Question
My mom has a female chihuahua, about 4 to 5 years old.
While everyone is sleeping (at night, of course), she will cry (whine) outside of either my mom's door or my brother's door.
They both do not like it, yet have no clue how to go about making it stop.
Is there a way we can make this stop? Is there a quiet activity that can keep her distacted long enough to allow a full night without whining?
Edit: Letting the dog in the room is not an option. My family has work in the morning, and as much as we would love to let her in, the playful behavior is not suitable for sleep.
She does not give in. Even when it comes to hearing leaves move outside, she barks for hours upon hours.
She does not react well to being put in a room alone. She will continue to cry until she is let out.
She has never been crate trained. She has never been trained in any way. She is spoiled rotten. She can poo on my mom's couch and still get a treat.
My family's reaction to this behavior is yellong "STOP". They have no clue how to go about it. I'm the only one who seems to care enough to try and figure out the right way to handle this situation /:
Answer
You coud consider crate training, to reinforce the dog's undetstanding of where its own bed is.
You could try earplugs for a while. I'm serious. The best way to discourage an unwanted behavior is generally to not respond to it. Since it sounds like you're finding that difficult, make it easier.
You could take Frisbee's suggestion. Let the dog come Into the room so it can check that you're still there, but make very clear that the bed is Not For Pup. That might stop the whining. Or yoh might need to combine this with earplugs.
Or you could move out and let it be Mom's problem...
But this is very much a training problem. One of the humans has to be the Alpha and set -- and enforce -- clear rules. A dog training class is as much about training the human in this skill as it it about training the dog; this might be a good investment of your family's time. A spoiled dog is generally less happy than one that knows its status in the pack.
Answered By - keshlam