Author Topic: Howling/Whining to get attention  (Read 1517 times)

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Offline bmthmark

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Howling/Whining to get attention
« on: September 27, 2017, 10:11:08 AM »
Hi

I have noticed recently that if I stop to talk to someone on a walk, Jett will start to whine and sometimes howls.
Its not that loud and its not a big issue, but does anyone have any advise? should I just ignore him?
I think he is trying to tell me that he wants me to stop talking and get on with the walk  >:D - he is a little monkey at times

I've tried telling him to be quiet by saying 'sssshhhh' but I get the feeling that he likes this as he suddenly gets my attention. Should I just continue with this? or am I rewarding him for something he shouldn't be doing.

He is 11 months old now and generally well behaved.

Thanks

Mark

Offline ips

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Re: Howling/Whining to get attention
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2017, 10:30:45 AM »
Hi

I have noticed recently that if I stop to talk to someone on a walk, Jett will start to whine and sometimes howls.
Its not that loud and its not a big issue, but does anyone have any advise? should I just ignore him?
I think he is trying to tell me that he wants me to stop talking and get on with the walk  >:D - he is a little monkey at times

I've tried telling him to be quiet by saying 'sssshhhh' but I get the feeling that he likes this as he suddenly gets my attention. Should I just continue with this? or am I rewarding him for something he shouldn't be doing.

He is 11 months old now and generally well behaved.

Thanks

Mark

Mine does similar mark.
I think ignoring it is the best bet as any attention given even a shhh seems to be a reward in itself, as you alluded to.
Muddling along in the hope that one day it all makes sense.

Offline bmthmark

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Re: Howling/Whining to get attention
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2017, 10:51:18 AM »
Hi

I have noticed recently that if I stop to talk to someone on a walk, Jett will start to whine and sometimes howls.
Its not that loud and its not a big issue, but does anyone have any advise? should I just ignore him?
I think he is trying to tell me that he wants me to stop talking and get on with the walk  >:D - he is a little monkey at times

I've tried telling him to be quiet by saying 'sssshhhh' but I get the feeling that he likes this as he suddenly gets my attention. Should I just continue with this? or am I rewarding him for something he shouldn't be doing.

He is 11 months old now and generally well behaved.

Thanks

Mark

Mine does similar mark.
I think ignoring it is the best bet as any attention given even a shhh seems to be a reward in itself, as you alluded to.

Thanks

I will ignore him then, hopefully he will soon realise that whining/howling will not work.

Its hard to know what to do sometimes

Offline ips

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Re: Howling/Whining to get attention
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2017, 11:18:44 AM »
Hi

I have noticed recently that if I stop to talk to someone on a walk, Jett will start to whine and sometimes howls.
Its not that loud and its not a big issue, but does anyone have any advise? should I just ignore him?
I think he is trying to tell me that he wants me to stop talking and get on with the walk  >:D - he is a little monkey at times

I've tried telling him to be quiet by saying 'sssshhhh' but I get the feeling that he likes this as he suddenly gets my attention. Should I just continue with this? or am I rewarding him for something he shouldn't be doing.

He is 11 months old now and generally well behaved.

Thanks

Mark

Mine does similar mark.
I think ignoring it is the best bet as any attention given even a shhh seems to be a reward in itself, as you alluded to.

Thanks

I will ignore him then, hopefully he will soon realise that whining/howling will not work.

Its hard to know what to do sometimes

Indeed it is mark.
Someone may have a cunning trick to try, you never know.
Muddling along in the hope that one day it all makes sense.

Offline lescef

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Re: Howling/Whining to get attention
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2017, 11:43:21 AM »
I have one like this and have read the following on another site. As you stop drop a treat before the dog barks. Initially,  you then walk on before the dog barks again. Build up the time you stand and the dropping of treats but don't let the dog practice the barking behaviour at all.
I haven't tried this as I feel Bramble and dropping treats might wind her up more. I do ask for a sit and wait which sometimes keeps her quiet for a while. Good luck!
Lesley, Maddie and Bramble

Offline bmthmark

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Re: Howling/Whining to get attention
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2017, 01:18:14 PM »
I have one like this and have read the following on another site. As you stop drop a treat before the dog barks. Initially,  you then walk on before the dog barks again. Build up the time you stand and the dropping of treats but don't let the dog practice the barking behaviour at all.
I haven't tried this as I feel Bramble and dropping treats might wind her up more. I do ask for a sit and wait which sometimes keeps her quiet for a while. Good luck!

Dropping a treat could work, but I like your idea regarding getting him to sit and wait. I will try that first as he knows a wait command is followed by a treat, so this may work. Thanks for the help

Offline bizzylizzy

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Re: Howling/Whining to get attention
« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2017, 06:33:46 PM »
I have one like this and have read the following on another site. As you stop drop a treat before the dog barks. Initially,  you then walk on before the dog barks again. Build up the time you stand and the dropping of treats but don't let the dog practice the barking behaviour at all.
I haven't tried this as I feel Bramble and dropping treats might wind her up more. I do ask for a sit and wait which sometimes keeps her quiet for a while. Good luck!

