Loud/Aggressive Whining while in cage at night

[LakiaMoore]

My sisters dog (bichon frise poodle) is usually never caged unless he is in trouble but sometimes we put him in there because he has a barking/whining problem around the house when he wants to get into a certain room or to get anyone’s attention for something. we usually have to keep all of our doors open because we know he while whine/bark for forever to try to get into a room. he usually sleeps all around the house but at times like this we put him in his cage and he goes crazy with the whining & barking. I tried covering his cage with a blanket and that didn’t help much. I’ve told my family he isn’t used to being locked up so we have to set a routine but they have trouble following through with that. how can I get him to stop this? he needs to know he isn’t the boss and that being in his cage is necessary when it’s time for bed so he isn’t constantly whining/barking door to door. 

[Adrienne]

You are correct.  It sounds like he's struggling with being crated possibly because of negative associations with the crate. This because the crate has possibly been associated with 1) social isolation, 2) being unable to move around freely, 3) punishment since it sounds like he ends up being closed there only when he is in trouble. We have a guide on teaching a dog to love the crate by creating positive associations but this can take time, especially if he is older and a strong history of disliking the crate has been established. 

 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/

 

In the meanwhile, it may help to keep the crate with the door open during the day and placing in there tempting things like comfy blankets, treats and toys and see if he'll "crate himself" on his own and nap in there voluntarily. Once you reach this goal, this is sign that the crate is starting to assume more positive associations and it can be used more effectively as needed (always give something tasty and preferably long lasting when crating him when he needs some chill time, so to maintain the positive associations.) Also, important is to take baby steps and close him for gradually longer times progressing at his comfort level. 

 

Behavior changes take place if we change our behaviors as well so its important to take an active role if we want to ameliorate the situation. On top of creating positive associations with the crate, it would be important to work on decreasing his clingy behaviors and attention-seeking barking. 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/following-owners-around-house/

 

More than wanting to be the boss, this behavior seems to stem from underlying anxiety. He needs to learn to be more independent by taking baby steps. Also, consider that, dogs tend to repeat behaviors that are reinforced, and sometimes barking behavior gets inadvertently reinforced by well-meaning dog owners.

The typical dog that barks for attention is often a dog who is bored, understimulated, and looking for something to do. If the moment a dog barks the owner immediately looks at him, talks to him, or get up to check what’s the matter, the behavior is reinforced. Dogs who bark for attention typically do so while they’re looking at the owner—and they’re usually hoping the owner will interact with them.

Whether the owner scolds the dog for barking or reacts with warmth doesn’t matter, because any form of attention will do, even the negative type. So if this dog looks at your sister and barks, he’s likely barking to get his daily dose of attention.

In such a case, it's important to provide more exercise and mental stimulation, and if possible (if not living in an area where neighbors may complain) ignoring the dog’s barking behavior, as any type of attention fuels this type of barking. This can be difficult to endure in the beginning but it gets better. Expect some extinction bursts to occur along the way (barking increasing or the onset of some other attention-seeking behavior) before the barking starts subsiding. It sort of gets worse before getting better.

One method once can try is to get up and leave the room every time the dog barks, then come back and interact with him only once he’s quiet. If the dog barks when a person enters a room with the door closed, the person should try to come out only once the dog is quiet for at least 5 seconds. It can help to initially provide the dog with something tasty contingent upon the dog being left alone in case the barking behavior is anxiety-based. 

 

[LakiaMoore]

definitely will work on making his cage more comfy and getting him a bigger cage so he has more room. as for the barking/whining are you saying we should just ignore it? usually when someone is near our door it will make a sound and he has gotten used to that sound as meaning “someone’s here” so I started training him into associating that door ring sound into the smacking sound & giving him a treat when he looks at me stops barking. the other barking/whining that’s a big problem is just in the house in general when he wants to get in a room, it’s back and forth & he sometimes he won’t stop until someone lets him in but it gets tiring doing that 10 times a day. 

