[IainW]

Hi All,

Molly does not stop whinging, she whines for 1/2 an hour at a time, just before food, just after, when she is sun bathing, when she is just sitting down and so on.

We can't see any reason for it, she is a happy dog but she just keeps whinging, sometimes as if she is bullying us, does your Basset do this?

 

[Maggie's Mommy]

Mine don't but my houseguest Zippy does. He whines all the time. He is VERY happy. It's definitely for attention. The minute someone acknowledges him in any way, he shuts up. You walk away and he starts. He whines so much we've started calling him "Mona"!!!

 

[Mikey T]

The most common training advice to eliminate unwanted attention serking behavior is to ignore the behavior and the behavior will go away by a process called "extinction" While it is true the follow are major drawbacks to the approach

1. the reason the behavior, in the first place, became the dogs default attention seeking behavior in the first place is it is so annoying it can not simply be ignored.

2. Ectinction does on happen smoothly. That is if the behavior stops working the dog does not simply abbondon it. It is like a light switch that does not work , we try it again just slightly different fastter, longer,louder etc. Makeing the behavior even more obnoxious than before. If the dog is know rewarded it makes extinct nearly impossible be cause the dog has learned if the behavior is at first successful by becoming even more obnoxious it will be. Because of "ectinction Burst" descirbed above the old adage things have to get worse before they get better applies to trying to eliminate a behavior by ignoring it.

3. It does not change the dogs need for attent. If you are successful at eliminating a particular behavior it does not change the dog need for attention and to let you know it. Since it has already learned obnoxious behaviors are successful at geting your behavior, it is quite likely the behavior you have eliminated will be replaced by and even more obnoxious one unless you actively train a specificly less obnoxious behavior such as sitting quitely. Human nature what it is, however, we often ignore such behavior causing the dog to have to revert back to obmoxious behaviors to get attention

The Harmmony Programme Is one that has worked well with many dogs. While I readily admit the linked article is often bathed in "new age" pscho babble B.S> for why it works there are some scoentific reasonings behind the approach. It is based on much of what we have learned from dealling with new borns. That is giving attention to the dog when it needs it and first asks, besides preventing the obnoxious behavior over time lessens the dogs need for attention.

 

[BoBo's Mummies]

Hi All,

Molly does not stop whinging, she whines for 1/2 an hour at a time, just before food, just after, when she is sun bathing, when she is just sitting down and so on.

We can't see any reason for it, she is a happy dog but she just keeps whinging, sometimes as if she is bullying us, does your Basset do this?[/b]

God yes Bo whinges a lot also, we are quite lucky it's usually when she wants soemthing, and we are starting to work out the whinging times with the required need for something ie I want to go out, I want my dinner, I want to go to bed!!! We live in quite a routine so if we do something at a different time like eat or go to bed she will whinge at the time we would normally be doining it.

That said she does this strange growning when you think she is just layed sleeping, but her eyes are open & she moans away, I think it for attention to be stroked, as our bassets do like there love!! Hope this helps

 

[Gabrielle]

my basset puppy is Very whiney just like your. Whines we he is sitting if we walk away when he is bored or just cuz. I am figuring he is just a fellow who feels sorry for himself alot. Poor me. poor me. poor, poor poor me. He is so cute and has such a sad face I guess he gets away with it. lol. I'm learning just to tune him out. [codebox]
[/codebox]
Gabrielle

 

[Rubydoo]

Ruby is a very vocal talker. When she was a puppy I'd tease and say that we should have named her Mona, because she moans and whines so much.



Janice and little Ruby

 

[2hounds]

My girl Lily whines a lot, but not my boy Gibbs. I suppose it depends on their personality.

~Heather