As puppies, it comes naturally: a very young Labrador puppy will whine without even realizing it when she’s hungry, tired, or cold. The mother Labrador will reply to this whining with milk, warmth, and a safe place to nap – and as time goes on, the Labrador puppy begins to make the connection between the two. This is when she begins to whine deliberately, to notify her mum that something’s awry or that she needs something.
When you adopt your puppy, she should be between 8 and ten weeks old. This is the time that a Lab puppy will either learn that whining doesn’t work with her new, human family; or, she’ll learn to use whining as a manipulative tool (of sorts) to prompt her new “mommy” (that’s you!) to give her what she wants.
How to deal with whining Labrador puppies
This manipulation is why it’s more often than not advocated for you to leave your new Labrador puppy alone on her first night – if you react to whining with positive attention (cooing, patting, sympathy, taking her out of the crate and petting her) how can she help but learn to whine until she gets what she wants?
You’ll need to use your common sense and good judgment, of course. For a genuinely terrified puppy, she in all likelihood does really need some attention and affection, if only to distract her from the scariness of her unfamiliar new surroundings. The trick is to react in a well-timed fashion so that she doesn’t feel like it’s her whining that’s got the outcome (or else you’re conditioning her to whine whenever she wants something, which is paving the road to hell).
For a Labrador puppy that’s working herself up into a real hysteria of crying and whining, don’t feel like you have to cold-bloodedly disregard her. By all means, pay her a minute of attention and calm her down – just initiate the contact when she’s no longer whining. It’s not always realistic to wait until she’s stopped whining completely – opposite to popular (albeit misguided) opinion, some puppies just do not stop whining and truly will continue for hours on end. If you suspect that this may be the case, you don’t have to draw out your pup’s misery: just wait til she’s stopped for even a few seconds, then grab your moment and open the crate door. It’s not ideal, but under the circumstances, it’s probably the best you’ll be able to manage.
Whining in fully grown dogs
Whining is not a natural form of communicating between humans and dogs. Most dogs grow out of whining close to the six-month age; if your Lab is whining after this period, it means she’s either doing it unconsciously, or she’s learned that it’s a useful motivatory tool to get her something that she wants or needs.
As an adult Labrador, there are a diversity of reasons as to why she might be whining:
* In pain
* Bored/lonely
* Afraid/anxious
* Needs to go outside
Your reaction to her whining actually depends on the cause of it. Sometimes whining is justified, and does require a reaction – and sometimes, it’s just plain manipulative. Other times it may be justified, but the reaction that comes most naturally won’t necessarily help your Lab puppy.
To clear up things, the more common reasons for whining – and recommended ways for you to respond – are listed below.
When she’s whining out of pain
A Labrador Retriever that starts whining all of a sudden, and then keeps it up steadily afterwards, may be whining out of pain. This isn’t just limited to senior dogs: puppies and young dogs can be subjected to some pretty serious growing pains, so don’t rule out this theory on the basis of age.
If you think your Labrador may be in pain, check her over to see whether there’s any merit to this belief. First, check for the conspicuous signs: is she Keeping any paws off the ground, or favoring a limb/side of her body? Check her face and body for scratches and splinters.
Next, you can palpate her limbs and joints for inflammation (like arthritis) and possible injuries. Remember to be very gentle: if she’s in pain, you don’t want to make it worse. Merely rub your hands on each leg, pausing at the joints to give each one a gentle squeeze.Run your hand down her tail to check for lumps and bumps, too. Even if you can’t find anything severely amiss, if you think she’s whining out of pain, a trip out to the vet is in short order.
When she’s whining out of boredom and/or loneliness
You’ll be able to tell if this is the cause because she’ll be roving about the house (probably following you around, or pacing about the room you’re in), whining aimlessly and without focus (i.e. she’s whining to herself). The best remedy for a Labrador that’s whining out of boredom is a quick shot of exercise: take her out for a spirited walk as soon as you can, and on a more general level, try to ramp up her daily workout quotient.
A tired Lab is virtually never a bored Lab. For a Labrador puppy that’s whining from loneliness, you’ll have to try your best to spend more quality, interactive time with her. If you don’t have a heap of extra time to spend with your Labrador, then make the time that you do spend together genuinely count: play, groom, train, cuddle.
When she’s whining out of fear/anxiety
Normally, it’ll be fairly easy to tell whether she’s whining out of fear or anxiety. When she’s afraid, it means there’s a direct cause to her fear – like a thunderstorm or a windy afternoon that’s rattling the windowpanes and spooking her a bit.
If she’s anxious, it means there’s no direct, physical cause for her edginess – she might be a bit on edge because you’re a bit distressed and she’s feeding off your energy, or possibly there’s been a change to her day-to-day routine (she didn’t get her normal morning walk, for instance). Without spending any more time nitpicking pedantically over semantics, your reaction to this kind of whining should always be one of discouragement.
Don’t attempt to punish or correct her for whining out of fear or anxiety – that will merely increase her stress, making her feel worse and making the whining worse, too. Instead, just ignore her. It’s a bit hard to do at first – in fact, it can feel like the least natural response in the world! But it really is the best thing for you to do.If you lend unwonted credence to your dog’s mood with an undue response – patting, sympathy, cooing – she won’t be comforted; she’ll in truth be more worried, because you’ve just validated her fear.
If it seems to her like you think she’s got a good cause to be worried/afraid – and if you respond with comforting words and calming pats, that’s how it’ll come over – then she’ll be more afraid. Not less. So in this case, you need to ignore the whining outright. Don’t molly-coddle her; instead, distract her with play, or run through a quick obedience routine. Get her thinking about something else.
If she needs to go outside
If your dog’s whining because she needs to go outside, first of all you should give yourself – and her – a big pat on the back: it’s the sign of a truly well-trained Labrador. She needs to go badly enough to be whining about it, but she knows not to do it inside – and she’s smart enough to try and let you know that she needs to go out, too.
This one’s easy: if she’s standing near the door, or just has That Expression (if you’ve had her for a while, you’ll grow to know That Expression – it’s different for every Lab, but most owners are able to easily and correctly understand it as meaning, “Let me out – now!”), you should let her out. It’s as easy as that.
photo credit: amberley johanna
