Any help or advice for constant whining?

[AnnieP1]

My 2.5 yr old labradoodle x border collie is constantly whining and it is getting worse. There is nothing physically wrong with her, she is eating normally and enjoying her long walks. However the whining starts in the morning when I am dressed and she expects to be taken for a walk, she whines when I have to stop to pick up her poo, she whines when we finish our walk, she whines when she's expecting food and whines constantly for attention. I can't understand why she is doing this and why it is getting progressively worse. I have tried ignoring it, changing her routine, going into another room, telling her to settle and praising her when she does. I have also resorted to shouting at her which I know is totally wrong but sometimes it is too much. Nothing is having any effect and it is really starting to affect my bond with her.
Any advice would be gratefully received!

I had this problem with my dog, I think the issue was I was accidentally reinforcing the whining, so the dog learned that whining is a good way to get what he wants! He was similar to yours, would whine when he saw me getting ready to go out, or if I stopped to pick up poo or talk to someone whilst on a walk he would whine the whole time as he wanted to get going, he didn't want to stand around chatting 🤣 what i did, was started ignoring it completely. If he was whining whilst we were out, I didn't start moving again until he had stopped, even if I had to stand there for 5 minutes. As soon as he stopped, he got a treat and fuss and told good boy. If I was getting ready to take him out, I wouldn't clip his lead on until the whining stopped. And again, he got treats and fuss when he stopped doing it. It took a few days of being consistent but it worked. Consistency really is key though, if you give in to the whining they will keep doing it, as it teaches them that whining gets them what they want. If dogs find a way of communicating that works, whether it be barking or whining, they will surely keep doing it :) Also has she been vet checked to make sure she isn't in any pain etc just to be on the safe side?

Good luck :)

Just have to ignore it, its hard. We had a brief spell of whining at people in the street for a belly rub, had too tell them she bites!

Ignore it.

It is really hard but it's the only way - otherwise you're just reinforcing the behaviour.

It can take a few days but it will work eventually. Every single time you pay attention to her - eye contact, telling her to be quiet, fussing her - you're teaching her to whine to get attention.

Thanks for your replies, I really am trying to ignore it but today she upped it by starting to whine when we came back from our walk!!

Do some brain games with her, will help tire her out and make her calmer.

I just noticed her breed.

You have a VERY high energy, intelligent mix of breeds going on. Labradors, poodles and collies are all working breeds and they all require a fairly large amount of input. Both in terms of physical exercise, brain games, training and "jobs".

What does her average day look like? Is she getting a good mix of exercise, "work", brain games and enforced down time?

As well as exercise, working breeds often need to be taught how to chill out and settle down. I use chews for mine as he's very food orientated - so everyday he gets 60-90 minutes walk, and then he's given some kind of chew and is expected to settle down for a good few hours. He doesn't have to sleep - right now he's lying by the fire with the cats, for example, but I make sure I enforce some time where he's just left to his own devices without constant attention from humans.

We've had the same routine since puppyhood so it's been well ingrained into him that that's what happens. Some days he'll be out walking longer, and some days he goes to my in-laws house during his "down time" but the same principle applies. It's taken a good while to get him to this point though!

I also find that we have to vary his exercise, where he goes and what he does. So, sometimes he gets off-lead time to run, sometimes it's slow and sniffy walks, sometimes it's training, sometimes he plays with his friends. But variety is really important and if he goes to the same place several days in a row, I notice he starts behaving badly and is clearly bored

Those breeds are all pretty high mental energy
You need to try more brain games

@AnnieP1

Thanks for your replies, I really am trying to ignore it but today she upped it by starting to whine when we came back from our walk!!

This sounds like an extinction burst - the escalation of a behaviour that previously worked, once it no longer does.

It's a natural part of the process when you are trying to get rid of a behaviour by ignoring it - though does need careful watching to make sure it doesn't esclaate to something unsafe.

Rather than a flat out ignore, you could istead start to partner whining to something that is really a bit dull.

For example, letting the dog out into the garden every time she whines (assuming the garden is not very exciting for her). Over time she should partner the whining with only that outcome, and so only use it when she wants that outcome.

If the garden is exciting then pick something else. I have found things like brief eye contact and "thanks dog" to also work for some dogs - because whilst they are tehcnically reinforcers, they are (for some dogs) of such low value that once whining has become linked with them, it's rarely worth whining to get them

It can help avoid some of the frustration experienced by the dog when going straight to ignoring soemthing, and therefore avoid the escalation of the behaviour.

Worth trying, maybe?

Thanks again - several ideas to try. I did try letting her out into the garden when she started whining but this resulted in her barking and howling which doesn't impress the neighbours. I think part of the problem may be that over the last 10 months she has hardly been left on her own due to lockdown so is used to my being around 24/7 and has come to expect constant attention. She seems to find it difficult to settle or occupy herself - chews work for a short time, Kong wobbler lasts about 3 minutes, trick treat puzzles last a few minutes and I don't like to do these every day as she would be getting too many treats! It just feels at the moment that my life simply revolves around what she wants to do. Really long walks (I do vary where we go, we are lucky to have an old railway line and several woodland areas to walk) and socialising with her mates both tire her out and she will sleep after but the weather has been so awful and everywhere so muddy we haven't been going out for as long as normal so I suppose she is more likely to be bored.

If the weather is too bad for long walks, make up for it by playing games in the house.
My 13 month old Cavapoo has several soft toys, which all have different names: Teddy, Reindeer, Mouse, Fish etc. When she brings one to me, I repeat the name a few times. She soon learned the names of one of two, then add another one in.
I scatter them around and ask her to fetch each item, she loves it.
If she gets one wrong she's told, "No, that's Reindeer" etc then "fetch Mouse"
When she brings the correct toy she gets a very excited response from me.
Also, if there are two of you, one of you take the dog into another room and you then hide a toy, say, just under the chair or a cushion, let her in and ask her to find Mouse etc.
If, I play for half an hour she soon settles down.
My old dog, who died last year at nearly 17, would find a really small item, if you showed it to her and let her sniff it, even if I put the item on a high shelf, she'd sit underneath and stare at it.

So, play indoor games to tire her but any whining and all the fun stops.
Just tell her firmly, "No" and totally ignore. If she finds whining makes you displeased and gets her ignored, she should stop it.

Really long walks (I do vary where we go, we are lucky to have an old railway line and several woodland areas to walk) and socialising with her mates both tire her out and she will sleep after but the weather has been so awful and everywhere so muddy we haven't been going out for as long as normal so I suppose she is more likely to be bored

Unfortunately, when you have a dog with the mix of breeds that you do, you need to go out for a proper walk everyday, regardless of what the weather throws at you. I know if I cut my beagles' walks short because of rain, then his behaviour would go downhill very quickly.

If you're worried about treats, cut down meal sizes and take treats out of her daily allowances.