Need Help! My dog will not stop whinning.

but I am wondering howmuch exercise this dog is getting.

Aha.  Therein lies the rub.  I've resisted the urge to ask exactly how much time this dog is getting interacting with his folks.  But I fear we've lost this person.

If I were to get a Boston Terrier, I'd expect to take a couple walks a day, plus maybe half a dozen free play sessions (like fetch), plus another half dozen sessions of training - mostly fun training as BTs are wee clowns.  Neither the play nor the training need to be intense or long, but I'd also expect when the dog got old enough, to join some kind of dog training club to introduce new things to the dog every so often (obedience, then rally/agility/flyball - BTs rock in flyball!).

These kinds of dogs you have two choices:  one, to include the dog in everything you do, essentially.  That's what they were really made for and they are spot-on good at it.  Two, you can, as Chuffy said, make sure the amount of time you CAN spend with your dog is quality time, and also have a game plan for when that's not enough.  You can actively teach your dog to do something instead of come bother you when he's bored - that way you'll no the difference between vocalizing because he's bored, and doing so because he has a physical need.  I'd suggest doing long down/stays - I like those because they use the dog's brain, but allow you to get some things done.   But remember that every time you use one of those, you've got to have a bonus award ready - a nice long playtime with you! 

I have realized he needs more playtime, and NEEDS to be stimulated more. We walk him often during the day. We started to go to Flyball classes once a week, recently have not been able to attend (another time issue). 

I am looking up info online about the clicker trainning. (suggestions welcome) My goal is to introduce this in the evenings after dinner during the week. On weekends we make it a point to take him to the dog beach or dog park weather permiting.

I love the idea of having playdates but, there are no doggie friends in our neigborhood to do this with.

Clicker training is pretty cool, but you have to have an open mind and be willing to let go of some of the ideas you may have always had about dog training.  Clicker training is very positive based and it encourages the dog to think, experiment, problem solve, puzzle stuff out....  Corrections (even very mild ones) are usually a poor idea because they discourage the dog from the experimentation.  The two things are working at cross purposes.  With clicker training, the main thing to hold in your mind is: it doesn't matter if the dog gets it wrong!!  Ignore it, fnd SOMETHING to reward him for and move on.

The clicker isn't a really essential piece of kit.  Any consistent noise is fine (Yes! said in the same tone each time for example).  The clicker is just good because it IS so consistent.... it always sounds the same, and if you train yourself to have great timing, you can mark the teeniest tiniest "good" moment with it and follow it with a reward.  I've seen a MASSIVE difference in using a clicker... my 13 year old dog recently learned to fetch a nappy from the changing box when I am changing my baby and it was so incredibly EASY with a clicker.

Your first job is to get your clicker (or choose your marker, eg YES).  "Mark" and reward several times.  End the session before he gets bored and repeat a bit later.  The dog doesn't have to do anything to earn it yet.... you just want him to know that magic noise means good stuff is coming.  When you can "mark" and pause.... and he looks round expectantly for his treat (or toy, whichever you are using... it should be whatever he likes best) then you're ready to start. 

I recommend starting with the Box Game.  This is jsut where you stick a box (or other novel object) in the middle of the room and start marking and rewarding for any interaction with it from the dog.  At first it might be the tiniest head movement in that direction.  FIND something to "click" for.  You should be clicking a lot at first... I mean every few seconds or so!  A lot!

This trains BOTH of you... to let go of your old ideas about how training was supposed to go.  The dog might hesitate to do anything, because in the past he has always had to wait to be told.  This happened with my dog the first time and I got around it by starting to click for ANYTHING at first.  ANYTHING AT ALL.  It didn't take long for him to realise that he just had to ..... do stuff!  I wasn't going to say "no" or discourage anything... Just do stuff and I'll tell you if I like it

It also trains you  to improve your timing, because that's crucial.  Whatever the dog is doing at the moment of the click is what he is being reinforced for.... if your timing is not good that may not tally with what you THINK you are teaching   Get the timing right and the rest is easy peasy and lots of fun!  I have laughed out loud at my oldest dog, sometimes he thinks up the weirdest things to earn his "click".

Thanks! for the suggestion. I will try it tonight, I  just bought the clicker.

http://www.clickertraining.com/

This is a good site to get a good grasp of the concept.

Have fun!

 We have a clicker links section on the forum.  Probably the best place to start actually doing the skills training, once you grasp the concept, is at www.clickerlessons.com.  That will take you through it step by step as if you were going to a class.  Playing with other dogs is important, but something a lot of dogs miss out on if they don't attend a regular puppy class when they are young enough.  Meeting and greeting on leash is frustrating to some dogs, causes some dogs to be fearful, and is not probably a good idea, so you might want to look for some groups of dog owners at meetup.com or at a local training facility - you may have to take a class to be admitted to their play groups, if they have them, but it's worth it if the dog enjoys it and can burn off some excess energy.

