We have a whining problem that hopefully people can offer some solutions to. Casey whines a lot, and while I don’t have the space here to go into details about all her whining, there is one instance in particular that I would like to address: whining while travelling.

Casey travels in her crate in the backseat of my car. She’ll sometimes whine a bit while in the crate and I’m driving, but the real problem occurs when we stop at our destination. The instant I put the car into park and turn off the engine, she starts whining. Every time, without fail, I put the car into park and it starts. Here’s the thing about it: Casey has never, not once, been allowed out of her crate or out of the car while whining. Not a single time, in the whole 8 months that she’s been with us, have either my husband or myself allowed her out while whining. NEVER has this behaviour been rewarded with exiting the crate. I understand why she’s whining: she wants out. She knows we’re somewhere fun (the dog park, an off-leash hiking trail, petsmart) and she wants to get out and have fun. But what I’d like is for her to just sit and relax while I’m getting ready to get out of the bloody car.

Here’s what I’m currently doing in this scenario: Firstly, I’ve begun covering the back of her crate with a towel so she can’t see me. I’ve found that when she can’t see me, she quiets down quicker than when she can look at me. Now when we arrive at a location, this is our typical routine:

1)      I turn off the car; she starts to whine; I sit quietly doing nothing in the driver’s seat waiting.

2)      Casey whines for anywhere from 2-10 minutes. During this time, she’ll whine on and off, sometimes stopping for 5-10 seconds straight. I’ve learned in the past that these “pauses” in whining DO NOT mean that’s she calm, or done whining, she’s just taking a little break. If I start moving around in the car or talking to her, she will immediately start up whining again.

3)      Eventually, Casey gives a frustrated sigh/whine and lays down.

4)      At this point, I’ll start moving in the car, getting my stuff ready to get out (grabbing my purse, whatever else I need to do). She may or may not start whining again. If she does start whining again, we go back to step 1) – sitting quietly doing nothing and waiting.

5)      If she’s still quiet, I’ll get out of the car and walk over to the side door to open it up and let her out. At this point, there’s a 50/50 chance that when I open the side door, she’ll start whining again. If she starts whining again, I drape the towel that’s sitting on top of her crate over the front (so she can’t see me) and stand and wait for her to quiet down (with the door open obviously, or else I couldn’t hear if she was whining or not).

6)      When she quiets down again, I’ll lift off the towel. If she starts whining, back to step 5). If she’s quiet, I open the crate door to attach her leash and let her out. If at any point, she starts whining, the door is closed, the towel is once again placed over the front, and again we wait for quiet.

7)      This process can take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. If we’re at the dog park and there are dogs in her line of sight when I open up the door, it can take longer.

What I would like is to turn off my car and get out with her in a few minutes or less. I actually like taking her to the dog park, or to hiking trails, but sometimes I just don’t feel like going through this process and so decide against it because it’s just a frustrating waste of my time. I don’t like sitting in the car doing nothing at the dog park for 20 minutes every time we go, and sitting in a confined area doing nothing but listening to a whining dog is not my idea of a good time.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!