1 year old whining a lot

[Mini_in_LDN]

Hi all,

I wondered if anyone had been through the same thing and had any advice…

Our 1 year old (and 4 months) mini is quite a vocal chap, not barky but he whines a lot. We are still training him as he’s a bit of a frustrated greeter with other dogs when he’s on a lead so not only are we doing active training on his walks, we also feed him his meals in snuffle mats, give him long duration healthy chews and the occasional lick mat (but we’re having to watch his weight)

His first run around at the park / training walk of the day is around an hour long, then he comes back to the remainder of his breakfast in a snuffle mat, around an hour later he will start whining for attention, my partner and I both work full time at home so we can’t play with him around the clock ! We know he doesn’t need the loo as he wees a lot on his morning walk and goes out in the garden for a sniff/wee around 12.

We never give in e.g we never open the patio door if he whines, to try and discourage the connection between a whine meaning I get what I want, we’ve also been told to not give him eye contact or talk to him when he does it, I’m totally at a loss!

I wondered if you had any tips or if anything had worked for you? He has been doing this for a long time and has had his regular vet check ups so we know it isn’t a health issue. He also tends to do this if we sit somewhere like a cafe or pub even after a really long walk so it must be a tantrum!

Help much appreciated!!!

[zeta1454]

It sounds as though Yoshi is getting plenty of physical exercise but are you also offering him enough mental challenges? Miniature schnauzers enjoy puzzles, treat hunts, and training exercises that are not just about modifying their behaviour - dog parkour, scent work etc. can be both rewarding to a dog and tire them mentally making them more likely to settle down to rest. Check out online resources for these as you may find a local group / training classes for these fun activities for your dog - and you. Once you know what you are doing, both of these activities can be done by you without needing to attend classes long term.

Dogs, especially the young, need plenty of rest time and they should be encouraged in this from the earliest weeks at the breeders and in their new home. Regular ‘down time’ in a playpen, a crate or a sectioned off area of a room away from the family should be part of the routine of the day for every dog. It can be a problem if you work from home and have not established from the outset that your puppy spends time alone away from you settling down to sleep or to rest with a chew item if needed but you can start at any time to make this part of the daily schedule.

While you are right not respond to Yoshi if he is just whining for attention, you do need to be training him to settle and rewarding him for doing so on a regular basis and not just at the times you need him to such as when you are working and in restaurants. If you can work on encouraging him to rest e.g. on a particular small rug or blanket, you could take this with you to a restaurant /cafe and this will be a familiar place for him to settle down. Dogs need to understand what you want and just denying contact is not enough to communicate that this is a time when he needs to settle down.

There is a link here with some tips to give you a start with this

https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advic ... e-training

[Dawnspell]

It could be that the walk in the morning is too long. He gets overstimulated from such a long time and the physical activity and finds it difficult to settle when he gets home and cant wind down. Some mornings with Jasper, just to upset the routine a bit, he literally gets walked until he's done his business and straight back home a matter of 10 mins. Once home we do some low arousal training for 15 mins or so, then pop him in his crate sometimes with a chew where he will happily snooze for 2-3 hours and he doesnt get another walk that day just toilet breaks and play/training and he's fine.

You are more likely to get a dog that finds it easier to settle and sleep from doing mental exercise than physical exercise. Jasper if left to his own devises used to be a bundle of constant energy. Since introducing calming activities (sometime after his second birthday) and making sure he gets plenty of rest by him going in a large crate and not having access to us, we also work from home, he's become a lot less demanding.

[Mini_in_LDN]

Thank you, both.

We tend to find he’s more settled on weekends when he gets a long forest run (as we’re both quite active ourselves) but it’s impossible to do that on weekdays with our schedules. Stimulation wise, he gets his snuffle mat twice a day / and has a few beds around our flat for him to sleep on but I’ve just noticed he’s gotten so much worse post Christmas. Before the holidays he seemed to sleep after his morning walk and was easier to keep entertained.

It actually really gets me down! Because we have tried to be so good with training and stimulation for him since day one and so when this started getting worse I just felt clueless.

@dawnspell do you have any calming activities you’d recommend? In the past we’ve tried giving him ‘raw’ chews like ostrich bone and yaks chews / lick mats but he gets bored of them quite quickly.

I’ve taken him on two walks already today for a good sniff around and he came back.. within 30 minutes he was whining at us again!

[zeta1454]

I think some of the problem may be that you are expecting a miniature schnauzer to love the same kind of activities that you do - such as long forest runs. Some dog breeds just love running and the longer the better but miniature schnauzers are intelligent, companion dogs bred to be very much part of the family and in my experience prefer pottering around taking in scents, maybe a bit of free running but prefer activities that challenge their minds. Some will certainly have the stamina to accompany their family on a run or a climb but it may be that your mini is more typical of the breed and would prefer an activity that builds on the bond between you which is why I suggested the dog parkour or scent work. Man trailing is another activity that we are starting with one of our dogs. These activities are fun for the dogs, challenge them and strengthen the relationship and communication between you and your dog.

Here are some links with more information about these activities:

https://www.dogparkour.org/what-is-dog-parkour

https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/train ... -for-dogs/

https://www.mantrailinguk.com/post/what-is-mantrailing

It is easy to get disillusioned or frustrated when you have followed the guidance on bringing up a puppy but every breed has their own quirks and within the breed every dog is an individual. It is just a question of learning on both sides and communication between you as to what activities give you and your dog the most satisfaction and pleasure and trying to find a way to balance that with your lifestyle. Patient training with rewards for your dog to settle and more mentally stimulating and challenging activities are likely to help him best but are not going to be an overnight fix.

[Dawnspell]

As Leigh has said scent work is excellent. Sniffing is calming for a dog and you can do it at home hide bits of food around for him to hunt down make it easy to start with so he can see where youre putting it. Literally he will just follow you around eating the food You can then up the difficulty by hiding under toys round corners, in blankets or scatter feed outside. Jasper loves food being thrown in a jumble of cardboard and going hunting.

A good game is rewarding nothing. This is one to play throughout the day. Basically you have a bag of kibble (if thats rewarding) or treats on you at all times and any time he is quiet you reward any stillness, you must make sure you are calm while you reward also so as not to create excitement.

Teaching a chin target is a great one for lowering arousal levels.

Playing mouse game. You have food on the floor and if he goes to get it you cover it with your hand. He may nose or try to scratch your hand but again you wait for stillness then he gets the treat. As you play it more he will learn that the quicker he calms down the quicker he gets the treat. I'm at a different level with Jasper now we play mouse then play a tug or chase game to get his arousal up, then play mouse again so he learning self control by calming down again

Leigh mentioned earlier about teaching to go on a mat that's also really good as it becomes an anchor point and default behaviour for them to be calm when on a mat.

I would also limit his choice of where he can sleep. More choice can create anxiety. Think of yourself going into an empty room full of chairs you have to decide where to sit. Go into a room with one chair, no choices you just go and sit on that chair. Going in a crate is the best option as he has to make no choices.

At the end of his walk I would also introduce calm the easiest way is to walk slower and walk up and down the same spot so or do figure 8s. You generally get them doing a shake off after a while as they start to calm down, if they dont walk slower. Going in the crate in the car at the end of the walk is also better than being allowed to look out of the window.

A lot of teaching calmness is about managing their environment so they make the right choices that then become the norm.
More ideas here
https://game.absolute-dogs.com/calm44148328