Advice wanted about a whining spaniel

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Patchworkpony

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Today I met a very nice couple, for the second time in a week, with their beautiful English orange roan cocker spaniel. Lovely dog EXCEPT it never stops whining all day long. It is 18 months old and apparently it has done it from a puppy, with its mother. Also it won't be left without howling the place down. They are at their wits end because they love it dearly but it is driving them mad. I wondered if it was something physical or whether it is too highly bred and has a brain disorder. Anyway thought I'd ask for some thoughts that may help this owners. Perhaps this is one for Alec.
 
My (coincidentally also orange roan) cocker was a whiner up until i lost him at 15 years old. I learned to tune it out after a while and also that there were different whines depending on what was going on at the time eg getting ready for a walk, food bowl on it's way to his mat, wanting to play etc etc

It really used to drive me mad but i'd love to hear it again now he isn't there any more :(
 
Whining is heavily penalised at gundog field trials so not encouraged in working dogs.

I have been waiting with interest to see Alec's contribution to this thread!

In my experience, the fault is incurable....and very very annoying.

I once had a boss who had a neurotic sniff. I coped with that by making bets with myself when the next sniff was coming. "Ten seconds". Nope, he did it in eight. Try again. Six seconds... Sniff. AAarrgh! I suppose I could have pleaded justifiable homicide? He will never know how close he came to being throttled! :(
 
I agree and also think it is incurable BUT why would it do it? They have apparently tried everything, personally I couldn't live with it. Come on Alec - what do you think?
 
We have a show cocker who "talks" to us, she only has a whine when she is sat in the car with the collie while I'm doing jobs up yard or wet and I haven't gotten her dog Robe or wicking Robe on her fast enough and keep her warm. Other than that she just tells us what for 😂

Have they been to a behaviourist?
 
Patchworkpony said:
I agree and also think it is incurable BUT why would it do it? They have apparently tried everything, personally I couldn't live with it. Come on Alec - what do you think?
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I agree that most things have a reason, but whining is something that they just do -- because they can! (Probably like my boss sniffing).

Panting is another one, though I suspect there is a reason here, I just don't know what it is. I don't mean panting when they are hot but walking behind you panting, apparently in anticipation? That is definitely something neurotic. My old GSD started a year or so ago but at least she understands the command, "Go away" and will stop following and panting when it becomes too annoying! I know it is not the heat because she'll do it on a cold day and the others don't pant. I had a couple of labs that would do that.

I've never had a problem stopping dogs nuisance barking except setters. They definitely bark just because they could and to hear their own voices. But they did stop when told. It was the starting I couldn't control! A fellow setter owner rigged up a sprinkler system in his kennels activated by a sound switch. Dogs barked, sprinklers came on. I'm not sure even that stopped them barking randomly at night! And don't get me started about terriers.

On thing I would add is to be careful not to encourage it. Even giving attention by 'correcting' the behaviour might encourage an attention seeker.
 
It sounds like either anxious or attention-seeking behaviour to me.

The former will be more difficult to cure as it is probably a genetic trait.

If the latter, they can try completely ignoring the whining - and I meant totally ignore it. If they react at all (even if they are telling him off) he learns that his whining gets him what he wants. They should reward him when he is quiet and calm.

How much exercise and training/stimulation does the dog get? He might need longer, more frequent or more interesting walks. He may need extra brain training to tire him. Do they play regularly with him?

They may also want to look at his diet - as some diets can cause hyperactivity in dogs (such as Bakers - yuck!).

If they are out of their depth with this, then I suggest they employ the services of a reputable behaviourist.
The APDT and IMDT websites both have a list of behaviorists in various areas of the UK -
http://www.apdt.co.uk/dog-owners/local-dog-trainers
http://www.imdt.uk.com/find-a-qualified-imdt-trainer.html
 
Agree so much with what people are saying on here. Owner is 69 with ankle problem so poor dog only gets walked 3 times week with dog walker and then with about 20 other dogs! I too feel to notice the whining is to reward the behaviour. Hey-ho I can't help thinking if that was my dog I would give it loads of brain work to do to occupy its mind.
 
Show cockers can, in my limited experience, be inclined towards the whingy/squeaky/needy end of the spectrum but I don't think breeding is solely to blame here if it's only being walked three times a week. Agree that it's probably a learnt attention-seeking behaviour and would probably improve significantly if it was given something better to do with its time!
 
Three times a week is definitely not enough - it should be getting that per day! I agree with Twiggy2, if the owners can't meet basic exercise requirements then they would be better to find it a new home with someone willing and able to put the time in.

If rehoming isn't an option then I would suggest getting a dog walker (if they can't do it themselves) to take the dog out at least once per day (inc weekends) and doing much more with it in terms of play, training etc.

In my experience, a tired dog is a happy dog in most cases.
 
There are loads of things you can do to tire a dog out if you can't walk much. Mind you all the most unbearable needy dogs I have ever met have been show cockers or cockerpoos, so there may be something there.
 
twiggy2 said:
It is sad that people say they have tried everything but have not tried meeting the digs basic needs but still it must be the dog to blame- I suggest they rehome the dog to someone who can exercise it.
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Agree. Dear god, mine would be literally insane with only three walks a week. Yes, there are things to do to mentally wear them out, a new toy caused much excitement this week and wore them out, but they need their walks. The owner must surely realise that the dog isn't happy, can't he get a walker?
 
When i worked in kennels i always hated when a cocker came in. The workers would spin on the lead making it impossible to walk them, and the show/pet ones would whine and yap all day long.
 
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