My German Shepherd gets whiny when he sees people or goes to a new place with us. Can you help?

I just had a question or two about my pup. He is a 15 month fully intact GSD. He is obedience trained. We work him multiple times throughout the day with activities such as fetch, walks, swimming, puzzles, ect. We are a very active family and want our dog to get used to going to places. I have noticed more recently that he gets super whiny when my friends or family are nearby when he is on leash. I tell them to ignore him as I don't want to reinforce the behavior , and if he calms down, then he can go up to meet them and get attention . If he is whiny, I will give him a command such as sit or down. He complies but continues to whine for a bit. It's like he wants to get to them to get attention. He also gets whiny at new places. My son plays baseball and we have been bringing him to his games, keeping our distance from others, and it seems he is much better with less whining. I do not allow strangers to pet him. We also reward him with treats when he is calm and appropriate. His trainer mentioned it may be anxiety that causes the whining but also mentioned GSD's are whiny in general. Does it sound like I am on the right track with continuing positive reinforcement? Do you have any other suggestions or insight? Thank you so much!

Leerburg's Answer

I might stop letting him go up and meet people because whining is usually because of the dog feeling frustrated while they anticipate something happening. If you take away the greetings on the leash, the whining may be easier to reduce. It is a form of anxiety and frustration but is also a very typical GSD trait. It can definitely escalate if he is accidentally released towards whatever the trigger was for whining.

I have a young GSD myself and he shows this tendency. I ask for eye contact and give rewards for the focus on me with ZERO whining. If he even quietly squeaks I will "reset" him by taking him in a different direction and then stopping and again asking for focus on me. I also find that if we have a ball on a string or one of his other favorite training toys I can keep his focus more easily and channel his energy into me. My dog is toy obsessed so I often let him carry his ball when we are out and about. If your dog isn't as obsessed as my guy is that may not work for you but it's sort of like a pacifier and gives him something else to think about.