Excessive whining for attention, excitement etc.

[tritonx]

Fraser is now 9 years old and a great dog. It's just him and me and by now our routines are very ingrained. Being my constant companion, he gets a lot of attention. Outsiders might say spoiled, but cockers owners know how interactive, charming and affectionate they are.  His most difficult behaviour is excessive whining for everything from demands for attention, notification it's time for food, excitement that he's about to go outside, impatience while I'm getting dressed to go outside etc. Sporadically I've tried to clicker train him according to what I'd read about this problem: wait for the short interval between whines, click and reward. However, trying to get a short space of quiet to insert the click and treat is almost impossible. Half the time I click just as he starts whining again and that's just confusing for him. So, my sporadic attempts have not been effective. If he's not too charged up about a demand/request, I can just say 'go away' in a conversational voice and he does. But when excitement is a bit higher, he's very vocal.

Any suggestions on how to break him of this behaviour?

[Mari]

I would not use the clicker for this. He is whining to get attention and gets it if you bring out the clicker. The "easiest" way to break a habit like this is probably to ignore this unwanted behaviour. I know it's not easy,  but it should help. That said, I think cockers are very prone to getting overly excited and with my own cocker I think she whines/talks without even meaning to sometimes when she is happy. So I think some excited whines are just part of owning a cocker, they like to talk. But if it's too much I'd say ignore it rather than "rewarding" it with attention. Maybe even stop what you're doing until he calms down if possible. Perhaps prepare food, but don't set it down until he is calm. Another option would be to give distracting tasks before the whining starts so he is focused on something rather than just winding himself up. Maybe ask for a sit-stay outside the kitchen and then bring him his food.Or get ready to go out, then sit and watch tv until he calms down and then quickly take him out before he has time to start whining. In theory the whining should dissappear because it is not rewarding for him to do it. But again, I think some "talking" is normal before walks and feeding. My cocker runs in circles and makes happy little noises before we go out. I don't mind it. But if she was too loud or insistent on certain routines I would probably change it up and ignore protests. The best thing about being just me and my dog is that I get to decide our routines and I get to spoil her as much as I want

[its.sme]

We did some work on this at Dogs Trust training,  Bea would never settle but would sit looking, pawing at me,

Sit down somewhere quiet, have treats in you hand and ignore Fraser, the second he looks away drop a treat somewhere he can see it, he then gets rewarded for not looking at you, if he still isn't looking at you he gets another treat but do not look at him.

Eventually gets used to not having to have your undying attention and in time he should feel more relaxed.

Sharon.

[bizzylizzy]

Good advice from Mari and its.me, in particular regarding the clicker.
We‘re currently working on a similar issue with Humphrey as he‘s started to become very demanding lately and ignoring him completely does seem to be the best option.
The sitting and staring is the hardest thing to deal with, (how can a dog make me feel uncomfortable.  >:(its crazy! ) but I have found that just getting up and leaving the room totally floors him and he usually gives up.
Its actually quite reassuring to know how vocal your cockers are, I‘ve never had a dog that sings, moans, sighs and whines as much as Humphrey, sometimes its comical but sometimes he drives me mad but it does appear to be normal (for a cocker.... )

[lescef]

Bramble is very, very vocal and yes, it does become annoying.  I think ignoring is best way forward plus getting up and walking away when you can, but remember to praise heavily whenever he's quiet.
I recently took Bramble to training as Maddie was poorly. I was dreading it as I knew she would whine and talk at having to sit still. ( sometimes I think it's because they don't know what else to do, hence give them a job to do!)
Sure enough she started.  Other owners were amused and  asking "does she do this all the time?" So, I asked her to 'watch me", then I put a treat on the floor and told her to 'leave'. I've taught them to look at me before I allow them to take the treat. It worked really well and shut her up!
I've also worked on 'relax on a mat'. This works really well with Maddie but I find that it seems to wind Bramble up more as she's lying in wait for it to drop. I think it is a case of finding what suits your dog best

[tritonx]

Thanks for your advice. It's encouraging to hear that it's a common feature of cocker ownership having a talkative dog. He does have an interesting range of communications from the relaxed groan he gives when getting his shoulders and back stroked, to the short bark he gives when he wants back inside, to tiny little whimper he'll give in the middle of the night to say, sorry, I need to go outside (usually when he has an upset tummy). But the impatient, excited loud, persistent whimper he gives when he wants something intensely I could do without. It's a problem when, as happened the other morning, I was dealing with a situation on the phone right at the time he wanted to start his usual frisbee exercise outside. Or, when my brother arrived whom Fraser has loved since puppyhood and just wants to sit on him. Unfortunately, the love is unrequited and bro doesn't like the intensity of Fraser's adoration and invasion of personal space. In that situation, I took Fraser up beside me and petted him to keep him in place, but there was much whimpering of frustration at not being able to sit on my brother. In general I've used distraction with food balls (luckily he's food obsessed), but that only lasts for so long before he's emptied the ball or licked all the peanut butter out of his Kong. And then it's back to trying to climb all over bro. Or whimper at my side. It's really intrusive.

