Attention Seeking whining (please help!)

My dog without fail will whine! whine when he wants something..whine when he wants love, whine when he's on his lead (and i'm waiting with him, due to boredom) but most of all whine when he is left alone outside.now all of them don't bother me apart from the whining when he's left alone! My fear is that someone will think he is whining because he is distressed worry and take him. People don't understand that he is whining because he wants attention from passers by.. if there is no one there he will not whine! but the more people stare at him or go up to him the more he will whine.. till he gets them to stroke him etc.. i've tried telling him off.. reassuring him.. leaving him with bones/toys whilst i'm gone. And tried praising/rewarding him when he is silent which takes forever! anyway none of this is working! we've had announcements in shops telling us to attend to our dog (although we are going as fast as we can) And numerous times go back to find someone next to him worrying that he's been abandoned. If any dog owners know how i can get him to stop this attention seeking whining whilst left, please help!!

I'm considering also putting a sign next to him saying "please don't give me attention as that will increase my whining. I am not distressed i just like attention!"

I am sorry I cant help on this one. Has he always been like that when a puppy too?

Yes, there has been times when he's been better but i think that's due to no one being around to give him attention.

How long is he left for in a day? Pixee use to cry when I left the house, I use to leave treats all over for her, but she never touched them till I got back home, to this day, she still wont touch the treats, but she has stopped crying, I think its because we have let her have the two chairs in the conney which is the front of the house, and where the sun shines alot too, and she can see us come and go, and just settles down in whichever chair she fancies till we come back. The longest I have left her is 4 hours, a rare thing. Mostly she is left, if I go shopping or fetching materials for hubby. Or if we go out on a night, rare again, but normally son will be about. Your dog must just love humans so much and want the fuss.

I'm a stay at home mummy so he's not left alone much at all. But when i do he seems fine left alone at home. Great with kids and other dogs, but constantly craves attention from other humans when left outside whilst i pick my child up from school for eg.. also if we have visitors at home he constantly wants attention from the ones that give him some. I have decreased taking him places where i have to leave him for a bit, because of the reaction i get from other humans worrying if he's ok. Of course as soon as i get there off we go and he is fine again. If i wait with him whilst my partner goes to the shop for eg he will still whine if i am not giving him attention. he's always been like this.

I often see two staffies in town tied up while the owners pop into the shops, one is fine, the other does whine, I have fussed him, perhaps I shouldnt have, but the owner didnt mind. As you leave luckystar outside when you pick the kids up, are you not able to leave him in the house? where he wont able to seek the attention of anyone then. Perhaps another thing which may help is, when you have vistors, not to fuss him till 5 mins before they go home, so he doesnt miss out.

Yes i could leave him in the house but I really would like the problem sorted rather then avoided. We enjoy are walks as a family and sometimes there just isn't as much time in the days as we would like so find taking him out with me whilst im going out anyway is better then leaving him at home without a walk. I will keep working on trying to train this out of him myself see if it will work eventually..

Hi Rach, please have a read of the link below there be something here which is useful:

http://www.staffy-bull-terrier.com/separation_anxiety

Thank you! This seems to only suggest help for when leaving your dog at home though, he is fine left at home it's when he's left tied up outside for a small while that he whines. I think it is attention seeking whine as i said before though because even when i am with him outside a shop for eg he will still whine.