Thread: Need Advice on how to correct a whining dog?

Does anyone have any suggestions? We have a one year old doberman that is a great dog but when it hits 6AM (when we usually get up) or 5PM he starts to pace around rooms. He is doing this because its getting close to feeding times. We have two other dogs that just chill and don't get all anxious. But when we finally wake up and we brush our teeth, wash face he whines the whole time until we put food in his dog bowl. Also whenever we let the dogs out to play or use the bathroom he gets so frantic at the backdoor. He wants to make sure he's the first one out the door and will push you over to make sure of it. I really think these things can be corrected and if they were it would make for much smoother mornings and nights. With a baby about to come I would rather it not be so loud in our bedroom early in the morning assuming a baby is sleeping.

Can you change you routine for feeding him?

It just seems to be an overexcited pup. How is his exercise? May need to be increased.

Start by changing your feeding schedule which will not get him the reward for whining. He should never know when you might feed him. If you go to the food and he starts to whine, walk away sit down and wait until the dog stops thinking about it(looks calm). The procedure will have to be done more than once to give him the message, but it should send it to him. Be patient with him as he is still a pup and he has just gotten used to his schedule.

My dog when I first got him had to get up at 5am. First night he woke me up at 4 pouncing on me and this is a 140lb great dane I am talking about. He quickly figured out he didnt get to go to sleep at 8pm and wake up that early. Try to keep the pup up an hour or so later than he currently is as well because he is waking you up, which is the leaders job. I have all my dogs doing a wait while I move all toes out of the way. Once I say OK they all bolt, but if I were to say wait, they would stop if they could.

Dont reward the behavior, ignore it because its been learned. He just gets so excited and cant control it. Typically dogs will take the calmer action if they are taught it so keep trying. You can add treats to the mix for if he doesnt whine. Work in small steps too, if he still gets excited but didnt whine, thats major improvement.
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I would guess he's not getting enough exercise in general.

Ever watch CEASAR MILAN - Dog Whisperer? He goes through many corrections with owners/dogs and how to correct these issues.

Mine used to whine non-stop as soon as we'd get 2 miles from any park she knew. With the help of his show and advice she's a well behaved QUIET girl