[jagger]

Hitting and yelling doesn't work, usually makes things worse. You know your dog better than anyone else.

Let me tell you a little story, may be something, may be nothing...

I first met "our" dog when I met the gf. 1 year old, crate trained - spent all day in a crate... And personally, I hate that, but to each their own. Managed to break that cycle, and instead the crate became his safe zone. When he's stressed or whatever, that's where he goes. He's never locked in. Made big changes in the dog.

Couple of months later, her son decided to bring his farm dog into the city. She had her bed, the other had his kennel. She spent alot of time whining, felt bad for her, it's a big adjustment from having full run on a farm to city living. The dogs were weird with one another, there was no aggression at all, just weird. Jagger would be a jerk and take her toys and bones to his kennel, and she would whine constantly - but she wouldn't just stick her head into the kennel and take her stuff when he wasn't in it. It's like she respected his space, and I would have to dig her stuff out and put it back on her bed. I watched her one night, she stood outside the kennel a foot away whining for her toys and bone - but she wouldn't take them. Jagger was in the bedroom, and it hit me.

The large kennel was in the garage, took it apart, cleaned it, took the door off it - put in a sponge and a blanket. As weird as it sounds, problem solved. She wanted her own space, just like he had. Jagger learned to respect her space as she did his. No more whining, all the weirdness went away.

 

[jagger]

Ok, so realistically, have you ever removed the cats from the situation to see if the dog changes? Bar them in a room away from the dog for a while, see what happens...

 

[jagger]

I have taken the dog to visit family members before for a couple days in a row (the cats are independent enough to be left home for a few days with no problems) and while there he doesn't whine too much at all in comparison but he instead seems to bark a lot more when hearing noises outside which is likely because it's a different setting.

He does still whine though, it just goes from about 80% of the time to maybe 30% of the time.

But that's in a place that is not his turf. It sounds to me that you have a dog with a confidence problem, like he's not sure what he should be doing with himself. Getting back to the farm dog for a moment, she was protective of little dogs - but almost in a prey drive sort of sense. When small dogs were running around, she would get intense and whine, like it was her job to protect, and she wasn't sure how? If that makes sense?

Take the cats out of the equation for a while, lock them in a room somewhere and see what happens, it's not suggested as a permanent solution, just a trial to see if they are the real issue.

Went back through your postings, Burnese/Amstaff cross but if your dog is near 100 pounds, it's probably a safe bet that it's mainly Burnese? Either way, both dogs are working dogs. Couple of maybe's here. Any way to refocus the dog by giving him a job to do, or some purpose for mental stimulation - frisbee? Tracking? Mental toys?

Maybe your dog is looking at the cats like it's a job for him that he should be protecting - you mentioned when the cats are doing something they shouldn't be, he whines louder.
Maybe he's looking at the cats in a way that he wants to herd them?
Maybe there's jealousy, cats got full run of the home, but he's getting scolded.
Maybe it's out of boredom?

Exercise is great, but a dog with no purpose... Since I've been stimulating Jagger with hunting, he's really changed for the better, it's the minpin.