whinning

Question
my wife has a yorkie name prince that is 1 year old, my problem is that he whines all the time, when we first got him the breeder told my wife not to hold him all the time because that can cause a problem, the dog is out his crate almost all day and we put him back in the crate maybe 4 hours before we go to bed, he whines more when he is in the crate and does not stop until late in the night, is there anything we can do to stop his whining or maybe something we can purchase to help us with his whining...thank you

Answer
Dear Lambert,
Thanks for the question.
Prince is whining because, at some level, it works for him. He is achieving portions of his immediate goals.

For instance suppose Prince wants to interact with you. He is no fool, he knows that in order to get anything from you he must first get your attention (smile).

I'm GUESSING that he whines and you give him some sort of attention. To remedy this situation, you'll need to change some things about how you interact with Prince, not just when he whines but in other situations as well.

In addition you might ask yourself this quesiton. Are Prince's social, emotional and physical needs being met?  

Do you take him out for daily walks?

Does he know any tricks or obedience commands?

The short summary is:
Make sure all his needs are being met. Start a daily training and exercise program. Clicker training is a great way to communicate and teach. Use a clicker to teach him an acceptable method to get your attention.

Here are some books that I like.  

The Only Dog Training Book You Will Ever Need: From Avoiding Accidents to Banishing Barking, the Basics for Raising a Well-Behaved Dog by Gerilyn J. Bielakiewicz and Andrea Mattei

Click Here: For a Well Trained Dog by Deborah Jones

Enrich his environment. Food dispensing toys can be great tools for enrichment. Get a kong, place a strip of duct tape over the small opening, fill it with treats and some dog food. Add water and a tsp. of chicken broth. Stand it upright in your freezer and let it freeze. Take it out of the freezer, remove the tape and give it to Prince. He'll spend 15-25 minutes getting the goodies out of the kong.

Does Prince have any other behavioral issues?

Is he house trained?

Why do you think he is whining?

How long has the behavior been occurring?

What have you tried to remedy the situation?
What were the immediate or short-term results?

What do you do now when he whines?
What are the immediate or short-term results?

Is there any specific reason that he is crated 4 hours before bedtime?

There are anti-bark collars and all sorts of devices designed to hurt of inject some sort of discomfort into the environment when dogs vocalize. I never suggest that anyone use these to punish a whine.

Thoughtful, knowledgeable trainers will address the underlying causes for the whine, thus removing the need or  the motivation to whine.

The only items I recommend for purchase are educational items, like the books I mentioned or a session or two with a trainer that understands adolescent pups and operant conditioning. Visit http://www.apdt.com and search for a trainer near you.

Happy Training!
Alan Turner

Owner: How's Bentley, Memphis, TN
http://howsbentley.com

Editor: Animal News Network
An animal digital resource
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