Clickertraining.com has a section on nuisance barking which is very good, and the principle applies to whining behavior, too;-) 

Gee...... Gibson is a whiner also!   He is a talker also...that might be where DPU is coming from...  Danes are talkers.     Gibby doesn't get to be a pain in the butt about whining...he just does it. He whines when he has to go out a lot.... THATS GOOD, better than barking. And better than the scratching on the door that he sometimes does.     He whines when he wants to come in the bathroom with me....but I tell him he can't and he walks away.   He does whine when he is on my bed and is afraid to get off.   So I go get him off.... it doesn't make him whine more though.   I often let him up in the morning when he gets up before I want to...I let him in and cover him and we both go back to sleep, but he does NOT whine to come in to be with me...if it is too early when he wakes up  I tell him to go back to sleep on his bed and he does.

Therefore I don't think whining is always a bad thing...I don't think that it always causes the dog to whine more either. Maybe it depends on the dog.

calliecritturs

But they just aren't used to tuning in on what the dog is trying to *tell them* until the dog picks up undesirable habits.  The whining got your attention -- I can promise you, the dog probably tried 100 other things (such as dropping a toy at your food, putting its chin on your knee, lying down and pulling on your shoelace -- other ... and admittedly quieter things) but the dog didn't get a reaction out of you UNTIL it whined. 

A superb post, Callie. You hit it dead on. A dog communicates by communicating, not reading minds. The approach you mentioned is how I clicked and/or treated to calm when in public around other dogs, well-behaved or not. I purposefully caught him doing nothing or being calm and rewarded that, for that is also offered behavior. Another time, a snarly dog charged him and he did nothing and I most certainly rewarded that (with some smoked pork butterfly chop I had with me). Point being, we have to catch the dog doing the thing we want and see to it that it gets reinforced, moreso than other behaviors they might offer. This gives the undesirable behaviors a chance to extinguish in the blazing brilliance of the way that we do offer.

And yes, I liked your mathematical description of dog thinking. That is so lucid and appropos. It's why I don't use corrections like I used to. Because the dog thinks just that quickly and will assume they are being punished for the last thing they did in this unique circumstance. Therefore, it's easier for me to reward for the exact thing in this circumstance and then reward for repeats in other circumstances to "generalize" the behavior.

Pertaining to the OT, it is possible to reduce or extinguish the whining by not reinforcing it and reinforcing, instead, the signal we do want, as you so eloquently pointed out.

All dogs have to find a way to vocalize and to express their desires, wants and needs.  There is whining to express oneself, and then there is that obnoxios, fingernails on a chalkboard whining thats more demanding to get what they want.  I've got a couple who will emit little whines of pleasure, one who will give little growls when he's getting his tummy rubbed because that his simply his way of communicating his pleasure, a grunter......  And that's ok with me.  But, the whining going on with the OP's dog is obviously not the same kind of thing.  Those of you who have dogs who whine as a way of talking to you shouldn't feel that you need to defend your dogs or your parenting.  It may or may not be the same type of whining, but it isn't bothering YOU and that makes it OK not to deal with.

THAT whining is annoying the entire family....driving them crazy as she said.  And this is where it becomes neccessary to get a handle on things and to find a way of anticipating the dogs needs BEFORE s/he resorts to whining.

Completely ignoring an unwanted behavior truly is the best way to extinguish it.  It isn't quick and easy.  Again, think of the toddler who throws a bit longer tantrum in the grocery store.  The tantrum worked last time and the child knows that it's going to work THIS time too because Mom can only take just so much before she gives in.  Mom really doesn't want to give into the tantrums, but eventually she does simply because she is human and there is a limit to how much public humiliation she can handle.  The child does not NEED the box of sugary cereal, but the child WANTS it and is hellbent on getting it no matter what it takes.

Yes, humans and dogs are different.  Yes, they think differently, but bottom line, if a behavior works to get what they WANT it will be repeated.  And when we try to extinguish that unwanted behavior it almost always gets worse before it gets better.  Heaven knows that I wish I had known then what I know now about dog behavior when my youngest was small because much of it CAN be related to both species.

If you are able to anticipate this little ones needs and meet them before s/he has a chance to ask then you can more successfully completely ignore his/her wants when they just don't fit into whatever else you are doing.  I have one dog who would play ball all day and all night if I let him.  He does NEED that fun and that outlet, but he WANTS it all the time.  So we've found a balance between what he wants, what he needs and what I can accomodate while still providing for the needs and desires of the other five.  And whining for it?  Doesn't happen because when it did, it simply didn't work.

I don't envy you the next several weeks getting this problem under control.  But, you'll be glad that you suffered through it in the long run.

ron2

I purposefully caught him doing nothing or being calm and rewarded that, for that is also offered behavior.

This is an excellent point.  We are all "conditioned" into thinking that you shouldn't give "something for nothing" in this world, but the truth is, therein lies the path to a really good canine companion... sometimes you need to reward them for doing "nothing", because "nothing" encompasses not-jumping, not-chewing, not-countersurfing, not-whining, not-nipping, etc. etc. etc! 

glenmar

Completely ignoring an unwanted behavior truly is the best way to extinguish it.

I agree. I also like the way you highlight that this is best done in tandem with ANTICIPATING the dog's needs.  And, as ron points out... showing the dog a different way, an acceptable way, of getting what he wants.  In this, I don't believe humans and dogs are that different at all!

Will has been described over and over as "a good baby".  What people mean is, he doesn't cry much.  They say "ooh, you're so lucky".  While I know they mean it as a compliment, I'm a bit put out that they think it's luck that has made Will the way he is.  There's a lot of effort giong into "anticipating the needs of another", but the pay off is well worth it.