[Adrienne]

If the barking and whining is purely due to attention-seeking behavior, yes, ignoring is ideal for that type of barking. Of course, make sure that the dog is not communicating some important need such as alerting that the water bowl is empty or a need to go outside! So let's say, you're sitting and the dog comes to you barking in your face because he's bored/seeking attention/, that's likely attention-seeking behavior, unless there's something else going on.

Attention-seeking behavior is fueled by... you guessed it....attention. And that includes, any type of attention, even attention of the negative type (like scolding the dog, moving the dog away). However, I am not a big fan of ignoring and that's it. I always suggest that if a dog is asking for attention, that we closely evaluate why. Maybe the dog needs more interaction (are the owners working long hours, feeding the dog and then sitting to watch tv for the rest of the night?) or maybe he has too much energy or maybe he needs more mental stimulation. We can certainly provide those, but ideally we anticipate and provide those to the dog before he even thinks about barking.  

Now, as mentioned, be warned, when you ignore an attention seeking dog who has always obtained some form of attention in the past, you'll likely get as mentioned an "extinction burst." The barking will get more persistent and more annoying (or he may even try something new) just to get attention. It's sort of like kids that when they don't get candy at the store, they start whining. And when they see whining doesn't work, they'll escalate to crying and screaming and putting up a tantrum (extinction burst). If we stick to our plan and don't give them candy when they ask for it, they'll learn to stop pushing it and the behavior will eventually extinguish, but if we give in though and buy it-even just that one time-, they'll always try to ask for candy because we have reinforced persistence. 

Now there is barking and barking. With the barking at the door, you are on the right track on getting that under control with your smacking sound. You can add training him to lie on a mat contingent upon the door noises for some more impulse control. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ So it would be "noise at the door" you make smacking sound, and then have your dog lie down on the mat with a tasty reward. 

The barking when he wants to get in a room, is that to follow somebody that's beyond that room? Or is it just that he feels like going there for some reason? Do you know what he does once he's let in that room? Does he maybe hear noises that attract him (like somebody opening the fridge or opening a bag od chips? This to evaluate whether there's some anxiety at play or just him wanting to have more freedom around the house. 

Careful with using a bigger crate if he's not perfectly potty trained: a larger crate may encourage accidents in it. 

[LakiaMoore]

okay I will start training him more with the doorbell. and yes, to follow someone in the room, once he’s let in he’ll just lay on the bed with you but then as soon as he hears something going on outside the door he wants to go back out and then come back in it’s a repeated cycle. same thing when going outside, we usually let him out 3 times a day but he cries at the door even after going out an hour or two prior. I wouldn’t say he’s completely potty trained because even though he goes outside a lot he’ll still have problems peeing in the house but to explain his cage size he really only has just enough room to lay on his side/back. a food/water bowl really wouldn’t fit. 

[Adrienne]

OK, if it's barking to follow someone in the room it's likely some anxiety/ frustration we have two main options:

1) allow him access to all rooms if he's trustable enough (that would solve the issue from the get-go, but I assume that if he's not allowed in certain rooms it's because he either isn't fully potty trained or maybe he tends to get in some type of trouble (like chewing stuff, stealing stuff etc). If he's not fully potty trained yet, then it may be best to limit the full run of the house until he's better potty trained as being in the whole house can trigger accidents. If instead he tends to get in trouble, I would suggest removing as much things that he can chew/destroy/steal and always supervising him and training him to "leave it" and "drop it." The best indoor trained dogs are those who are supervised and trained to respect our belongings and certain boundaries with several verbal cues (leave it, drop it, off). However, even if we allow him to follow us around the home, we want to get to the bottom of the problem which is encouraging him more independence and to relax enough to cope with us being in another room without having to follow.. which brings to the next option. 

2) Train him to cope with our absences. In this case, we can practice several trials of the door exercises explained previously. It can help to initially do brief exits only and add some positive associations with those such as: owner about to exit, tossing a 3-4 kibble for the dog to eat, exiting /closing the door and then after a few seconds owner coming back inside (always when the dog is not barking). Gradually, longer exits can be added by tossing a more kibble (like a handful of it so that the dog spends more time searching/eating) and then coming back after longer (always when the dog is not barking). If a person must leave for longer, a long edible safe chew or a stuffed Kong can keep the dog occupied (stuffed with maybe kibble mixed with some canned pumpkin, peanut butter so to allow it to stick inside the Kong). If the dog loves his kibble, his daily portions of his meals can therefore be used for these exercises rather than just giving them out for free in a bowl to be eaten within seconds.  

