychologists here will pan me - but a squirt of water when he does it? When he is quiet, praise?

[alto]

Consider rehoming - though he might be completely different in an only dog home or situation where he’s boss dog - find him a home that loves to hear him “talk”

You might be able to correct him into silence with a remote training collar but this wouldn’t be my preference for a dog that likes to talk.
Have you discussed reshaping his behavior with trainers?

[Bicoastal]

Not atypical for the breed. He is intermittently reinforced. That is hugely rewarding, moreso than consistent reinforcement. So I’m afraid you are stuck with it unless you can 100% eliminate all reinforcement -from all sources :winkgrin:.

You may try keeping him busy. Like a horse who wants to walk off while mounting, you want to move? let’s yield haunches, turn on the forehand, back up, etc.

Pup wants to whine? He must want his nails clipped! Or his teeth brushed, or to practice backing up (away from the squirrel outside the window), stacking, pivoting, etc. Whining drives me nuts so I exert this level of commitment and effort. My fave is the nails.

[OneGrayPony]

Consider rehoming - though he might be completely different in an only dog home or situation where he’s boss dog - find him a home that loves to hear him “talk”

Alto, he’s 8. I think that would be devastating to him. They don’t live very long, and he is SO very attached. Plus, who else would deal with it? LOL

Pup wants to whine? He must want his nails clipped! Or his teeth brushed, or to practice backing up (away from the squirrel outside the window), stacking, pivoting, etc. Whining drives me nuts so I exert this level of commitment and effort. My fave is the nails.

NAILS. That’s brilliant. There is nothing that this dog hates having done more than his nails. He thinks it’s akin to doberman murder. Yeah, there’s no way I could stop the intermittent reinforcement. I have 3 kids and a husband who do not have the nerves of steel that I have (and even I, on occasion, want to dive out windows).

[Bicoastal]

[QUOTE=OneGrayPony;7781423]

NAILS. That’s brilliant. [/QUOTE]
I can’t take credit for it: Denise Fenzi. Yes, it is brilliant. In a younger and dumber time, I taught Joey to respond to “Are you hungry” and had him on a consistent dinner time. I taught & encouraged whining, spinning, demand barking. Ya know when Joey is hungry and thinks it is dinner time? Any & all the time after 4pm :lol:.

The nails routine stopped that faster than I imagined.

[caffeinated]

I am so glad to have stumbled onto this thread, I hope no one minds me bumping it. We have the same dog. 8-9 yr old dobie, and dear lord the whine. Less of a “pheee” and more of a “AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!”

Like if a drunken chipmunk did a wolf impression (with a high powered microphone), that’s our dog.

It’s worst in the morning, if he hears me up he wants to go out and get breakfast NOW. With a toddler and full time job, it’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, to wait out the whining and reward him for going quiet, which means I’ve totally enabled and rewarded the behavior because I need to get to work and just can’t commit the time to it.

Ultimately, I think he also needs more exercise and play time. But holy moly.

Anyway thank you guys there are a couple nuggets of wisdom in this thread.

[Griffyn]

The biggest whiners- the dober men. My girls werent as needy. But the boys. Feel yer pain.

[Bicoastal]

Griffyn is right. It really does seem to be a Doberman breed trait. I hope that doesn’t offend TrotTrotPumpkin, who I believe has a working line Dobe.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

Bwaah. I have no illusions about dobes and their weird behaviors. I also have a rescue. Thank God none of my Dobermans have ever done this, although my only female was a little whiney (I just gave her a ball and that gave her something to do besides worry about everything else). I like the nails idea a lot–you will have to report back.

I had a water spaniel who was whiney, but never to this extent. I was a kid and I don’t recall ever coming up with any brilliant answers except to tire her out. I rigged a harness for her and had her pull my sled to my best friend’s house–with me in it (don’t worry it was downhill–she lived to be 15).

[caffeinated]

[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;7959575]
Bwaah. I have no illusions about dobes and their weird behaviors. I also have a rescue. Thank God none of my Dobermans have ever done this,[/QUOTE]

Just because you seem to have missed out, especially for you I will transcribe the morning conversation with Dog.

me: I set foot on the stairs

dog: AIEEEEeeeeEEEEEeeeEEEEEE yawn-screeech-ooooowww AIEEEEEEeeeeeee wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee AWRRRrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeee

me: Go to your bed!

dog: goes to his bed. then… AWWHHHoooooorrrrrreeeeEEEEeeeeEEEEEEe growly-throat-clearing-whine-thing AIEEEEeeeeeee wheeeeeee.e…e…raaaawwwwwrrrr EEEEEEEEE

me: ignores dog

dog: wiggles butt optimistically ROwwwrroOOOOOROWWWWOOOOoooooo Wheee-OOOO-WHeee-OOOO-WHeeeee-OOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEEEEe

rinse, repeat for about fifteen minutes.

