Why Whining Works (And Why It Drives Us Crazy)

Know what we hate? Whining.

People or dogs—it doesn’t matter.

With people, it’s easy. If it’s someone you care about, you tell them to knock it off. If it’s a stranger, you just ignore them or walk away.

Dogs, however, are another matter entirely. When our dogs start whining, everything we’ve ever learned about dog training goes straight down the toilet. Like nails on a chalkboard, it drives us absolutely crazy.

Feeding the Flame

Unfortunately, Hope’s French Bulldog, Torque, is a master whiner. He whines when he has to go out. He whines when Hope is out of sight.

And guess what? It works. Every single time.

If Hope is out of sight, she comes looking for him. If he persists, she takes him out. She will do absolutely anything to stop that breathy, pitiful noise. We know we shouldn’t succumb to the whiny nagging. The little dog-training voice in our heads screams, "You know you're just rewarding the behavior!"

Yes, we know. But it makes us crazy.

Whining Works

Booker, Fran’s 13-year-old Boston Terrier, is a whiner too. He’s experiencing some old-dog issues, like "Sundowner Syndrome." Most afternoons, he gets restless, anxious, and vocal.

Again... it works. Fran pays attention to him. She takes him out. And in all honesty? It’s worth caving just to get the whining to stop. Because it makes us crazy.

Holding Out For A Hero

So far, Simon (Fran’s seven-year-old Boston) isn’t a whiner. He has a whole array of interesting, quirky sounds, but none of them are that brain-grating noise we dread.

Our current fear is that Simon—who is a really, really smart dog—will notice that whining gets the other dogs exactly what they want. If he tries an experimental whine, you better believe we’ll nip that in the bud. Because three whiners? That would officially drive us over the edge.

What about you? Do you have a whiner at home, or have you successfullylife cracked the code on ignoring it? Let us know in the comments!