Sure, I can get rid of whining too...with a quiet, or no command...but for serious whining...anything? I never realized how annoying it was until Elwood came into my life. The others all whine for things, but not constantly.
When is the dog whining and when does he do it? Until that gets addressed everything else is superfluous.
In this case, it sounds like something that has been inadvertenly reinforced to death by someone else. Also, for some dogs, vocalization is a self-rewarding behavior. I think it goes back to genetics and wild dogs. Coyotes, for example, sing in unison for a number of reasons but it is mainly a social activity that just feels good. Some domesticated dogs are wired to, or in some cases learn to, vocalize to relieve stress or elicit a reaction from their owners as a form of very subtle manipulation. Connor whines in the crate peridodically when we have guests and/or their dogs over and was really getting on my nerves tonight, for example. He abandoned that strategy when he realized it was getting him nowhere and Dad wasn't happy with it.
For a chronic crate whiner, typically, I would introduce an appropriate correction via a long line strung out the door. We are not so much trying to "punish" the vocalization as we are trying to break the cycle of vocalization to create the desired behavior. I've also heard it referred to as a "pattern interrupt" in training circles. Couple the correction with a "quiet" command previously taught through marker training, and (this is crucial) IMMEDIATELY reward the "quiet behavior" with a mark and treat.
I normally don't like to use a correction when the dog doesn't know what is being asked of him but in this case the correction creates the desired behavior that we need to mark. The goal is to place the dog in a very black and white place where vocalizations result in unpleasantness while quiet gets him treats. It is absolutely necessary to prime the dog by marking and treating quiet behaviors away from stress by specifically eliciting vocalization and ignoring everything but its cessation and labeling the "quiet" behavior.
This must be repeated until the dog understands that the crate is a place for him to retreat into for quiet, restful time. Another major part of this is to make sure that his "crate time" is largely enjoyable anway, so he should enter his crate to discover peanut-butter stuffed Kongs, treats, or whatever else floats his boat. What we want to do is teach him that stress is a no-brainer when in the crate; it can be avoided by sleep and relaxation.
Of course, your mileage may vary.
Demo Dick