Dog: stops making noise

me: turns around, Good dog! Good boy! Lemme scratch your ears! yay for being quiet!!!

Dog: oh you’re paying attention to me let me whine moooooorrrrreeeee EEEEEAIIIEROWREEEEEEEEeeeeeee

He really is a sweetheart, all he wants is to be permanently attached to my leg.

[StGermain]

My dobermans: whine…whine.

Me: You want to go out - okay, out you go. If you’re whining you must have to go out. When it’s 20 degrees.

However, the nudges! Playing Freecell on my computer. Nudge, Nudge Nose under elbow.

And my german shepherd is generally quiet. UNLESS I’ve fed the horses and don’t feed the dogs right after. His world is ending. The rule is horses eat, then dogs eat, and why am I not obeying it??? Don’t sit down! Don’t pick up a book! NOOO!!!

StG

[RaeHughes]

Seriously - whine back :D. Or, if you are as bad a singer as I am (yes, I would be considered “cruel and unusual punishment” at Gitmo Bay :D), sing.

Totally contra-indicated but my flatmate’s labXgreyhound gets a whine on - and it is just at the edge of audible (fingernails on black-board). Sometimes it is legitimate as in he is cold (single coat of greyhound) when the others are going "Nah, warm enough) or he is excited - other times, not so much!

One day (when heading out for a swim and he knows what my togs look like), I just started howling along with him. Sort of worked - when he stepped it up, I sang. HE shut up and JUST STARED AT ME as if I had crawled out from under a rock and looked decidedly nasty … even to a dog. I stopped and immediately started again when he started to whine.

Now, I need to sing only a couple of bars for him to stop … after I do check that he is warm enough.

[Laurierace]

That is what I would do Rae. I howl and my sheltie when he starts wha whaing.

[asb_own_me]

@RaeHughes;7960439

Seriously - whine back :D. Or, if you are as bad a singer as I am (yes, I would be considered “cruel and unusual punishment” at Gitmo Bay :D), sing.

My oldest Dobe, our red girl who we just lost to DCM in October, had one hell of a whiner mechanism. I swear she could do that horrible, high-pitched, fingernails-on-a-chalkboard “pheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” whine IN HER SLEEP. And I did, over the years, attempt to whine or shriek or sing or whatever back at her to see if she’d stop.

No way, no how. She was COMMITTED.

Our other three never really were/are whiners. All were/are classic Velcro Dobes, though. I haven’t gone to the bathroom by myself in my own home since we got Storm in 2003.

Sadly, three of the four are now gone; two of them a month apart just this past fall. DCM is a heartbreaking disease.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I need to share this thread with my husband. He’s convinced Archer is the worst doberman to live with ever (he’s not THAT bad–just exuberant with endless energy).

Velcro-yes. Zelda was the worst. Always trying to please me. Always “mom, is this ok?” She absolutely broke my heart to lose (osteosarcoma).
Archer follows me to the bathroom, but then uses it as a moment of freedom to go torture the cat or engage in other naughtiness. Sinte’ is the least Velcro, but he’s also almost 11, so unless food or walks or a patch of sunshine to lay in are involved, a soft bed looks pretty good.

[caffeinated]

Aw, ASB and trot, sorry for your losses

[vtdobes]

Dobes are the biggest whiners…both of mine do it for their own reasons (Beckham is whining at me right this minute because he knows it’s time go outside on my lunch break!). You just have to learn to ignore. Hard I know!!

TrotTrotPumpkin are you going to UDC nationals??

[dungrulla]

[QUOTE=Bicoastal;7781398]

Pup wants to whine? He must want his nails clipped! Or his teeth brushed, or to practice backing up (away from the squirrel outside the window), stacking, pivoting, etc. Whining drives me nuts so I exert this level of commitment and effort. My fave is the nails.[/QUOTE]

Dogs aren’t horses, and this will just teach the dog to fear having its nails clipped. You also can’t clip its nails every single time it does this. They like learning to do new things and have even shorter attention spans than horses. Most dogs LOVE to work, so you can’t view this as if you would a horse.

A remote collar on a LOW setting would eliminate this behavior, but consult a trainer because remote collars can be used incorrectly to extremely detrimental effects. I use one in all my training but I consulted a pro and took lessons first.