But if you have taken care of your dog’s food and water needs, then your dog probably wants attention. Young dogs often whine in the middle of the night, for this very reason. If you give in and pay attention to your dog, then you are only reinforcing its whining reflex.
This is difficult, because a whining puppy is a lot like a crying baby. The big difference is that a month old puppy is much more self-sufficient than a baby. So don’t respond when your dog whines.
2. Pay attention when he is quiet.
This is the other side of the coin. You don’t need to neglect your dog. So make sure to pay attention to your dog when it is behaving. This reinforces good behavior and let’s your dog know there’s no reason for its separation anxiety.
I would suggest having some “Fido time” everyday. Set aside a few minutes to play with your dog or give it some exercise. If nothing else, give it some affection. Often, a few minutes of undivided attention is enough to tide a dog over for a day, so it doesn’t feel the need to whine.
3. Reassure Your Dog About Separation
A dog doesn’t like to be separated from its pack. So if you put it in another room or outside, it gets upset that it may never rejoin its pack. So train your dog that temporary separation is simply that.
If you put your dog in another room, make certain to visit it several times when you first start this new behavior. This lets it know that its confinement is only short term and that the dog hasn’t displeased the pack in some way.
Make certain not to return to a whining dog, though. This will trigger its whine mechanism. So when your dog is in its room for several minutes without a whine, give it gentle praise and perhaps even a snack.
Make certain to confine the dog with toys and other things to make its room “fun”. You should probably spend a few minutes in the room before you leave it, playing with it and letting it know that the room is also a social, fun place.