So I have been trying to break Max of his whining habit which is driving us crazy.
I've done the searches and read the other posts and decided to try rewarding him when quiet. I found some advice that said to reward the instant he shuts up. So I gave it a go. But it seemed to make the whining worse.
Could he be associating the reward with the process of whining and then stopping. So he whines, he stops, he gets the reward. Or am I giving him too much credit?

I tried a similar tactic with the "leave it" command. He kept biting the couch so I told him "leave it" then when he stopped and looked at me - because I had said something I guess - I rewarded. I did this a couple of times then he kind of looked at me, looked at my hand with the reward in it and proceeded to bite the couch.
My conclusion was he had figured out that if he bit the couch and then stopped when I spoke, he would get a treat. It certainly seemed like his little brain was putting the steps altogether, he even kept eye contact while biting the couch as if to say "is this how it works? You give me treat now?"
Am I wrong in my conclusion?

IMO I don't think you are wrong in your conclusion. Dogs learn sequences very quickly (if I do this, and Mom says this, if I stop, then I get the good stuff).

Whining is only done to get a response from people (wolfs do not whine at each other). Make sure there is nothing medically wrong with him or that he is not in any pain.

Ignoring him totally will be tough, but I would not even treat him when he stops. If it gets to annoying, put him in his crate in another room, turn up the TV or the stereo. He will learn that whining doesn't get him anywhere.

Does he get lots of exercise?

On that note, how long do you keep trying something before you give up? e.g how long do we try ignoring the whining before we know it doesn't work - that's if it doesn't.
For example we used to make a shht noise to make him stop whining,(he would stop for about 5 seconds then start up again) we did this for about 4 months before we decided that it wasn't going to work and to try something else. How soon do you know that something isn't go to work in deterring the behaviour?

I have been ignoring it for two years,

During that time I have learned to gauge the intensity and pitch of the whine so I can usually tell if he is walking around whining over nothing or if there is a fixable issue that is causing it, such as open kitchen gates, or a dog on my bed, a cat on a bookshelf.

So 90% of the time I ignore it, but when it is related to a tangible stressor I try to remove it so he will shut up for 2 seconds.
It drives me absolutely batty though...but he is a neurotic ninny of a wonderful lovemuffin so I get over it.

How old is the dog?

Why is he getting the opportunity to bite the couch in the first place??? The pics in your sig look like he's a puppy.

Rhonda, you're right in your conclusion, you've basically taught your pup (is it a pup?) to whine and to chew the couch.

I wouldn't "instantly" reward a dog for NOT doing something or for stopping a certain behavior. Give the dog a few seconds of inactivity before rewarding, and then I would reward with my praise, not with a treat.

Sandra. My dogs whine at each other all the time. The reason wolves don't do it, I guess, is because they don't use crates and leashes on each other to separate themselves. I have found whining means "come over here and be with me" whether it is directed at a human or another dog.

Rhonda, yes, your dog is "offering" behaviours in order to get a treat. You're using operant conditioning (like clicker training) on your dog. I have inadverdently taught my puppy some things this way. If I give him a treat for stopping something, he does it more.

What you should do instead is treat him for good things (laying quietly) I only pet/praise my puppy when he's sitting or "being good". When he does something bad like put his paws on the kitchen table, I jerk him off with the leash and put him in his ex-pen without comment, or move him to another area and give him something else to do. Inevitably he will lay down, or find an appropriate toy and then I can praise and treat.

I don't know if that is the right way to do it but my puppy's manners are slowly getting better.

Thanks for the replies, I will from now on just ignore and grit my teeth. We have been trying it, but not consistently enough and there have been a few times when we look at him or praise him just as he starts to whine. So unintentionally we have encouraged it.

The reason he is able to bite the couch is because we keep him tethered to us and if we sit on the couch then he is close enough to bite, though we don't let him get on it. He is a puppy, 8 months.