Jack russell cross shaking and high pitched whining

Question
my jack russell cross, who is around 9 months old, makes a high pitched
whining sound about 3-4 times a day, i am now very concerned because he
woke me up late last night with it. he hates being moved and picked up and
he bites me when i try. although, he is very well natured. he also has a joint
problem with his back leg and sometimes struggles walking on it when we go
for walks. he has had a leaky eye since being a pup and it has not cleared up.
we have taken him to the vets and they don't seem to have any idea what the
matter is. sometimes i can find him on the bottom of the stairs just shaking
and distressed. i hope you can help.

Answer
The first thing I would do would be to change vets, as yours sounds pretty useless.

The whining could be due to a number of things, but pain comes to mind since he is obviously having some sort of issue with his back leg. Did your vet ever tell you what it is? Could it be corrected with surgery? You might want to look for a chiropractic veterinarian as they are often more helpful with physical/structural issues than regular veterinarians.
http://www.avcadoctors.com/search_for_avca_certified_doctor.htm

As to the eye issue, that could be due to distichiasis, which is a case of extra eyelashes (in the wrong place) that could be rubbing on the dog's eye and causing irritation, and thus excessive tearing. http://peteyedoctor.com/dist.htm  It could also be due to a clogged tear duct. You need to get a referral to a veterinary ophthalmologist. http://www.vmdb.org/clinic.html