Whining Puppy

Question
Our dog is about 4.5 months old. She's a blue heeler mix, which I've been told can be rather noisy dogs. The problem is that she whines every morning, so we let her outside and put her back into her crate. She calms down for about 10 minutes before whining constantly for hours. We've tried not letting her out until she stops whining, letting her outside without putting her in her crate again, and not getting up at all. Nothing seems to work. She also has the habit of whining when one person leaves the room and she is not allowed to (a gate for example). Everyone says not to give her attention, but she has never received any from whining before. Is this something they'll grow out of? What should we do to help break her of this habit?

Answer

Hi Erin,

I may be misunderstanding your message, but it sounds like your puppy is spending entirely too many hours inside her crate. Any of the Australian cattle dog breeds need LOTS of exercise and mental stimulation.

Try taking your puppy out for a long vigorious leashed walk or run to tire her out.

If all else fails, you'll have a lot more success from a live-and-in-person dog trainer, than trying you will from reading about the problem. See if your vet or local boarding kennel can give you a referral for a dog trainer.

Best of luck,
Patti