I like to keep to have the dog watch me prepare the Kong and then me placing it on a tall shelf out of the dog's reach so to build up some anticipation. Once the dog learns that we provide that great stuff every time we must leave, the dog may come to look forward to our absences.  

We still want to work though on fostering the dog's independence so this guide still applies:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/following-owners-around-house/

I am not sure what age your dog is, but if he's a puppy or young dog, these exercises may also help (the peek-a-boo game can be played hiding behind a door)

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-prevent-separation-anxiety-in-puppies/

The ideal crate size for potty training purposes allows the puppy enough room to stand, turn around and sleep on his side while in it, but must be snug enough that the puppy can't pee/poop in one corner and rest comfortably in the opposite side. If there is more room than that, the dog may feel more compelled to eliminate in it. It should be able though to fit a normal sized food bowl. 

[LakiaMoore]

he doesn’t get into trash or chew up stuff, he’s good on that but he’s 7 so he’s getting a bit older but I will work on the door exercises with him. he can be picky with food but he eats his kibble & loves jerky treats, never tried pumpkin...so for practicing purposes how often should I do this and is using the kong only for when you’ve actually left the house? 

[Adrienne]

Great to hear that he's not getting into trouble. At 7, he has likely rehearsed these behaviors for some time, so it may take time to see results if this has been his way of life for the most part. If it's a fairly new behavior though mentioning such clingy behaviors to the vet can be important  as sometimes as dogs get older that can develop some vision loss or hearing loss and that can make them more insecure and clingier. 

The exercises can be scheduled 2-3 even 4 times a day but without stressing the dog out too much (if he's barking it's often sign that we have progressed too fast and he's over threshold). Here's a read on threshold levels in dogs: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

The Kong can be used for when one must leave for let's say 10-15 minutes (if that's how long it takes for him to finish it) so your sister will likely have to initially coordinate absences with how long it takes for him to finish. If she needs to leave the house, she can use a frozen Kong for a longer lasting treat, however, if he's suffering from actual separation anxiety when he's left alone, the problem is more complex and requires a much more comprehensive and systematic approach. Such dogs really struggle in getting used to being crated and have reactions similar to panic attacks when left alone. Important would be recording his behavior when he is left briefly alone (like for 15 minutes) and having a vet or veterinary behaviorist watch it to determine if that's what he's truly dealing with. 

I have recently posted some examples of general protocols for separation anxiety in a recent thread. You can take a look at what those entails by visiting below:

 

[LakiaMoore]

Well my sister actually lives in a different state and has a busy lifestyle to keep him so that’s why he stays with us, when we leave the house he’s pretty chill, he’ll just watch us leave from the front door window lol. but when we come back we usually find that he urinates in the house, we don’t know why he does that because he knows to potty outside. 

[LakiaMoore]

But I definitely feel that me training him more with the doorbell ring/smacking sound & going to his place will make a drastic change in him being more independent and the barking. 

[Adrienne]

Awww.. that's so nice of you for offering to keep him! It's great that he's pretty chill when you leave, I still recommend though recording if you have the opportunity just in case. It can give you an insight on how he does once he hears your car leaving and he knows you have left for good. Some dogs can get more clingy/ anxious with changes in their lifestyles such as changing homes and routines. 

The urinating when you come home can be a form of excitement urination. Many puppies have this and outgrow it by the time they become adults, but in some cases it persists. Here's a description of it along with some general guidelines on how to tackle it-if that's what it is: 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/urinating-when-excited/

Keep me posted on his progress and I am always here if we need to do some troubleshooting.

Happy training,

Adrienne 

 

[LakiaMoore]

Thank you so much, I will keep you posted! :) 

[Adrienne]

You're very welcome!