Whining Shepherd in the house (only)

[Up Da Crick]

Hi, Neil and everyone else.

I've got a shepherd for anyone not up to speed on my family, she's a year this march, and full of life every day.

I can play with her before/after, during lunch breaks and throughout the night, and always outside.

The problem i see is a whine or whimpering i get while im not moving or doing anything 'constructive' in her eyes (comp, pottie, meditation, sleeping)

she will whimper for a time and go lay down 'away' from me, she doesn't normally lay near me, which i would still like to dissolve. i understand that she wants to burn energy, but even so, i can only spend so much of mine till my knees give and then i typically limp into the house.

I'm curious if i can solve this issue with her sitting by me at the computer, and feed her from a delightful bag of kibbles n bits n hot dogs n whatnots' when she begins whining. or should i do something different. my problem with this situation is that i feel i want my time, and she should tolerate the down time and relax peacefully.

I kennel her outside during the day so i wander if there is too much room for her to move and anticipate my arrival that builds a ton of drive in her and never fully releases, and the same behavior of stress builds up i am sitting motionless in the house not interesting her.

I do spend the odd time sitting down out side while playing to rest the knees and relax myself (plan and ponder) on the lawn while she chews a ball. I'll take ideas or suggestions. I really do not want this whining to be a stress on me because i think she's stressing me and that ends up bother me that im not giving her enough. when she leaves me alone it bothers me to think i dont spend ENOUGH time with her that she cant sit next to me and bond. i play some great ball with her, and tug almost every day (shes just so damn fond of the ball that she'll pick it up within a minute of leaving the kennel). i have been walking her a few times a week but tend to get frustrated when the constant pulling on the lead occurs. food, ball, anything just doesnt bring her into a group mode. there are dogs she's been introduced to and i think she is scenting them and is more focused on that then the group.

she can be fed and watered and still whine. i believe the problem stems from my inactivity in the house. she's good if i feed her (from palm) or active in any sense. it's just when i dont look like i'm doing anything she whines until she knows im not giving her attention and then lays down.

I cant pet her and have her sit by me, she moves close to want a pet or bond, but then when i release she'll move again or go lay down, and groan in a sleepy fashion periodically but not a lot over all. i give her about an hour or so and she's back up whining.

I apologize for the poor grammar and construction of these thoughts but thats me breaking it down.

again, i'll take any suggestions.
by the way. i spend around 3hrs with her playing and running ect, i have wondered though not practiced this, the in kennel out to pee and back in kennel method kevin writes about in his book for certain types of dogs with problems of too much freedom. i wander if she expects more freedom? i kinda think it applies to me with things that have happened in the past but i dont think thats the root issue. if you have questions about me or her or what i do, feel free to ask if it will give you any clues to the root of this problem.

. i am also dealing with a problem with her barking while i am in the house and she's in the kennel before bed (settles afterwords) this peters off in minutes though, so i'll save that for another thread some time.

thanks for reading all this, i haven't wrote something so long in a long time.

cheers!

PS. Neil great videos. a suggestion for your next one if you make one.... problematic dogs? ... ;-) maybe? haha thanks big <3 great effort man, really was shaken by your peace at first but it's sure refreshing and inspirational throughout the vid's kudos!

PPS. i'm following up this thread with a read on walking your dog in the morning
and going from there following the other blog links.
<3 good reads.

[Sang]

I'm sure Neil is planning on responding, but since it sounds like you're looking for some immediate feedback, I'll jump in with some thoughts. Plus, since I live on the west coast, I can stay up later

First, let me ask what your day to day situation is overall? Outside of the dog situation, is there anything else going on in your life that is causing you stress?

If you look at your dog as a reflection of yourself, you'll see that your shepherd is showing you something that you may not even be aware of. I don't mean to make assumptions about anything, but the following thing you said tells me that you're harboring a lot of guilt about not feeling like you're doing enough for her.

I really do not want this whining to be a stress on me because i think she's stressing me and that ends up bother me that im not giving her enough. when she leaves me alone it bothers me to think i dont spend ENOUGH time with her that she cant sit next to me and bond.

So the first thing I'd say you should do is let yourself off the hook. You're doing all you can, and that's all you can do. Feeling guilty about what you aren't doing is no way to live. So just take a step back, and relax a bit. Trust me, you'll feel a whole lot better just doing that.

Now, what to do about your shepherd? First I think it's important to understand that all her whining, the fact that she can't seem to settle down, how she barks outside etc, aren't all different, unique situations. They are all symptoms of the same, underlying problem, which is that she needs to find resolution for her energy and a way to download her stress.

I would focus on the pushing exercise for all of her meals from now on. Neil and Lee both have great descriptions on how to do it and why it works. It's really going to help pave the path to releasing all the stored up stress and energy that's in her system and get the emotional pathways open and flowing. It will also help to bring down the resistance she feels towards you so that she'll be able to give you more energy when playing tug, since right now I'm sure she's probably holding a lot back and in reserve.

I don't think she needs more freedom. In fact, I think you're doing the right thing by keeping her in her kennel and controlling her free time when you aren't engaging with her. The problem is that when you are engaging with her, you are actually stimulating her more because you aren't giving her a good way to find resolution for her energy problem. The pushing is really going to help with that.

You mentioned your knee issue, so if the pushing exercise is something that might be challenging for you, you can also tie her up to a post or anything else that's solid, and have her pull on the line while you feed her from your hand. It duplicates the same effect of pushing, which is to create lots of resistance to get to the food, only your knees won't have to bear the brunt of it.

I'd get into a lot more, but at this point in time I don't want to overwhelm you with anything more beyond getting a good solid push from her. Once you get that going, then you'll be ready to move on and build on top of it.

Hope that helps

[Up Da Crick]

hey Sang, thanks for your reply, gave me food for thought. i had someone over all day that J.D knows. he was busy in the yard all afternoon, and in the morning i left her on the 50ft leash around him, he said she behaved well.
I kenneled her this afternoon thinking he was leaving and he said she was good their too.
i didnt feed her all day and did some pushing. as im in the house now i am more relaxed and she hasnt barked. i stayed in the house briefly busy preparing food and that was all she was in. no whining.

do feel im burdening my self more than nessesary in reguards to the effort i feel im puting in vs the expected output or goals i may want to complete. But i fail to put into perspective at those times the amount of love i have for her. wonderful dog, just beautiful and i dont recognize it enough while in that depressing train of thought of thinking i'm not doing enough. my love is a lot compared to what she was getting before i bought her

thanks sang. even some words do a lot so i appreciate all yours.

[rudy]

Hi

I know something about knee issues No advice on dogs

Before you head out to run around with your dog try this: jump up to sit on your kitchen counter or a high chair, tailgate of a truck, something that allows your shins to swing freely. And swing your legs like little kids do sitting on the back of a truck - allow your lower legs to naturally swing, up to almost straight but no more than 90% on the way down. Do this for 5 minutes. Do it again if mid-play your knees hurt. And be sure to do it for 5 min after the play time.

I can go into the science behind thickening synvial fluid, etc, but instead I'll just tell you that it will make your knees feel better

[Up Da Crick]

since my call for help, many things have got better, we are really getting some ball throwing down good, and tug of war is coming along.

[Sang]

Awesome! Keep up the great work