Hiya All, after some advice really! My cavalier, lewy, is now 3 years old and for the last 18 months or so we have been having problems with him as he seems totally obsessed with me, which wouldn't be a problem if i didn't have a 2 year old daughter for him to compete with for attention. Lewy was about 10 months old when my daughter was born (if i'd known i was pregnant when i got him i don't think i would have had him, but i didn't know), we thought everything would work well as being young he would adapt to having a new member of the family around, but he never seems to have accepted his new 'place' in the family. He was never molly coddled before phoebe came along, but he probably did get alot more attention before her birth. He's very good with phoebe, there is never any aggression but he does compete with her for my attention all day until she goes to bed, then he's like a different dog. He competes for attention vocally, not barking but a noise kind of like a monkey and by leaping up at me, oblivous to what is in his path. He just wants to be with me all the time, but as i'm sure you understand with a 2 year old running around this is not always possible, i have him with me as much as i can he's only left for a couple of hours a day on days that i work. So far we have tried completely ignoring the behaviour, giving him a stuffed kong, treats, etc when i have to leave him, currently trying clicker training, citronella collar (not sensitive enough for the type of noise he makes) so now we're using a spray bottle. The spray bottle has been the most effective method, mys sister who looks after phoebe when i'm at work has said he's been like a different dog and he's really well behaved with my partner too, but the minute i get home he starts up again. I got him with the intention of showing but i've stopped doing that now because its embarassing when i leave him with my mum just to nip to lthe toilet or something and he screams the place down until i get back. I'm at a complete loss as to what else to do now, he's not particularly food orientated so leaving him with a kong etc has not worked. I'm seriously thinking the best thing for all of us would be to rehome him, but i hate to admit defeat if there is something other technique we could use! Any and all suggestions are greatfully received!!

He has you well trained :)

You really have to ignore him.  Turn your back to him when he demands attention.  If he still keeps on making a noise then put him in another room and close the door.  Bring him back in when he is quiet.  You must be consistant with this, everytime he demands attention, out he goes.

If you stroke him at all during this time, call him to you, don't do it when he is demanding attention.  It will take time, but the fact he doesn't act like this with anyone else I can't see any reason for not getting there in the end.

Get another member of the family to feed him and if possible take him out, he will not be so reliant on you then.

Good luck
Sandra

We really have tried the ignoring technique, we now put him in his cage with a blanket over until he's quiet. While he's in the front room with me and Phoebe he is generally ok, until he knows we're going out at which point he just goes nuts. Its generally when i have to put him in the kitchen either because phoebe is eating or i've had to go upstairs, i know cavaliers are companion dogs but he really can't be with me every second of the day which is what i think he wants to do! My partner walks him most days, though i have to go with them to the front door otherwise he wont go unless he's dragged, once out with my partner he's fine and it has strengthened their relationship but not weakened his dependance on me. I'll try getting my partner to feed him, though this isn't always possible as he works shifts. When he knows i'm going out (can't hide the fact as getting a 2 year oold ready to go out takes a few minutes) he just starts his monkey noises and they get louder and louder, whether he's lose or in his cage. I guess i make the mistake of still taking him with me when he has carried on this way, but i've found that if i don't take himwith me he's even worse when i get back

Try putting him in the cage when you are there and build up to going out for a few minutes and coming back in.  Don't let him out until he is quiet. 

Whenever you return to him, don't make a fuss of him, just let him out and ignore him. 

By going to the door with your partner you are doing what he wants again.  Let your partner take him even if he has to pick him up to do it. 

If you go out without him, put him in the cage and ignore him when you get back.

If he sits on the sofa with you, don't let him.  You need to show him you are not there to pander to his every need.

I know it is hard, but it is the only way to deal with the situation, you have to make him less dependent on you.

I echo what Sandra has written & add as he's a small dog your partner could simply pick him up & carry him outside(after putting his lead on) when they go for a walk. There would be no need for you to go to the door with him & you can ignore another of his attention seeking behaviours

I agree he may be attention seeking but, I'd want to think more about this - I've not heard a dog make monkey noises, what is that like? is it a kind of ooo-ooo noise? Sorry not being funny, just hard to imagine! :P

It sounds as if the dog is a bit anxious as well, if so ignoring him could make him repressed, or depressed which can be mistaken for a well behaved dog. If he is not getting much one to one time he may be desperate for some attention and I could understand that esp. if he is an only dog so no other dogs for company and his "mum" is busy all the time.

