Your dog whining at night is heartbreaking for you. You wonder why the dog is crying every night, and you feel helpless because whatever you do, the dog does not stop.
To stop your dog from whining at night, you may need to check their health, give them good sleeping space, or comfort them. Sometimes, your furry friend may do it to seek attention. In that case, you need to avoid the attention-seeking behavior.
However, there are some more ways you can stop your dog from crying at night. So, today, we will help you turn your dog’s night whining into night snores.
What To Do For Stopping Dogs Whining?
To stop dogs from whining, it is important to find out the reasons behind their whining. Then, you take the right step to stop the night whining behavior. Here are some effective solutions. Try to check which one works for your whining dog.
1. First, Find Out the Reason Why the Dog Whine
Have you ever tried to figure why your dog whine at night. Puppies sometimes cry at night if they feel insecure or afraid. If they need to go to the toilet. Adult dogs, if they face any health issues or feel separation anxiety, may whine at night.
So, when you are concerned and want to stop dog whining, you can not apply the same method for your puppy and adult dog. This is why you need to find out the root cause of your night-crying dog.
To do so, you can observe your dog for a couple of days. Look for their feeding time. They may cry out of hunger. Or are you giving enough time during the day? Your beloved pet dog may want more of your time. Thus, they cry at night to tell you how much they miss you.
2. Ignore Attention-Seeking Whining
Now you need to understand if your dog is whining to seek your attention unnecessarily or you are actually not giving enough time. Because dogs are most attention seeker of their owner and they do many weird behavior to get attention.
If your dog whines without any reason, then you should ignore it. We know when your dog cry it makes you sad too. But if you want to stop this behavior you have to be strict for a while.
3. Provide Proper Physical and Mental Stimulation
When a dog get proper physical and mental stimulation he stay happy and healthy. It works like their stress and anxiety reliever. When a dog does not get enough stimulation it makes them restless and sad. As a result, they may cry and whine at night.
So, it is important for you to be careful about your dog physical and mental stimulation. Play with them, take them to park, give them treat to keep them mentally happy.
Besides, a dog needs a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise per day. If your dog exercises and plays enough, he will be tired at night. Thus, your dog will fall asleep in time. There will be no whining or crying dog.
4. Create a Safe and Comfortable Environment
Have you given your dog a safe, quiet, and comfortable place to sleep? If not, then immediately arrange comfortable bedding because your dog is whining for this reason.
Like humans, animals need comfortable and safe bedding to sleep properly. If the dog does not feel safe, it tends to whine. If you have a pup, then try to keep his bed in your room. In this way, your furry puppy will think you are near them and can sleep peacefully.
Also, try to keep their sleeping environment quiet and calm. This will help the dog feel relieved, and he will not whine.
5. Fulfill the Basic Needs
Our pets are very innocent and can not share their needs by words. If there is lacking in fulfilling their basic needs they may do several behavior to make us understand. Whining at night can be one of those reason.
On your behalf, you should be more careful about your dog’s basic needs. For example, grooming needs include trimming nails or giving food in a timely manner. Your dog’s basic needs are-
- Food
- Exercise
- Grooming
- Proper bedding
- Pet toys
- Clean water
- Food bowl
- Companionship
Make a checklist of these dogs’ basic needs and maintain them regularly. The checklist will help you to know if you are fulfilling every need of your dog. Once you start doing so, your dog will be satisfied and happy again. Then you will not ever see a sad dog at night nor heard whining sound.
6. Make a Routine
Sometimes, dogs cry at night because of inconsistency in their life. Animals stay happy by routine life and do not like interruption in their routines. These canine strictly love to maintain routine. So, to stop whining dog you can make a routine for them if there is no.
You can fix it by telling the dog when it should go to sleep and wake up. Their feeding timetable, playing time, and grooming time should all be fixed.
