# At my wits end...dog constantly whining



## jesterfaerie (29 July 2011)

My lovely (I am using that term loosely at the moment) dog has started to constantly whine and last night he really found his voice and was howling for half of the night. It started  around a month (possibly slightly less) ago and he would start to whine at around 6.30am. We would wake up and go let him out thinking he was desperate for the toilet, he wasn't it was though he was doing it for the attention. Over the last month it has started to escalate to most of the time during the day and howling on a night.

The bitch next door is in heat so we have put it down that his behaviour stems from this. TBH I have no idea what to do now. I do not feel that telling him off is working (we would tell him to go back to bed when he first started) and then reward him whenever he was quiet. IS there a way of keeping him calm when temptation is right at his front door?

Has anyone had an issue with their dog when a bitch in close proximity comes into heat? This is the first time I have had this problem and I am unsure whether to just ignore him and hope he quietens down in a week or so (she is due to finish roughly at the start of next week) or is there another route we can go down to calm him down.

He is entire which obviously doesn't help matters but OH and I are wanting to keep him entire, we discussed it with our vet and he suggested that unless we have any problems with him he would leave him entire. I am sure after another few sleepless nights OH and I could be persuaded 

I hold my hands up and admit, have no idea what to do or where to turn to next (other than surgery) in order to help him, no matter how irresponsible that may make me come across.

Any help and advice will be greatly appreciated..... Sleeping pills, even more so!


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## Booboos (29 July 2011)

The obvious answer is that he is upset by the bitch in heat, which is entirely understandable since he is entire. Personally I spay/neuter all my pets as I don't intend to breed from them and since you are having problems with him why not neuter? It seems a bit counter productive to leave him entire, making him and you unhappy.

The only other thing to try is a DAP collar/difuser, although I am not sure it would work in such a situation.

Or give up sleep when the neighbour's dog is in heat!


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## Sandstone1 (29 July 2011)

Get him castrated, you are being unfair to him not to. He can smell the bitch in heat and it will be causing him a lot of stress. the other alternative is to put him in kennels or something while the bitch is in season.
The whinning could become a habit if you let it go on.
Why do you want to keep him entire? Do you plan to breed from him? If not the best thing is to castrate him.


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## galaxy (29 July 2011)

this has been going on over a month? surely she hasn't been on heat all this time?

If you do think that is the problem (I suppose when she stops next week you'll know) you can get your vet to give him an injection which works like a temporary castration (well that's the effect anyway.  I'm no vet, I can't think how else to describe it)


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## CorvusCorax (29 July 2011)

Agree unless you are breeding him (and he has all the required health tests/conformational qualities/working ability/desirable character), it might be best to neuter.
It's quite stressy for an entire dog to be in such close proximity to a female in heat and not be able to do anything about it.
Re the getting up at 6.30am, make sure the room he is in is kept very dark, maybe a thin sheet over his crate or something, my fella gets up earlier with the bright mornings.

My young dog can be a bit of a whiner through frustration, I completely ignore him, then when he is quiet, long, slow strokes along his side and 'goooood'...all very caaalm.
Heygoodboyheyheyhey...quitshutupstoppit...and 'high' speech and movement can make the situation worse.


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## FayeFriesian (29 July 2011)

All it takes is you to acknowledge it once and theyve got you!

As hard as it is, ignore him. Even telling him off is attention.. Yes i agree the bitch next door may not be helping with the issue, but i do this this is a behaviour issue.

Our Bulldog used to bark through the nights, i'd come down to see what was up, he'd stop. I'd go back up, he'd bark... It then didnt stop all night!! 

We then went through 3 nights of constant barking - queue ignorance, and it stopped. Not done it for 2 years now, only if theres a noise.


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## CAYLA (29 July 2011)

It does sounds very much like "bitch in season near by" behaviour, I know of a few whos dogs have been alot worse mind u and ripped the house apart with stress/frustration and dropped immense weight.
They can als smell bitches alot further than next door so if there are other houses or bitches walking by he can also smell those on their rags
Its up to you really, ride it out and see if it calms down or go for the chop if you suspect they may not have the bitch done. How are you irrisponsible? IMO castration at the right age for size is a good option for health reasons let alone behaviour or stress when bitches are in season so it's not like your are doing him harm.


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## Dobiegirl (29 July 2011)

Im another fan of neutering, unless you intend to breed and he has a fantastic pedigree,health checks & show or work record the benefits outweigh the negatives.

A friend had a fantastic gundog but in the spring/summer he was a nightmare trying to break out to go wandering for bitches and sometimes he went missing for days. Much against her husbands wishes she had him neutered and the wandering stopped and even her husband had to admit it was the best thing for that dog.

Much as it must be getting you down with the endlesss nights of howling ignoring as others have said is the only answer.


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## jesterfaerie (29 July 2011)

Just a quick general reply, will be able to read and reply in more detail later on. Thanks for all the replies and advice given so far.

