NOSE WHINING

Roz’s little housedog nose whines. This is not an obvious or loud sound, it is almost so low it tests your hearing; but loud enough to get your attention. It is a way for the dog to sneak-in her displeasure, make a request, etc. without being bold and blunt. The eyes and other body language do not necessarily follow the nose whine; the whine is much too coy for that. The soft, persistent little nose sound is almost indistinguishable and undetectable… but it does eventually get your attention.

I decided if it works this well for little housedogs… maybe it would work for me. So I started practicing (and you can too). Here’s what you do: You practice keeping your mouth tightly closed, and then with a soft whisper/humming/whining sound you carefully release it through your nose. You hold your breath and kind of squeeze out the whine through your nose. You must carefully practice this or you (and others) will see the stomach contract and the chest slightly heave. Both are give-aways. The sound can’t be very loud because you have to hold the pitch consistently for about 10 seconds before releasing and preparing for another whine. Too loud and too long and you again give yourself away. You just need some practice… you can do it.

Roz and I were sitting quietly one evening and I decided to try out my new nose whining technique. While reading and not much noise of any kind, I let out a perfect soft nose whine. Then waited and let out another. I thought, “this is going to work,” when quietly Roz turned to me and said, “Are you nose whining?” I said, “No, what’s nose whining… you mean like your little house dog does? What makes you think I would be doing that?” (From RMJ September 2012)

“Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Jesus