Whining when trying to settle down?

Hi guys, just wondered if anyone can offer me an opinion.

My 9 month bitch seems to be growing a habit of whining when she's trying to settle down, and apparently go to sleep. She just seems restless.
When she was younger, I didn't think much of it because at first, because obviously she was in a new, scary place, and then she had teething for months.

It's only this week that I've been thinking it surely should have stopped by now? It's not every night, but it's often.

I'll take her to the vets if you guys think it's necessary, but the reason I am hesitant is because:
-She only seems to do it when I'm in the room. If she is settled down in the hallway, she'll sometimes potter about and whine very minimally, but not near the amount she does "to me".
-She isn't showing any other signs of discomfort - no focus on any part of her body other than the occasional itch or grooming.
-If I look at her, she'll look back at me, wide-eyed, seeming to be attention-seeking. Occasionally, she'll get up and come over and whine louder in my face.
-If I stand up and go close to her (to investigate if something is wrong), she stops. Surely if it was discomfort, she'd continue?

So all of these strongly indicate to me she's doing it for attention? But I'm a bit baffled because other than occasionally throwing her a toy to entertain her, I've always focused very hard on not reinforcing whining.

Of course, every now and then it turns out the door was shut and she needs the loo, so that makes me worry more about just ignoring it, even if it is attention seeking! She's never been one to tell us when she needs the loo (yes, I am going to get one of those doggy door-hanging bells ).

So. I just wanted your opinions, please. Has anyone had this before? Or any thoughts on what else it could be, or how I should respond to this?

I knew before I looked that it was a GSD.....
They do chunter on a bit. Provided you are satisfied there is no pain there, I`d just put it down to the GSD habit of sharing their feelings.

Lol fantastic
thank you! Glad to know I wouldn't be completely evil for just ignoring it, assuming it was attention/noisiness.

Yes, I'd say probably a GSD thing! Casper's not a whiner, but a grumbler (have been referring to him as Grumble Stiltskin lately ), especially when he goes to settle down. He's always done it and it doesn't seem to be a pain issue, just his little verbal habit.
Kiki can be a bit of a whiner when she feels left out but not usually when we're in reach - just if she's behind a door or babygate. I found that a Kong smeared with a bit of cream cheese, or scattering a handful of treats, every time she was shut behind a door/gate helped her learn that it's not all that bad. Is she crate-trained? I've heard of tethering a Kong in a crate - tie a knot in one end of a bit of rope, thread through the hole in the top of the Kong, and then use that to tie to the crate. You could tie it to something near a bed if she didn't have a crate too. Then you can encourage them to settle in the one place without them being able to carry the Kong elsewhere.
Maybe do some work on some official 'settle' training too, I found that when I started doing this, Kiki did seem a lot quicker to take herself off to her bed and settle when she wasn't getting attention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRM0LeSBjxA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ0Rii_5ckE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEx_KdF4p8M

You can never rule out medical unless they are seen by the vet, but from your description, I'd be tempted to wait for boosters to have her checked over (especially in a whiny breed). When you do go, ask for attention to be paid to the hip area.

In the meantime, without further symptoms, I'd tend to ignore and let her work out that settling down time is just that - a time to settle down

Thanks guys, that's brilliant!
Hilarious that so many of you guessed GSD before reading anything else!
She's not crate trained; just due to lack of it seeming necessary in our personal situation, really, to bother trying to get the permanent room for a crate. But the Kongs are definitely a good one to look into; my greedy guts. I got her one of the square kongs and she really struggled to get anything and didn't get into the idea at all, but the original shapes are so popular there's got to be something in that, so I will give that a shot.
And the settle down links are great. Thanks!

Brierley, thanks, just what I was hoping to hear. Just didn't want to pay a pointless £30 consultation only to hear "she's attention seeking", haha. No other symptoms, plus as you say, we'll be back there for her 1yr-after Boosters, plus spaying as soon as her first heat comes and goes. So unless anything else comes up then, she can have a good old check up (plus her mutant giant extra floppy back dew claw removal ) then.

Thanks everyone!

Mine aren't so fussed on activity balls (I lie, Casper is quite persistant where food is involved but Kiki gets bored and just lets Casper flick it around then hoovers up the food before he finds it ) but love their Kongs. I bought some Busy Buddy squirrels recently which are very similar but half the price - they don't seem quite as good quality, having deeper toothmarks in them already after a couple of months compared to the years that some of the Kongs have been around, but they do the job and it means I have 3 sets to rotate between dogs & freezer. I'd build the challenge up slowly, from little dry biscuits to wet food to freezing them, but other than marrowbones, a frozen Kong is about one of the only things that will last my guys longer than 10 minutes, so they're very handy!