I felt irrisponsible for not being a fan of neutering and preventing it from happening. We decided he was not being neutered regardless of issues or opinions before the age for 12 months anyway but thinking me may have to have a rethink.
!oth my OH and I have had or known friends or family who's dogs have had issues after castration which is why neither of us want Charlie cut. So it is health reasons rather than breeding reasons that are responsible for our decision to keep him entire.  
The bitch next door will not be getting spayed, however we also will not be at our current address for long so I am expecting my OH to argue and bring that up.


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## Sandstone1 (29 July 2011)

You could argue that not having him castated may cause more health problems ie prostate problems. Also is it really fair to keep him in a constant state of stress. If hes not being used for breeding is it fair to keep him entire?


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## EAST KENT (29 July 2011)

Of course there is another answer for you besides neutering!    Trot along to your vet and ask for a hefty shot of TARDAC,explain your problem to him/her.Within three days he will no longer be thinking about `er next door ..or anyone else of the opposite sex.The chemical neutering effect lasts for up to six weeks. And you are quite right to delay his op....let him mature first is by far the best for him.


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## ladyt25 (29 July 2011)

Our dog got like this but later on in  life. He was entire (mainly because of my dad not wanting to have him 'done') and wasn't really a problem until he was maybe 6yo + and he started disappearing/roaming on a night when let out for a wee - he disappeared all night once and it wasn't til about 9am the next morning he was found across the other side of the village waiting outside someone's house whose bitch was on heat. The trip there had meant him crossing a then 60mph limit road. That was worrying. He later then caught another mongrel bitch who was also a roamer so a nice litter of puppies came of it. After that, any time a bitch was in heat he would pace the house, howling, panting and generally being stressed. Finally my dad was talked round as it was getting ridiculous. So, he was done and it didn't change him one bit personality wise but it stopped the incessant howling!

He is 14 now and although getting a bit wobbly on the old pins, he is still pretty perky and has not (so far) suffered any health issues.


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## Cinnamontoast (29 July 2011)

As someone wrote on my Zak being aggressive thread, Tardac has been shown to create massive health issue later in life. I'd be extremely wary of it.

Training is required, IMO. 

Neutering may not be the answer if he has learned behaviour now. I agree, castrating before 12 months can cause issues later and I feel that it causes more health problems later than leaving whole. What breed is he? The general rule is not to neuter before 18 months for large breeds. 

If you see my Zak update, I thought he was hopeless, going to be neutered etc, but with training, he has improved bend recognition within a week of concentrated training. 

I'm surprised the neighbour won't be spaying her bitch: does she know about pyometra? Is she intending to breed?


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## Ravenwood (30 July 2011)

EAST KENT said:



			Of course there is another answer for you besides neutering!    Trot along to your vet and ask for a hefty shot of TARDAC,explain your problem to him/her.Within three days he will no longer be thinking about `er next door ..or anyone else of the opposite sex.The chemical neutering effect lasts for up to six weeks. And you are quite right to delay his op....let him mature first is by far the best for him.
		
Click to expand...

Ek - you very kindly suggested this to me when I was worried about my entire spaniel and my collie bitch.  I went along to the vets to give him that injection (they were mightily impressed I must say  )  However it didn't work   And he spent a  couple of nights  very out of character howling and stressed whilst she was in season 

But personally I wouldn't castrate a dog unless it was medically necessary.  My lab has been done because of his awful joints (he has an amazing pedigree, looks great and is a brilliant gundog - hence people asked me to use him as a stud and as much as the £ signs rung up in my eyes - I couldn't pass on his faults  )

However, poor old Toby has had a lifetime of being picked on by entire dogs, I don't know what it is, he must eminent a castrated smell, but every entire dog on the shoot won't leave him alone and this sometimes causes aggression 

If your dog is kept in such a situation where he has to mix with other working dogs on a regular basis then I would advise you against, but if he is a general pet then having him castrated will probably ( fingers crossed and after the first three months) give you peace of mind - and a bit of sleep


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## EAST KENT (30 July 2011)

We have never known it fail,but that is only in one breed..maybe others are more switched on or neurotic .It is the strongest instinct a dog has,give Tardac a go (overdose to be sure of an effect) and if that fails completely then there is only the one option.


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## Devonshire dumpling (30 July 2011)

Pop your dog along to the Vets for a Tardak injection, and if you find the effects good, you know castrating him is the cure, if not then its behavioural and not hormonal..  Not sure what people are on about Tardak doesn't work?  It chemically castrates them so the the hormone side ceases, its not a miracle tho,if the dog has behavioural problems triggered by it's maleness thats something you would need to train out!

Why people don't have their dogs castrated if they are not breeding from them is beyond me, I have seen so many older dogs with tumours or terrible urinary problems and bleeding from prostate problems, totally avoidable!

Poor dog is probably being driven nuts by his nuts!


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