puppy whines when given commands

joey816

joey is now 12 weeks old and has learned a number of commands (sit, down, shake, rollover). he has recently started whining sometimes when given commands during training time. when i say down he'll start a little whine while looking at me and slowly get into the down position. he's always rewarded with a kibble or praise. and training only lasts for about 5 minutes to keep him from getting bored. any idea why he whines? or how to correct the whining?

Cracker

It could be excited whining. I would just ignore it for now and not worry about correcting it at this point. In an older dog I would probably turn away until he was quiet..but since you are still in beginner training mode it may confuse him.

joey816

thanks for the advice. it doesn't seem so much like he's excited. more like he is being stubborn and doesn't want to do the command. sometimes he'll whine, not do the command, and then bark.

sassykzt

When he's being stubborn & whining-- Do not give in to him. You encourage any dominant behavior. Remember you are the alpha and he is testing the waters. BTW-- He's adorable!

Cracker

People often think their puppies are stubborn when they are confused, or distracted or stressed or need to pee.
In all the puppies I have worked with I would say only one or two were truly "testing" their owners and they had much worse problems going on than just not wanting to lie down on cue.
So, more questions:
How frequent are the training sessions? Do you take him out for pees and poos prior to each one? What level of distraction are you working under? Are you still using a lure or are you only using a hand signal and verbal cue? You may be working at too fast a pace or upping criteria too soon. Does he do this all the time or just in certain sessions or for certain behaviours?

joey816

I try to train about 2-3 times a day, before meals and lasting no longer than 5 minutes. I do one training in the morning after he pees and poos, one in the afternoon after he naps and one before dinner. I always make sure he eliminates before. We train in the bathroom because there's nothing in there for him to play with. His crate is also in the bathroom but he only goes in there to sleep. It seems like he does the whining mainly when I say "down" but he also does it for other commands. Recently he added in a bark. I'll tell him down, he'll whine and look at me, and then let out a bark. He seems to be whining more frequently. I am still using a lure.

emily445455

Does he only whine on the Down command? It could be a submissive thing. My Belle had a really hard time learning down, I think because it's such a submissive position.

skelaki

For one thing, don't accept slow compliance. If necessary, assist him to obey quickly (but no treat unless he does it himself as long as you're certain he truly understands the command in the particular situation). And use games to make training fun for him.

In addition you any opportunity you see him performing behaviors you like (i.e. going into a sit or down) to quietly give the command just as he's completing the behavior and praise him (again quietly but happily).

TooneyDogs

Whinning is not done out of stubborness or defiance. The reasons for whinning are pain, insecurity, frustration, stress and excitment.

To fix it, you fix the cause and the first thing you want to eliminate is a possible pain issue....making sure that you're not asking him to do something that hurts. Dogs can have joint and spine issues.

Try doing the Down without a verbal command. Lure him to the floor with a treat while standing to his side...not face to face. Doing it silently takes away some of the stress and insecurity.