Hello, I haven't been on here for ages.  Anyway, my dobe seems to be getting worse with his constant whining and whinging.  Yesterday we had had a lovely walk, we came home and I had a bit of shopping to do (I was out about an hour).  I come back, done some housework (with him whining around me), then I played with him for while.  Then I had a read (for about 15 minutes), he sat looking at me and whining (getting louder and louder).  I went to pick up son from station (my other son was at home), then took my boys to training (I was gone for about 45 minutes).  When I got back he had undone my bag and taken my purse out and chewed it up.  We don't generally leave things around, (shoes etc), but he hasn't chewed anything for months and I generally leave my bag in the kitchen.  In the past he has chewed my shoes, another purse, my glasses, a couple of suede handbags.  I just sometimes think he seems unhappy, I know I am probably being silly but he just walks around and whines.  He actually gives me a headache!  Any ideas please.....

I think it is you that is unhappy because you have created an attention seeking monster!

Do not ALLOW your dog to whine around you when doing housework, or when you are reading. 

Teach him that this is inappropriate by rewarding the absence of whining and removing yourself when he whines.  If you totally ignore his whining and make a huge fuss of him when he is silent, you will find that the dog will learn by cause and effect.

The reason dogs whine is the same as why children and other people do, it gets them attention, even if it is not the sort of attention they had planned on.  The dog must be getting rewarded for his whining otherwise he would not bother to do it, and dogs only do what works.

Do some "alone" training and provide him with something that he never gets normally in your absence so that he actually looks FORWARD to you disappearing rather than getting anxious, ie a stuffed kong, buster cube etc.

Everything tohme said, with one addition - once you have begun ignoring his whining, NEVER respond to it again - not once - for as long as he lives!  One single response will make it harder than ever to stop, as he will have learned that if he sticks to his guns, eventually you'll give in.  Good luck, as the owner of a dobe that whines in the car (something I've never managed to train out of him) I know exactly how you feel!

You could try chamomila. I have used it for an adolescent pup that started to get a bit ott. Calmed him down and stopped the whining. You may have to use it a couple of times but it does help. You can get it in the boots homeopathy section. :-) 

I have been ignorning him and he does seem to have improved.  Well he must have, because I don't feel as though he is behind me every minute, even though he is still quite clingy definitely his whining has lessened.  Sometimes I hate to put posts on here from the replies eg. attention seeking monster - well he isn't that at all. I had been told on here previously when I first posted about him crying and whinging, that it was common with dobermanns.  I have owned a dobermann previously and he didn't whine at all. 
Also in the last few weeks he has chewed my purse (which he got out of my bag) and my toothbrush which he took from the worktop.  He hasn't chewed anything in ages.  Both of these times I had been gone about half an hour.  Also I do go out and leave him alone.  He just seems to get moody.

It sounds as though he has a mild (yes, really!) form of Separation Anxiety. Google (type in 'separation anxiety dog' - make sure you spell it right!) will find lots of information such as this, this and this, and treatments - some are good, some less so! It's a matter of reading as much information as you can and getting a 'feel' for the problem; then you can adapt your (and I include your family in that) behaviour accordingly - all people's circumstances are different. :)

This sounds exactly like morgan. I always use to think he was bored even though he may have already been out. When he was a pup he was the same. i made the mistake of playing with him to try to wear him out. It seams like the more exercise i gave him the worse he become. It really is irritating like having a baby crying. I know just how you feel. He comes up and sticks his rope toy in your face which i ignore and he drops it abruptly on the floor but then picks it up and repeats the process over again. My other dobe doesn't do this but its a bitch. Out of interest is he casterated? Morgan isn't and i sense a restleness in him that was similar to a shar pei that i had. When i had that dog casterated it calmed him considerably even though he was 3 years old. I show Morgan so i have to keep him intact but i often wonder if it is worth it. He always seams to want something. Although i did spoil morgan i admit and wonder if this it. All the things that a dog behavourist told me to do with him does not work with him. I now have 3 of his pups to train and am determined not to make the same mistake again. I have noticed other dobes whinning like this so maybe it is not our fault and something some of them do. Does anyone have a bitch that does this. I will be interested to see how you get on. I often think that if he belonged to someone else they would have rehomed him by now, but i wouldn't part with him for anything.

We have a Dobe girl who loves us to be around her all the time. We ignore her when she's to pushy and she's been better than she used to be. So much so, that she'll now go off an have a sleep in her bed in the other room alone! But wo betide if you shut the baby gate on her. They call them THE velcroe dog, so I guess as she is a Dobermann, it's considered normal behaivour. And yes, the more you give, the more they want.

Hi,
My dobe is castrated, he was done at about 15 months old.  He sounds exactly the same as your one though, he brings the toy and places on your lap (but I totally ignore him), he then makes a little noise as though "look here it is", but I still ignore then he takes it away.  I have a bit of an uphill struggle though, as I have two boys 19 and 16 and they will often forget and as he gives them something they throw it (meaning to throw it away), but of course he thinks its play time.  I must admit I have been ignoring him quite a bit (I am only fussing at the moment when he is quiet), and he has been going into the other room and laying down.  If I was in the kitchen he would sit in my back room (where he has full view of me), but he has stopped that.  I have tried lots of things with him, but I do feel that alot of the problem is my boys and husband, they don't keep to the rules.  Mind you I love my dobe dearly he is so affectionate and loving.