Why whine little dog?

When I am not on college campuses meeting with students, I work from home. It is nice, I have schedule flexibility, can throw laundry in when I want, wear what I want, meet my husband for my lunch, drop everything and go to the mall... I get to listen to my own music, sit where I want, lay on the couch and work, so many beautiful benefits. There is one thing that is not working for me. The whinny dog. I am on conference calls 40% of the time and a barking, whining dog is no good. I have to continually apologize. I love Sam. If you know me, you know that I LOVE SAM. But even when he gets a run in the morning, he whines and whines and whines for no apparent reason.

Right now, he is in the back-yard barking. He is probably making the neighbors mad and waking up the new baby next year. But I am so frustrated that I just need some space from that whinny little guy.

How can I get him to stop whining? I have tried, tried, tried with treats, toys and all sorts of other tricks, and unless I want my dog to hit 100 pounds, I can't keep shoving treats into his mouth. I have got to get him to stop. He is driving me insane!!!!!!!