My puppy is needy.

May 27, 2007 8:35 AM

My puppy is needy. She whines if she can't be physically in contact with me, what can I do about it?

Me and my girlfriend have a new puppy (Dachshund) who is 12 weeks old. She's a great dog so far (mostly housetrained, cute, plays a bunch with us, likes people and dogs), except for the fact that if she is physically out of contact with either me or my girlfriend she whines and barks. By physically out of contact, I mean we are on the couch, and she isn't, or we are on the bed, but she isn't. Or we're in the bathroom, or just standing up cooking dinner, not paying attention to her.

She is sorta crate trained, she knows it's her bed (at least during the day, she sleeps with us at night). And when we crate her and leave, she barks initially and then quiets down. If she can still see us though, she never really quiets down.

Another wrinkle in this is that we live in an apartment complex. That means that just letting her bark it out doesn't really work. Especially at night.

How can we make her less attached to us physically, and stop whining?

posted by cschneid to pets & animals (11 comments total)

When you respond to her barking by giving her what she wants, you're re-enforcing her behavior. Try redirecting her attention to a toy, or waiting until she's stopped barking - even for a second or two - before giving her attention. There'll be a period of adjustment, so buy your neighbors a bottle of wine if you think you're really annoying them.

Above all else, keep her off the bed and couch - if they are used to being with you all day, they're not going to be comfortable with being alone or semi-alone.

P.S. - as a former dachshund owner, they're so darn cute it's hard to do!
posted by handful of rain at 8:52 AM on May 27, 2007

Another dachsie-slave here -- mine was much the same way as a baby (she's 9 now). Would not leave you alone for three seconds, although she's chilled out a tiny bit over time.

(Still, she's got my mom trained to put her on the countertop if mom's washing dishes or doing something that doesn't involve looking at her. Ai yi).

Learn from my mistake -- if your parents or friends will be spending significant time with your pup, PLEASE make sure they know what you are doing to train or enforce training. In other words, don't let your mom do things you don't want done, whether it's feeding chicken direct from the table (sigh) or giving in to the dog asking for a walk by barking loudly forever as soon as she walks in the door (double-sigh).

If you do allow your pup on the bed/couch, as I do, I don't think it affects their comfort level with being alone. You mentioned she's ok when you're out of sight. But you might want to try some training exercises that show it's OK to be on the floor, in the crate, wherever. "Stay" is an absurd command to a 12-week-old dachsie, but maybe you can wedge a Kong filled with peanut butter between some furniture and leave the room, thus creating the OH MY GOD, TREAT? OR MOMMY? dilemma. Treat usually wins out around here.

Superspecial p.s. re: "mostly" housebroken... it's not you. if this is your first dachshund, you should know they're notoriously hard to housetrain...it's a mix of bladder/body size disparity, deviousness and determination. Believe me, they KNOW they shouldn't be going in the house. As a baby, they often can't help it. When older, they'll sneak away -- with mine, it's to the basement -- and if you catch them, you can tell they know they shouldn't have done that.

Might I recommend something I wish I'd gotten mine to do when she was that young? Litterbox training. For dogs. Seriously. And if you live in an apartment, I bet it would be a big help.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 9:11 AM on May 27, 2007

Sometimes, with bossy-barking issues, it's possible to train the dog to stop by giving her the opposite of what she wants when she barks. So if she barks because she wants you to give her attention, you get up and leave the room. Then, when she quiets down, you come back and give her the thing she was trying to get originally (petting, cuddles, etc.).

This, of course, only works when there's a really clear dichotomy that the dog can grasp.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 9:16 AM on May 27, 2007

Get yourself a spraybottle and squirt the doggie when she's barking/whining inappropriately. I know it sounds mean. But you'll only have to do it a few times, it's very clear negative feedback, it does not hurt the animal, etc. The first time you squirt her she'll bark or whine even louder because she will be surprised, maybe even a little offended. Spray again. She will quickly associate noisemaking with getting sprayed and stop.

