How long have you had her? Has she always shown this behavior? What are the common elements/context that cause the crying behavior? E.g. does she usually do it when she is alone? In a different room? At a particular time of the day? When you are in the same room but not giving her attention?

What do you do when she cries? Have you tried putting the behavior under command control, e.g. teaching her the Quiet command?

Does she have a fixed daily routine? What is her daily routine like? What are the house rules? What type of training is she used to? How is she with new dogs and new people?

In terms of time-outs, I only do that for more serious misbehaviors. For whining, I first try to figure out what is triggering the behavior. There are many reasons why a dog may vocalize, and I respond based on the source of the behavior. For example, dogs may sometimes vocalize because of anxiety, e.g. separation anxiety. In this case, I want to do desensitization exercises to help my dog better cope with her anxiety. I *do not* use timeouts or other types of punishment here, as that may worsen her anxiety and anxiety symptoms.

Dog behavior is very context dependent so each dog and situation are different. How I respond, is also very dependent on the situation and where the behavior is coming from. When I was having problems with my Shiba Inu, I consulted with several professional trainers, who helped me with reading my dog’s body language and identifying the root causes of his misbehaviors. Once I better understand where his behavior is coming from, I can come up with an effective plan for retraining the behavior.

More on how I deal with bad dog behavior.

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/

I have an estimated year old Husky/Shepherd cross. She picks up on her training very quickly and is such a sweetheart. But she has a habit of crying and whining at me for prolonged periods. Example, the other day I walked her for a total of almost 2 hours, played with her, gave her attention, but she still cried and cried. She’s not in pain, she’s not away from me or in her crate, but she would not stop crying.

Do you have any ideas of what I should be doing? I do ignore it, I’ve ignored her crying at my bedroom door for almost an hour one time. I’ve tried crating her, but I’m going to start putting her in the bathroom as per your suggestion of a “boring, quiet room” instead of her crate.

Many people suggest a lack of exercise or being crated as the problem, but like I said, she was walked for almost 2 hours and was not in her crate. I’m really at a loss for what I should be doing.

Any ideas?

First of all generally speaking huskies prefer other huskies over other dogs. Many huskies do not get on well with small dogs. Your husky is unhappy about something you as pack leader need to find out what is causing her to be unbalanced. My guess is it has something to do with either she feels insecure or she dislikes the others. The barking is about getting attention. When my husky wants something she will bark and bark till she gets what she wants or simply gives up. If I ignore her barking I will hear that sigh I call it the husky sigh. She acts so frustrated when I ignore her. Biting family is very bad and you need to find out what is going on but if all was well before the other dogs then perhaps that is the root of the problem.

I help my dog to be more comfortable and relaxed around other dogs by doing dog-to-dog desensitization exercises.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression#desensitize

More on dog socialization.

What type of training are the dogs used to? What is the daily routine of the dogs? How much exercise and people time do the dogs get?

Dog behavior is very context dependent. There are many reasons why dogs bark, there are many reasons why dogs bite, and there are many levels of biting. This is why getting help from a trainer is usually recommended. A trainer was able to help me with reading my dog’s body language, with timing, technique, and more.

If there is no possibility of getting a trainer, then we will need to get the information through books, articles, etc.

More on how I deal with bad dog behavior.
More on where I get dog training and dog behavior information.

LOL! That sounds really cute.

Sephy doesn’t usually do that, but the Sibes do. Sephy, I think, likes practicing his soprano voice. When we all sing, he usually hits high notes and belts it out with great power.

His war cries (sounds he makes while playing) are also high-pitched and very cute. Not very manly, but very cute. 😀