I was wondering if anyone had some good tips for a whining dog.  I'm okay with him letting me know when he needs to go to the bathroom...but I can't even go to the bathroom w/ the door shut for long enough with out him starting to cry.  I try to ignore him when he whines because I know if I acknowledge him every time he cries he'll learn to do that any time he wants something.....its just that he is relentless and it's driving me up the wall!  Anyone out there have any suggestions on how to ween him off this bad habit?

you haven't had bathroom time until you've had bathroom time with your shorthair!

Michigan loves to come to the bathroom with her humans. As for the whining, it takes some time to stop the behaviour. When we first got Michigan she'd whine when we were getting ready to go outside and she'd whine in the truck. It made driving a very stressful situation. All I did was repeatedly let her know  the behaviour was unacceptable. Even if it meant that it took 10 minutes to get ready to go out. In the car,I had the benefit of discovering early on that she really doesn't like this one high pitched voice I can do, but again it took a lot of work. It took a lot of time to stop it but in the end she learned what I wanted. That's the great thing about shorthairs, they're very eager to please you and do their best to learn what you want as long as you give them clear, and consistently applied rules.

Bo whines when he is excited, when he's not getting his way, etc. I figure it's just another way for him to communicate (MUCH better than barking) and ignore it.

Bean is not a whiner, she's a barker & a talker though..That translates to "louder than a whine"  although IMO not as annoying as a whine

Our solution to the bathroom issue is a NO CLOSED DOOR policy If the door is shut GSP FORBID.....Bean will lay at the door, back pressed up to it.

It's just Greg - Me - and Da Bean......who needs PRIVACY ?

Renee'

The way I get away from rewarding the whine is to get the pup into a routine in which I am proactive in anticipating his needs.  So I know when he wakes up, finishes playing, finishes eating he will need to go out.  As soon as any of those things are true, I put him out and let him do his business.  I do not wait for him to go to the door and whine.  Also, I feed on a schedule: 6 am, 11 am and 5 pm.  Again, I can anticipate the need prior to the whine.  The result is very few accidents and very little whining.  Whining at closed doors, etc at this age is about the puppy wanting to be with you, and at this age you really don't want them out of your site.  So, take the pup with you when you go to the bathroom (be sure and take a toy too), or when you have to go in the other room. Or, wait until the pup is sleeping and then do what you need to do out of the room.  Again, you are proactively preventing the pup from whining and therefore reinforcing the whine.  I no this is hard as I have an 8 week old pup right now, but believe me the routine makes life allot easier and it helps the pup adjust to his new home. z

Thanks for the responses.  The thing is Oden isn't the youngest of pups.  I got him at about 16 weeks...and he's just about 24 weeks now (He was born Feb 13th).  It seems that the whining behaviour has been more of a recent thing.  I think T. Belle's suggestion may be on point.  I have kind of broken our schedule the past week or so b/c work has been keeping me so swamped.  I probably need to get back to our daily wake-up time, feeding time, bathroom time, walk/run time etc.  I hate to break routine...but sometimes it is just out of my hands.  I'm thinking the changes the past few weeks may be stressing him out.  Good thing is I can see the light at the end of the tunnel at work...so with a little patience and some TLC hopefully we can get back on track.

p.s.  I've said this the past few posts, but I'll try to post some pictures sometime soon.  He is growing like a bean stalk!

Whining is a shorthair's way of talking to us!  Don't break that one.  I use one word, "quiet".  Course, if it gets obnoxious, my "quiet's" get more demanding as their whining does...  ask your dog what he wants?  Be ready for a long conversation with the kid.  You'll miss that "talking" when he's gone, so get used to it!   

When Maggie was alive my bathroom was her kennel every night.  Her bed was in there, etc...that way I knew she was safe, and no other dog would bother her; sorta a drag to crawl around to the shower with her or the bed there...so when she died, I though YEAH, I get my little bathroom back!  Moved her bed out, then Miracle moved in!  She curled up on the rug in there, will take "her stuff" in there and guard it, lunging out teeth bared if any other dog approaches "her room"...so now Miracle's little bed is in there, URGH... I never get a minute to myself in there!  And from under the door, I can see Jim's english pointer tail, as he is laying outside the door, guarding.  Then they swap places, Miracle is out, Jim comes in, URGH....  I want MY OWN bathroom for once in my life!  These dogs have CHARACTER.  You gotta give them that!

Well, at least I have done one thing right in my "training"--my bathroom is a JASPER-FREE ZONE.   (And Chelsea-free too, but she isn't nearly as clingy.) 

Of course I have to leave the door open.

Worse than the whining is the woebegone little whuffle-snuffle when he gives up. . .