It looks from your suggestions that distraction, ignoring (when it's just me and him--I've sometimes turned my back on him and that kind of worked), and the 'leave' command might be worth trying when it's door greeting excitement or staying off visitors. For some reason, 'leave' with a treat in front of him is one of his most rock solid commands, even to the point that my former cat used to steal his treat from under his nose. I'm not sure whether it will be strong enough to supersede his extreme desire to greet and love visitors to death. ( Sometimes cocker best features are the ones difficult to deal with because it comes with such intensity.) It means that when I have a visitor, I'm constantly managing him to keep him off them and that means whining. I'll let you know how a varied approach to the problem works. Thanks again.

[Mari]

If you can, try and get visitors to help. Have them actively ignore him when he is too much for them. They can turn their back or walk away. If you do need to hold him, put a leash on him. That way you can control him without  giving him attention. What it boils down to is that he gets love and attention, of course. But he needs to learn to wait his turn and not always be the center of attention. That is something he will learn if you ignore him when you need him to be patient. It will take some time, but he should stop demanding attention if his whining does not result in any reaction from you. And remember that any attention is rewarding for him in this situation, even telling him to stop or pushing him away. So turn your back, walk away, use a leash to keep him off visitors without interacting with him. And remember to give him all the attention when it is appropriate or if he is being good 

"Sometimes cocker best features are the ones difficult to deal with because it comes with such intensity"  So true! I need this on a t-shirt!

I should probably add that while this is the method I believe in and have used in certain situations. I usually let my dog climb on all my guests. If they don't like it I tell them to ignore her. But I try to surround myself with people who love dogs as much as I do. So my dog does not care about personal space, she will sit on guests and expect cuddles. She has, however, had to learn that when I am at my desk in my home office, she will be ignored and so she does not bother me when I am working. Same if we go to a cafe or when she joined me for lectures at uni

[bizzylizzy]

"Sometimes cocker best features are the ones difficult to deal with because it comes with such intensity"  So true! I need this on a t-shirt!

I should probably add that while this is the method I believe in and have used in certain situations. I usually let my dog climb on all my guests. If they don't like it I tell them to ignore her. But I try to surround myself with people who love dogs as much as I do. So my dog does not care about personal space, she will sit on guests and expect cuddles. She has, however, had to learn that when I am at my desk in my home office, she will be ignored and so she does not bother me when I am working. Same if we go to a cafe or when she joined me for lectures at uni
[/quote

 
Love that approach!  L

[its.sme]

Just found a videa which explains my post better,

It's about puppy training but Bea is no puppy and it worked for her   

https://www.dogstrustdogschool.org.uk

[tritonx]

Thanks It'sme. I was admiring the training vid pup on his mat being so calm. It set me looking on Youtube to see if I could find a cocker example of how extremely excited Fraser gets when anyone comes to the door for comparison. And if it's one of his longstanding friends, well, his screams of excitement echo round the neighbourhood. No joke. They're penetrating. So far, the best solution has been to have a treat ball primed and ready to go by the door and when someone comes, I throw it in the opposite direction. Once the excitement spiral is broken, it lowers to a more manageable level. Luckily, all my friends except my brother are fond of Fraser and let him claim them by sitting next to them with his elbow on their thigh (to pin them down?  ) His whole body gesture is Mine! Mine! And he looks at me archly as if to say, See how I'm loved by my other people? It's quite funny.

To stop him whining with impatience while I was cleaning his bowl and getting his food out last night, I put him in Leave posture with a treat in front of him. I discovered he can whine while obeying Leave. Usually, absent the food prep, he sits rigidly and silently with his head pulled up tight and face averted from the treat, again quite funny, as he tries strenuously to ignore it until released.

Later in the evening he was whining and staring at me from his post on the other sofa. I think he either wanted attention (though he ignored my invitation to come up beside me) or was pretending he needed out to get his prompt return treat. (He's got a bit of a scam going.) I tried ignoring him while I watched TV, but the whining and the sensation of eyes boring into the side of my head was distracting, so eventually after doing 'talk to the hand', I held up my lap desk to block his view.  :005:Good thing no one was watching me other than the dog. Actually it got worse (my attempts to block his gaze.) My arm got tired holding up the lap desk, so I brought my bedroom standing mirror into the living room and put it in front of his sofa. Do I hear sniggering out there? Stoppit. But it worked as he fell silent and moped behind the mirror and let me get on with my program. If anyone had come in, they would have thought I was a vain princess needing to watch myself in a full length mirror as I watched TV.

As you can see, a work in progress.

[Digger]

 
I want to meet this dog. He sounds brilliant.
 

[tritonx]

It has occurred to me that I might not be smart enough for my own dog. 

[ejp]

Are any of us?  Daisy has us beautifully trained, we respond to her promptly and consistently  Now all I need to do is a spot of role reversal!

[its.sme]

Are any of us?  Daisy has us beautifully trained, we respond to her promptly and consistently  Now all I need to do is a spot of role reversal!

My tag is about Bea being trained to me , I am so trained to Bea it's unbelievable 

[Mari]

  Love the development of this thread! I too am very obedient, my cocker is very adept at training humans. And she has probably outsmarted me more times than I know.