You can make a detailed dog routine by considering these points,
- Regular feeding times
- Daily walks
- Morning/evening play
- Consistent bedtime
- Post-meal naps
- Scheduled bathroom breaks
- Routine grooming
- Set mental stimulation
- Crate/alone time
- Daily bonding time
7. Keep Calming Aids or Products
To stop whining dogs, you can bring calming products. These products can be your dog’s favorite toy, a soft blanket, your clothes, some treats, or anything your dog loves. You know your dog best, so you know what makes your dog happy.
If you have just bought a new pup or dog and you have no idea about their favorite stuff, then you can do some experiments. When the dog is crying, bring him toys and see if he stops or not. You can also give a soft blanket in different shades or colors.
What best work is something related to you and has your scent? This gives your pet dog a calming sense. They feel secure and assume you are with them.
When you give your dog the calming product when they whine at night, they may stop. The next day, keep the calming product around your dog’s bed. This way, you can stop them from crying at night.
8. Avoid Reinforcing Negative Behavior
Try to avoid reinforcing negative behavior in your dog. Sometimes, a simple shh makes them excited, and they feel they grabbed your attention. Intentionally or unintentionally, do not encourage their bad habits by rewarding them, specifically when it is their bedtime or at night. Once you start doing something like this, you won’t be able to repent.
For example, one day your dog start barking at night. You immediately run to him and respond. The possibility is high the next day, your pet dog will repeat the behavior. If you do not respond the same like you did in the previous day, the dog will start whining.
Similarly, giving treats to calm a whining dog can teach it that whining means rewards. So, you should try to stop their bad behavior.
9. Check the Health Issues
Pets may face some health problems and can not tell us. This makes them whine at night. So, its better you take your dog to a vet for regular checkups.
If the dog is in pain or any discomfort the vet can diagnosis. Then, with proper treatment, your pet can be fit again. This can be another probable reason your dog cries at night.
Instead of thinking of ways to stop dog whining, take him to a vet first. If there is no health issue, then you can go for other ways.
Common Reasons Why Dogs Whine at Night
At the very beginning, we discussed why it is important to know why your dog whines at night. Now, here are some common reasons why dogs cry at night.
1. Separation Anxiety
Your pet dog loves you more than anything and wants to be with you all the time like they are obsessed with you. Though it is not possible to be with the dog all day long, you can still spend a more moderate amount of time. When you are not giving enough time, the dog feels you have separated from him. This raises separation anxiety in your dog.
Out of being helpless, the dog whines at night to share its sorrow or sadness. They miss you so much, and after staying away from you for so long, they cry at night.
2. Need Companionship
You may leave your dog alone for a time. He may not have a playing partner. Or you can now shower enough love and care on your dog. All these can make your dog whine.
Dog-like human companionship. A bit of lack of your love and care can make them feel anxious and stressed. All these brust by whining at night.
3. Discomfort or Basic Needs
Like humans, our pets crave their basic needs. You may not give them proper food or nutrition. Or your dog may not have a personal space to play or sleep. If you were ignorant about their physical and mental health, they find it discomforting. Thus, they whine as a way of expressing their needs.
4. Fear or Insecurity
Puppies, especially out of fear or insecurity, may start crying not only at night but during day time too. Puppies are like human babies and want comfort. As their parent, you are their comfort zone, and you need to ensure the proper security.
You may let your puppy sleep alone or in another room. Or there may be other adult dogs in your house that the puppy is afraid of. All the fear and insecurity make your dog feel low.
5. Boredom
All dog parents know the importance of mental stimulation for their dogs. Without proper entertainment, dogs get bored every day. This makes them do several weird behavior including whining at night.
6. Pain or Medical Issues
You cry when you are in pain, right? Your dog is the same as you. If there is any medical issue or the dog is in pain, naturally, they will whine.
Conclusion
You love your dog and can not see them whining at night. This is why you need to know how to stop your dog from whining at night.
First, try to understand the reasons your dog is whining. Is he used to doing it? Has he just recently started whining? He may whine out of boredom, seek your attention, be feared, or be in pain.
To stop your dog whining, try to ignore their attention-seeking behavior and ignore negative reinforcement behavior. You should give proper physical and mental stimulation. Do not forget to fulfill their basic needs and give them enough love. Also, be careful about their health too.