I know it's a little mean, but it's very effective. I am not sure how much success you will have with less direct messages (leaving when she whines to make you stay and so on). I think that will just confuse a puppy.
posted by bluenausea at 9:24 AM on May 27, 2007

We have an English bulldog, so we feel your pain. As our vet put it, they're "beat me or bore me but just don't ignore me" dogs.

Best thing is to not reward the barking by even acknowledging it. It's also the hardest. This takes a while, but it does pa dividends. After a couple of months our bulldog has learned that if we're not in sight or even in hearing range it's not the end of the world. You might want to look into the Talk To Me Treat Ball (I think that's what it's called) which is sold at most large pet stores, including Petsmart. It's a great toy for when they're alone.

Oh, and wiener dogs absolutely rule.
posted by azpenguin at 9:33 AM on May 27, 2007

Agreed with azpenguin on the "ignore" technique, too -- it's something I've been using with my dachsie when she tries to cadge food off our plates at dinner (we generally eat on the living room couches). You'll notice now who she heads for -- The Sucker, aka my boyfriend. Me, she doesn't bother with if he's in the room...
posted by bitter-girl.com at 11:56 AM on May 27, 2007

It seems to me that the "ignore" technique conflicts with cschneid's "apartment complex" restriction. Water bottle may be the end-run here.
posted by rhizome at 12:06 PM on May 27, 2007

Teach her want you do want her to do. For example, teach her down and then down/stay - and have her lie down next to your feet when you are on couch and give her rewards (treats, attention) for staying there.

We ended up a command we call "chill" which means lie down and stay there if you want to be with us. The dog can wander off he wants but if he is going to be with me (usually in the kitchen while I am cooking or eating) he needs to be lying down. As a reward, he gets little treats at unpredicatable intervals.

A good chew stick also helps - our dog likes the bully sticks.

A great resource is the yahoo group called SPT - Start Puppy Trainging. The group emphasizes positive training methods (no water sprayed in the face) and is focused specifically on puppy problems.
posted by metahawk at 2:31 PM on May 27, 2007

I highly recommend Patricia McConnell's booklet, I'll Be Home Soon!: How to Prevent and Treat Separation Anxiety. It's available at amazon for very little money. At your puppy's age, you can shape her to enjoy her time alone, and she won't be tempted to cry.
posted by acorncup at 2:41 PM on May 27, 2007

My sister has a dog with very similar issues and they just moved into an apartment. She was worried about getting kicked out of the place if her dog continued its constant barking, so she hired Bark Busters to come and train the dog. They came for the first time yesterday and I happened to be visiting just after the trainer left. There was an incredible difference in her dog. It was the first time my sister and I were able to have a conversation without her dog begging and whining to be pet. You can find a list of local trainers here. They train you to use different methods to stop whatever the undesirable behavior is: first, you make a "bah" sound whenever the dog barks (or whatever); second, you show them a spray bottle and use it if necessary; third, you throw a small bag of pennies near the dog.

They're not cheap--about $400--but it comes with a lifetime guarantee. Like I said, there was a remarkable difference just after the first training (they say it takes 3 or 4 trainings), so it might be worth it.
posted by lagreen at 3:20 PM on May 27, 2007

Please be very cautious about things like Bark Busters - they are a franchise and have little internal regulation in terms of trainer quality, methods and experience, and I have heard some serious horror stories about their methods (any trainer who provides a "lifetime guarantee" is someone to run away from, dogs are not appliances).

You need to get into a training class with this puppy anyway, this will help you in all kinds of ways, including with this issue. I agree with redirecting the puppy (make sure that the puppy has enticing chew items available like stuffed Kongs and redirect her to those - put her food in there so you don't end up overfeeding) and also with picking up some good books to help you understand why the puppy is doing this and how to help (Jean Donaldson, Patricia McConnell, Ian Dunbar).
posted by biscotti at 4:33 PM on May 27, 2007