Whining

Hi dogdaze,

First off, is it just you and your Westie at home, or do you have a partner/anyone else living with you? Its been my (somewhat limited) experiences with Westies that they become attached to one person moreso than others, and while they're happy with other people, their primary person is their favorite.

It sounds to me like your Westie whines if she sees you leave her "alone". Its not the same as someone taking her from your place, its the act of you walking out the door from her, I believe.

That being said, since you can't be there to train her if you're gone (), the person who she is with should just ignore her completely when she whines. She's doing it for attention and to alert to your missing presence in a way, and if whoever she is with then turns and says "its ok" or something similar, or tries to get her attention, she'll only do the whining longer. When she goes to a window and whines, she shouldn't get any attention. If the person watching her has another dog they can try playing with their dog and making a big deal of the fun they are having, in an effort to show her there are better things to do than stare and whine, but they shouldn't actually call her over or anything like that.

When you leave try not to rile her up with baby talking or telling her to be good or the like. This sort of talking her up can lead to more anxiety/excitement for her about the situation and worsen the whining. Just say goodbye, give a "no" command if she starts whining as you're leaving, and get out the door! Don't draw out the process, the less time she has to wind up about being left, the better

Its hard to be able to do anything when she's all alone, obviously, but the fact that no one is there to pay attention to her while she's whining will help. I think with more experience of being left and not "babied" about it she will get better. Getting older with help her too, 20 months is a teenager stage for dogs and they can show behaviours like this that they'll soon grow out of.

Hope things improve!

Hey dogdaze,

Maybe ask your sister not to coddle so much and try the ignoring technique to help speed up the process?

I think she'll quiet down soon enough