Dog Whining

How can I stop my dog from unnecessary whining?

My dog whines for about half an hour every morning at around 5:30am. If I get up and let him out he just stands there and stares off. If I ignore him, after about thirty minutes he shuts up and goes back to sleep until I get up at 8:00am and let him out to use the bathroom.
By the way, this has been going on for about 3 months. For the past month I have ignored him, but he is still waking me up, and I am wondering if this is going to ever end. He is a bassett hound, he is ten years old, and he sleeps in the laundry room on a nice, thick, comfortable dog bed (if I let him roam the house at night, he eats poop out of the cat’s litter box – not an option!).

You just answered your own question. When he begins to whine (if you know it’s just for attention and he isn’t injured or needs to go to the bathroom), ignore him. Teach him that whining unless he needs to go the bathroom will give him zero attention.

He’s learned that when he whines, he’s gonna get you to get up and come towards him; stop this habit by not paying any sort of attention to him when he’s doing it for attention (assuming you are giving him the adequate love, attention, mental stimulation, and exercise at other times).

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