Learned Whine

[nigelb]

My daughters 13 month old GWP makes one hell of a din when being lead walked if a cyclist or jogger goes by. We sit him, and he doesn't move until he's quiet. There is a small improvement and he doesn't always start off on one, but a cyclist in black starts him off.

Would this happen if he was off the lead? If he is off the lead, would he chase after a jogger? Presumably, if he will sit on command in the face of such distraction then he can still focus on you, or do you have to enforce a 'sit'? Have you tried distracting him or doesn't this work? If you don't sit him, would he strain after the cyclist/jogger?

Naj

If he was off lead I think he would definitely give chase. He does sit on command, but it often has to be enforced as his attention is on the jogger or cyclist in 60-70 per cent of these instances, and it can be difficult to maintain his attention on whoever is walking him. Whilst sat he will not strain but keeps moving his head to see where the jogger/cyclist has gone. If he wasn't sat he would strain. Yesterday a jogger ran out of a side road ahead of us and there was no reaction. The same with a cyclist that went past in a yellow jacket, but one in black provoked noise and some pulling. He was given the order "sit" quite sharply, to which he sat. He was eager to go but I just stood in front of him with my hand raised in the stop position and he didn't move until he was quiet and told to walk on. The noise did subside fairly quickly, almost as soon as he was sat. I did not walk him on until the cyclist was out of sight. In the past he has been quiet initially only making a noise when the cyclist was 30 or 40 yds. away. Distraction in the form of tossing a treat into the grass might work.

We are going back to training the recall using methods from Pippa Mattinsons book Total Recall as his recall was not solid.

[Cass]

What about just whining for attention? My cocker pup seems to always be whining. I don't know how to deal with it so I just ignore him because I figured he'd stop if he didn't get anything out of it. However he still does it. I don't know if I should be punishing him or if it's just a stage he'll grow out of. He only does it around the house, not when out in the woods or anything.

Did you see him as a pup, Cass? Was he whiney then compared with the rest of the litter? Was the Dam quiet & contented around the pup? Had the litter been well socialised? I sometimes wonder if this type of thing goes back to the breeding establishment. If I had a pup that was prone to whine then I wouldn't make an issue over it. How do you go about correcting a young pup so that it knows that the correction is related to the incessant or random whining, especially when you are trying to build a strong bond with it. With an older dog that yips as it is sent for a retrieve or cast off for a hunt, or yodels at a jogger you have something that you can work with but that's different to a pup that whines quietly to itself for no apparent reason.

Naj

Nope he was quiet at the breeders. I saw both his sire and his dam, both in a relaxed setting and while training and both were silent. He does it for attention but as I stated I am just ignoring it. Will he grow out of it? He's 14 weeks old.

[Naj]

Will he grow out of it? He's 14 weeks old.

He's only young yet. Lets hope so!

[Naj]

If he was off lead I think he would definitely give chase. He does sit on command, but it often has to be enforced as his attention is on the jogger or cyclist in 60-70 per cent of these instances, and it can be difficult to maintain his attention on whoever is walking him. Whilst sat he will not strain but keeps moving his head to see where the jogger/cyclist has gone. If he wasn't sat he would strain. Yesterday a jogger ran out of a side road ahead of us and there was no reaction. The same with a cyclist that went past in a yellow jacket, but one in black provoked noise and some pulling. He was given the order "sit" quite sharply, to which he sat. He was eager to go but I just stood in front of him with my hand raised in the stop position and he didn't move until he was quiet and told to walk on. The noise did subside fairly quickly, almost as soon as he was sat. I did not walk him on until the cyclist was out of sight. In the past he has been quiet initially only making a noise when the cyclist was 30 or 40 yds. away. Distraction in the form of tossing a treat into the grass might work.

We are going back to training the recall using methods from Pippa Mattinsons book Total Recall as his recall was not solid.

I think that you could probably cure this by distracting him with titbits & using them to maintain focus on you. Eventually the sight of a jogger or cyclist would become the cue for him to look to you. Any modern puppy training book would give you info on how to do this.

Naj

[nigelb]

If he was off lead I think he would definitely give chase. He does sit on command, but it often has to be enforced as his attention is on the jogger or cyclist in 60-70 per cent of these instances, and it can be difficult to maintain his attention on whoever is walking him. Whilst sat he will not strain but keeps moving his head to see where the jogger/cyclist has gone. If he wasn't sat he would strain. Yesterday a jogger ran out of a side road ahead of us and there was no reaction. The same with a cyclist that went past in a yellow jacket, but one in black provoked noise and some pulling. He was given the order "sit" quite sharply, to which he sat. He was eager to go but I just stood in front of him with my hand raised in the stop position and he didn't move until he was quiet and told to walk on. The noise did subside fairly quickly, almost as soon as he was sat. I did not walk him on until the cyclist was out of sight. In the past he has been quiet initially only making a noise when the cyclist was 30 or 40 yds. away. Distraction in the form of tossing a treat into the grass might work.

We are going back to training the recall using methods from Pippa Mattinsons book Total Recall as his recall was not solid.

I think that you could probably cure this by distracting him with titbits & using them to maintain focus on you. Eventually the sight of a jogger or cyclist would become the cue for him to look to you. Any modern puppy training book would give you info on how to do this.

Naj

I'll give that a try. He only gave a small whimper when a cyclist went by today and I didn't need to sit him.