I'd probably get a trainer in to just watch what goes on and to advise you, maybe at times you are reinforcing the problem without realising it for example :)

Good luck
Lindsay
x

This is my concern too. The noise he makes is very hard to describe, the best I can come up with is a monkey chattering! We did at one point have 3 dogs (looked after a pup my mum was thinking of showing and a yorkie), but even then when all 3 were put out of the room and had each other for company the girls would go out in the garden and play while lewy lay by the gate crying and would not play. I thought him being an only dog would improve things, as he'd get more one to one attention but it hasn't. He does see other dogs regularly at my mothers, but again he creates if i have to leave him.

Erin, in some way you are rewarding this behaviour.  You really need to stop and think about what you are doing.  You say that  "I guess i make the mistake of still taking him with me when he has carried on this way, but i've found that if i don't take himwith me he's even worse when i get back" - that is powerful reinforcement to a dog which just wants to be with you.

You really have to have nerves of steel and be persistent.  IF you don't like the noise, the DON'T reward it!  Any time he is making the noise, very quickly, with no fuss, put your hand in his collar, put him out of the room.  No eye contact, no verbal reassurance.  And then absolutely ignore the noise, whether it goes on for 1 hour or 3.  This behaviour WILL get worse before it gets better, because it will go through an extinction burst, which basically means an "all out, last attempt" to get your attention.  You must be prepared for this, because otherwise if you go to him when the noise has just got even worse, you will be rewarding that louder noise and that's what you'll get in future. 

Going to your dog is a powerful reward, just like giving it a treat.  You wouldn't give your dog a treat when he was creating a fuss like this, would you???  I mean - you wouldn't dream of it.  So don't go to him or reward him with attention either - it's exactly the same thing.

It's also important that you spend some quality time with him each day - training him, taking him for a walk - but make sure you choose the moments you give him this attention well - make sure he is being quiet when you approach him to give him your quality time together.

Should i leave him behind if he's not being quiet? I think he needs a walk every day, but my partner can't take him every day as he works 12 hour shifts alternating between days and nights. I'm afraid i can't wait hours for him to be quiet to take him out as i have to take my daughter out. My family have shown and bred dogs for years and have honestly never experienced anything like this before, though this is the first time i've had a cavalier (used to have irish setters and cockers) so maybe its something with the breed. I don't think it helps that my partner is not particularly dog orientated  and could not get that 'ignore him' meant 'ignore him completely, don't look at him, don't utter a sound'. We'll give the ignoring method another go (show these answers to said partner!) though i really don't want him to be an unhappy dog. We've been making a real fuss of him when he's quiet the last month, then spraying and saying quiet when he was noisy and it did seem to be working but i can definately see a regression to old ways this last week, though i don't think we've altered anything in the way we were handling it

I too have a 'whiney' dog that makes monkey noises!! I think, well I'm sure it has something to do with the way that I've trained him. I've had him since he was 7 weeks and he's a 19 months old now. We don't have a dog flap so every time he wants to go for a wee he whines to be let out. Good thing I know, but now he whines whenever he wants some attention or is bored or just generally wants something. When we're in the car and we're driving along he's fine, but as soon as we hit a red light or are in a traffic jam, he moans his head off and makes his 'monkey' noises. I remember he used to do this on a bus aswell. To socialise him as a pup, I used to take him on bus rides and whenever the bus stopped he would whine and people would turn round and look at him and smile coz he was so cute when he was little (well I think he still is!). 

I do think that I have reinforced this behaviour without realising it. I haven't got any children so have not got to the stage that when they cry you just have to leave them. I do try and ignore this behaviour but when you're watching telly it's very aggravating! My husband and I tell him 'bed' and he goes then starts up again. I guess I should try and follow the advice given and take him out of the room and bring him back in when he's quiet.

Good luck Erin!

Ali x

"Should i leave him behind if he's not being quiet? "

If he's not being quiet, he doesn't exist.  That's the best way to describe what you should be doing.  You should only take him with you when he's quiet.  You should only look at him when he's quiet.  Your dog only exists when he is quiet.  And then he exists in a big way and you should pay attention to him and give him lots of fuss.  But remember - if he starts to whine again, he stops existing again!

I'm not sure about the spraying thing - like others have said here, stress could be a factor and the last thing you want to be doing if he is stressed is spraying him.  That would only make the stress worse, and make him more likely to make noise. 

The spray was very fine, just one of those plant misters, and was very effective to begin with and still is with other people, they just have to pick it up and he's quiet. With me though he's more bothered with being with me than he is about getting wet, so its lost its effect. I'm going to have a chat with my partner tonight, and my sister who is in the house alot too as she's my child minder, and say that we all have to be singing from the same book and all be consistent in our approach to him. I didn't let him on the sofa last night, which i think shocked him, and told my sister this morning that he wasn't allowed on the furniture anymore and t put him in cage if he misbehaves. I really do want to give him another go, i'd feel like i was giving up on him if i don't plus i'm not sure how he'd cope without me :rolleyes: