Whining and squealing issues

[wilsonnw8]

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Hey All

First a bit about my dog. I have a 4 year old working cocker spaniel, she's a pet but I do take her to gun dog fun days. She goes out with me for 40 mins in the morning ( we take a gun dog dummy and we do mental exercise where she has to look for her gun dog dummy or follow commands to wait before she can retrieve it, she loves it)

then she has her breakfast in a kong which means she has to work for her food

at lunch we go out again but for a fun walk ( maybe with a ball) for about an hour, I take her to different places, the fields, the woods or to the river for a swim ( she loves swimming) lunch is also in a puzzle toy

then we're home in the afternoon and have a 15 min walk in the evening around the neighbourhood.

Now the issue. She's a well trained dog but we recently had patio doors installed and velux roof windows. She cries non stop at the patio doors which I completely ignore because I dont want to re-inforce that squeaking leads to reward, when I ignore this she tries stealing things ( usually toilet roll from the loo) or parading a shoe which I also ignore. This can go on for hours. No amount of ignoring stops the behaviour. When she stops crying even for a moment I praise her but as soon as I praise her for being quiet she then cries again. This evening she cried for so long ( with me ignoring her) she started shaking.

If I open the velux windows she screams with excitement so loudly you'd think i was an abusive owner. I have no idea why because its not like shes ever left the house through a roof window! Ive tried putting her in another room whilst I open them but her hearing is so good she still cries and squeals - she is clever enough to know why she's being put in another room.

I feel like she gets enough attention, I only ever let her into the garden if she's stopped squeaking but as soon as she's on her way out the door boom! the squealing starts up as she runs around the lawn

does anyone have any advice?

Thanks

 

[gypsysmum2]

As with all behaviour problems we have to find out "why". It seems as though she has all her basic needs met for a dog of her type which is one box ticked.

You have ignored the behaviour, which is always a good first step. Timing and consistency are important. If she managed to, just once, gain attention, from anyone, it would be enough to reinforce the behaviour.

The shaking is concerning. It would indicate that she is having a deep emotional reaction of some sort.

Is she worried about the outside world suddenly coming inside? Is she over stimulated by seeing all that open space and frustrated at not having access to it? Can she see birds that are stimulating her?

Can you try covering them up to see if that settles her?

I think you need a definite diagnosis from a Qualified Pet Behaviour Therapist trained at COAPE or APBC. This would prevent the behaviour becoming entrenched and so much harder to treat. Prevent it all you can in the meanwhile as the more she practices a behaviour the harder it is to treat.

 

[wilsonnw8]

Thanks for your reply

Its definitely not that she is worried about the outside world, its that she wants to be outside all the time. Weirdly if the patio doors are open she runs around for a bit then comes in and lies on the door threshold and just surveys the garden. But if the door is closed she cries and cries ( it is worse if there are birds but even without birds she cries)

I definitely think its over stimulation - over excitement wanting to go out. I consulted a vet about the shaking who said that this was a dogs natural way of releasing excited energy when they havent been allowed the release of doing what they want. Apparently its not something to worry about but it does look bad and of course Id rather she just calmed down.

I was thinking I might need a behaviouralist at this point but I just didnt know if there was anything I could start doing in the meantime to help

 

[JoanneF]

Sorry if this oversimplifies the issue, I really don't mean to; but what about curtains or blinds for the patio doors? I know that isn't desirable in summer but with winter coming (yes, I know it's still August ...) you might be able to break the habit? Also what about an Adaptil diffuser?

 

[wilsonnw8]

Thanks Joanne

Yeah I did think about that, its just that Id love to fix it with training rather than covering it up - it might well come to that though it is a good suggestion.

I have tried adaptil but it doesnt seem to make any difference to her. I wondered if its a territory thing because she likes to survey the garden calmly if the door is open, perhaps its that she sees the garden as hers and the house as ours. So maybe she likes the door open so that she can keep an eye on things or go out and chase away offenders ( mainly butterflies....) It's a completely secure garden so in theory she could be out as much as she likes but being a gun dog I worry about theft, her safety if Im not keeping an eye out etc Ive been working on affirming that Im pack leader in case perhaps that might calm her, knowing that I can defend the garden so she doesn't need to be in it all the time? but it does seem that it's more excitement than anything else because I get the same squealing excitable reaction to opening the windows - which makes me think the obsession is with her wanting to be outside non stop.

She's my third working gun dog ( the other two worked in the field but she enjoys the training more than being out on a shoot so we stick to that) and I always myself warn people who think they are cute that the breed need a lot of time and effort and stimulation but this patio door thing is beating me!

Do you think an anti bark collar like a spray one or a sound one could be an idea?

 

[JoanneF]

No, please, PLEASE not an anti bark collar. I agree curtains would cover up the problem; an anti bark collar would do that but even worse if that makes sense. She would be frustrated by the garden plus having that frustration supressed artificially so it would likely come out in other behaviours which would be harder still to manage. Please don't do that to her.

 

[gypsysmum2]

It does sound as though she is frustrated at the inability to gain access to the outside.

One training mantra that might help is "give the dog something else to do, that is incompatible with the unwanted behaviour, and reward it.

This means that whenever the windows are an issue you should pre empt her behaviour and give her something else to do that means she cannot get excited/frustrated over the windows.

As she is already trained in gundog work you could use that to distract her in the house. Could she find her dummy? Do a sit/stay? She must find whatever it is more rewarding than the unwanted behaviour.

Have you heard of Scentwork? Take a look at www.talkingdogsscentwork.co.uk . It is run by an ex Customs and Excise dog handler. What she does not know about scent is not worth knowing. The dogs learn to seek out the chosen scent (she usually starts them on catnip) and learn to work with their handler to find the tiniest amounts in the most amazing places. I cannot recommend it highly enough. She has done some gundog work with her Labrador so understands the principles.

On another note. Dominance is now known not to be a factor in dog behaviour. The theory came from some flawed studies of captive wolves that were resource guarding the limited resources available to them. Wolves in the wild live in harmony with each other. Domesticated dogs came to live alongside us thousands of years ago because the relationship was mutually beneficial. They still want to live alongside us in a peaceful way. They have no interest in taking over. If you want to research the subject more then read Barry Eaton's excellent book "Dominance - Fact or Fiction". As you move in gundog circles it may be quite a challenging concept to take on board but some are becoming much more enlightened thank goodness