Dropping a treat could work, but I like your idea regarding getting him to sit and wait. I will try that first as he knows a wait command is followed by a treat, so this may work. Thanks for the help

That worked for us! Humphrey used to get very demanding at that age but we found the best tactic was to ignore him until he was quiet. We also practised just stopping while on a walk, to "admire the view", look in a shop window etc etc and got Humphrey to just sit quietly and wait, occasionally dropping a treat but otherwise just ignoring him. You can also work towards getting him to sit at your heel everytime you stop and eventually he'll start to do it automatically (theoretically!  ;) :005:)

Offline bmthmark

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Re: Howling/Whining to get attention
« Reply #7 on: September 28, 2017, 08:48:58 AM »
I have one like this and have read the following on another site. As you stop drop a treat before the dog barks. Initially,  you then walk on before the dog barks again. Build up the time you stand and the dropping of treats but don't let the dog practice the barking behaviour at all.
I haven't tried this as I feel Bramble and dropping treats might wind her up more. I do ask for a sit and wait which sometimes keeps her quiet for a while. Good luck!

Dropping a treat could work, but I like your idea regarding getting him to sit and wait. I will try that first as he knows a wait command is followed by a treat, so this may work. Thanks for the help

That worked for us! Humphrey used to get very demanding at that age but we found the best tactic was to ignore him until he was quiet. We also practised just stopping while on a walk, to "admire the view", look in a shop window etc etc and got Humphrey to just sit quietly and wait, occasionally dropping a treat but otherwise just ignoring him. You can also work towards getting him to sit at your heel everytime you stop and eventually he'll start to do it automatically (theoretically!  ;) :005:)

Its amazing how similar these cockers are  :005:
Thank you again for your advice. I will also stop occasionally to practice him being patient. He is just so stubborn and when he wants to do something it is hard to change his mind  :lol2:

Its all good fun though and certainly keeps me busy  :D

Offline bizzylizzy

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Re: Howling/Whining to get attention
« Reply #8 on: September 28, 2017, 11:24:36 AM »
I have one like this and have read the following on another site. As you stop drop a treat before the dog barks. Initially,  you then walk on before the dog barks again. Build up the time you stand and the dropping of treats but don't let the dog practice the barking behaviour at all.
I haven't tried this as I feel Bramble and dropping treats might wind her up more. I do ask for a sit and wait which sometimes keeps her quiet for a while. Good luck!

Dropping a treat could work, but I like your idea regarding getting him to sit and wait. I will try that first as he knows a wait command is followed by a treat, so this may work. Thanks for the help

That worked for us! Humphrey used to get very demanding at that age but we found the best tactic was to ignore him until he was quiet. We also practised just stopping while on a walk, to "admire the view", look in a shop window etc etc and got Humphrey to just sit quietly and wait, occasionally dropping a treat but otherwise just ignoring him. You can also work towards getting him to sit at your heel everytime you stop and eventually he'll start to do it automatically (theoretically!  ;) :005:)

Its amazing how similar these cockers are  :005:
Thank you again for your advice. I will also stop occasionally to practice him being patient. He is just so stubborn and when he wants to do something it is hard to change his mind  :lol2:

 Its all good fun though and certainly keeps me busy  :D
[/color]

That's the best way to look at it, Humphrey's calmed down a lot compared to a year ago, I'm sure Jett will too! 😉

Offline bmthmark

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Re: Howling/Whining to get attention
« Reply #9 on: September 28, 2017, 01:39:44 PM »
I have one like this and have read the following on another site. As you stop drop a treat before the dog barks. Initially,  you then walk on before the dog barks again. Build up the time you stand and the dropping of treats but don't let the dog practice the barking behaviour at all.
I haven't tried this as I feel Bramble and dropping treats might wind her up more. I do ask for a sit and wait which sometimes keeps her quiet for a while. Good luck!

Dropping a treat could work, but I like your idea regarding getting him to sit and wait. I will try that first as he knows a wait command is followed by a treat, so this may work. Thanks for the help

That worked for us! Humphrey used to get very demanding at that age but we found the best tactic was to ignore him until he was quiet. We also practised just stopping while on a walk, to "admire the view", look in a shop window etc etc and got Humphrey to just sit quietly and wait, occasionally dropping a treat but otherwise just ignoring him. You can also work towards getting him to sit at your heel everytime you stop and eventually he'll start to do it automatically (theoretically!  ;) :005:)

Its amazing how similar these cockers are  :005:
Thank you again for your advice. I will also stop occasionally to practice him being patient. He is just so stubborn and when he wants to do something it is hard to change his mind  :lol2:

 Its all good fun though and certainly keeps me busy  :D
[/color]

That's the best way to look at it, Humphrey's calmed down a lot compared to a year ago, I'm sure Jett will too! 😉

How old is Humphrey?
I think Jett is just testing the boundaries to see what he can get away with.

Offline Patp

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Re: Howling/Whining to get attention
« Reply #10 on: September 28, 2017, 02:49:40 PM »
Great advice given, but my idea would be to tell him what you want him to do i.e. sit, settle etc rather than what you dont want him to do i.e. whine, howl, bark.  Then reward the acceptable behaviour.



Offline ips

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Re: Howling/Whining to get attention
« Reply #11 on: September 28, 2017, 03:15:31 PM »
Great advice given, but my idea would be to tell him what you want him to do i.e. sit, settle etc rather than what you dont want him to do i.e. whine, howl, bark.  Then reward the acceptable behaviour.

This sounds really good advice, get him to do something else so the reward is for that. ie sit
Muddling along in the hope that one day it all makes sense.

Offline Londongirl

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Re: Howling/Whining to get attention
« Reply #12 on: September 28, 2017, 03:49:19 PM »
Something to bear in mind when training your dog - there is no point in trying to work out why he is doing it, e.g. testing boundaries. We can have no idea what is going on in his head. Just observe the behaviour. See when it starts, what his body language is, etc. Then make sure you give him something else to do BEFORE the barking starts.
Rachael (me) and Henry (him)