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Beagles/Whines all the time....

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Expert: - 12/5/2010


Question
I have a Beagle puppy who is over a year old. We have had for her for about six months and she constnatly whines. She goes to the front door and whines even if she doesn't have to go out. Whines if we shut a door on her even for a few minutes (like the bathroom door or the bedroom door). Whines if we take our attention away from her for a few minutes. Whines and howls if we walk out the front door. She will be happy as can be and then suddenly will start whining, if we tell her to be quiet or stop she will for a few minutes and then start up again. We are slowly losing our minds!! Help!  

Answer
Hi thanks for writing, this is a training issue. She has somehow been reinforced for this behavior by getting your attention when doing it. You may not have intentionally done this but just the same it has shown her that the whining gets attention. You need to ignore this behavior and not go to her, pick her up or otherwise allow her to gain your attention. 6 months old is also old enough to begin a puppy kindergarten class which would be very helpful in teaching her appropriate behaviors.

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Have4Paws

Expertise

I am happy to answer BEAGLE BREED SPECIFIC behavioral questions. Please DO NOT ask CRATE TRAINING OR MEDICAL questions! I am not a vet nor an expert in the use of crates.

Experience

I currently have one beagle, a male age 5, an 12 month old Pit Bull, and a 8 year old min. poodle. I have had to let go of three of my dogs, 2 beagles and 1 whippet/rat terrier mix in the past 5 years, most recently my whippet mix. The two beagles lived to 15 and the whippet mix to 13.5, it has been hard to say goodbye to them. I have done rescue work on and off for years as well as fund-raising for the local animal shelter. I worked for a dog magazine in the past (Southern California Dog Magazine). Being a psychotherapist has encouraged me to do in depth studying of animal behavior as well. I have worked with many people to help curb undesirable behaviors in their dogs (or them!) or to form good behaviors. My life is devoted to and surrounded by my dogs........The picture you see here is Zeppelin but we also call him the "miracle dog". He was hit by a car April 2010 while out with the dog walker and had very serious injuries... 4 surgeries and $17,000 later my boy is whole again and back to loving life. He is so special to me and he weathered a lot of pain and trauma yet is still the sweet boy he always was! I also work to stop Breed Specific Legislation and help to get pit bulls adopted.

Organizations
HSUS, PETA, SPCA DONT SHOP...ADOPT!!

Publications
Dog Fancy

Education/Credentials
I am a Marriage and Family Therapist licensed in the state of CA and am also credentialed as a Certified Addiction Treatment Specialist

Awards and Honors
Honored by the Agoura Animal Shelter for my volunteer work.

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