Excessive whining.

[skKi]

My parents have this nearly 13 year old pomeranian who is pretty much their world. It shows, too; she's quite the brat from being spoiled.
I can ignore most of her behaviours that would generally annoy me in other dogs, but her whining drives me insane.
I know why she does it, I just want to know how to make it stop. She screams and cries and barks to the point of shaking and choking whenever someone goes to walk her or take her for a car ride. And this is when she wants to go.

So anyway, I like to drive out to a nearby forest to walk her on weekends which combines the two things that send her over the edge: walking, and driving.
I don't tell her we're going because I don't want to add excitement, so I just get up, put her harness on and attempt to go which always results in massive fits of screaming and barking and all that other fun stuff.

What I've been trying to do for the longest time is wait her out. Telling her "No" or "shh" or distracting her with loud, sudden noises doesn't phase her at all, so I don't talk to her at all when she cries. I'll clip the harness on and head for the door. She cries, so I wait. No eye contact, no physical contact, no nothing until she stops. She'll start to calm down (usually after 10 minutes!) to the point where it's a straining whine with 2 second breaks in between. I'll open the door when she's absolutely silent, then we're OK for two seconds before I touch the car when the whining starts up again full-blast.
Same deal. I go through all the waiting again before letting her in the car, then again before starting the car, again before getting out of the car (after we've stopped at the forest), and once more before letting her out of the car. Repeat all steps for the ride back.
Passer-bys probably think I'm ripping out her toenails one-by-one, her screaming is that bad.

Ah.. Well, this kind of works. It works if you don't mind waiting 10 minutes for her fits to stop every time you have to take a step towards doing anything, but it doesn't improve.

Do any of you have tips on how to stop this? I don't expect a quick fix, I'm willing to keep at it for years to eventually stop this if I have to.

 

[Sugardog]

Just keep doing what your doing I guess, thats the only thing I can think to do.

She should eventually learn that whining doesn't get her anything.

You can also try giving an extra treat or something when she stops. Maybe try something like when you get to the door and she stops whining, give her a treat and start talking to her and praising her while your walking out, giving her treats periodically. The moment she starts to whine again, immediatly stop the attention, stop walking and wait. Then repeat. The extra treats and attention may put more emphasis on the benefits of being quiet and the consequences of whining and barking.

 

[Saje]

Mikey is like that and he drives me nuts! lol We are working on the 'quiet' command. With him, ignoring really doesn't help. After days of it we always caved. There was some progress though. He did learn that if he REALLY wanted something he better lay down and be quiet lol. Now, when I'm cooking he laws with just his paws inside the kitchen doorway and stares silently but hopefully at me lol. The rest of the time he whines. wah wah wah

 

[Rubylove]

Hun, you're doing exactly what I would have advised you to do. Only, if it's taking that long, a little more of a definite `punishment' may be in order.

If you have to stop that long before she stops, then the harness comes off and gets put away, and you ignore her until she's sitting or lying quietly. She's not getting a reward until she stops with what you're doing, but it's taking a long time.

What might work better is that if as soon as she starts up with her business you need to take off her harness and sit down and read the paper or something. Then she's thinking, `Well, hang on now I'm not going out AT ALL'. It has to be immediate and it has to be consistent.

I think what you'll find to be your biggest obstacle is if you try this (or continue with what you're doing) and nobody else in her life does. If others who interact with her continue to reinforce this behaviour by rewarding her with a walk or an outing when she behaves that way, you aren't going to get anywhere no matter how long you try. Eventually she may be better with you, but she'll still have the behaviour ingrained.

You need to talk to your parents and anyone else who walks her and explain what's going on, and formulate and agree on a plan together. She's 13 so she's been getting payoffs and reinforcements for this behaviour for a LONG time. If it's going to stop, it has to stop with everyone, because she'll just keep on doing what works for her. And consistency is the key to any remedial training (well, any training at all) and if she's getting inconsistent messages and treatment she'll just go nowhere.

 

[skKi]

You know, I never really thought to ask what my parents do when she cries. That could very well be why what I'm doing isn't working very well.
Thanks for the ideas; I'm going to have to tell the family how to work with me on this.

 

[Sugardog]

Well you know what?

At best, that pom pom will learn not to whine or bark or cry when you are on the other end of that leash.

Dogs are smart creatures. Many people believe that they cannot make distinctions like that and in order to make any progress, rules must be consistent with all family members involved. This is not true. Although it will certainly help if everybody in your family is consistent with her on the same thing, she will still learn that although she can whine and bark and cry all she wants with your dad or mom, she better not make a peep with you.

This is how it is with my stepfather and his 11 year old GSD/Akita mix. The dog is bonded to him and it is technically his dog, but she listens to me. We can let her outside and my father can try to call her back in, but she won't listen. He will be yelling his lungs off at her before she finally decides to come in, IF she decides to. However, all I have to do is "c'mon Trine" in a normal voice, pat the side of my theigh and she will come trotting in. This is because when she is with me, I would consistently reward her for coming in and if she didn't, I would physically go out and get her. My father on the other hand, never rewarded her for listening and sometimes would give up and leave her out.

 

[Rubylove]

That's true, and good advice. I didn't say she wouldn't make ANY progress without the whole family's cooperation, I just said she wouldn't make complete progress - i.e., stopping her behaviour altogether.

There is stuff that Ruby and Chester won't try with Max, but they will with me, because they know that I'll put up with more than he will. Not much, just one or two things - they can definitely make the distinction