Nissa is pretty much the same way as Kady was. She waits until she gets outside to bark (unlike Kady who couldn’t even make it out the door). Nissa barks at the sun, the moon, the visible neighbors, the invisible neighbors, the dogs she can see and the dogs she can’t. She barks at shadows, she barks just to bark, she barks to hear herself talk. Did I miss anything? Now, she doesn’t bark all the time, just most of it. She really doesn’t bark much inside the house, it’s when she’s outside. Riley can be going ballistic at the window barking at people walking by and she usually just watches him. She may not even get up and go look or she might. Once in awhile she’ll go to the window and start some mild barking, but not often. She prefers to growl at the window, Riley on the other hand doesn’t growl he barks.
When we had our three Yorkies there was one female and two males. Our female, Kady, drove me nuts with her barking. Put her out in the yard and she’d bark at anything and everything. It didn’t even have to be moving. Heck, she’d start barking before her feet hit the back porch and there was no shutting her up. Our males, Damien and Crocket weren’t much for barking outside unless our neighbor was out there – then they’d all get to going.
I realize that barking is normal dog behavior, it’s what dogs do. It’s their way of communicating whether it be to warn us that something just isn’t right or to have a gab fest with other dogs in the neighborhood. I don’t have a problem with it when there’s a reason to bark, but to go out and bark just to make noise is very annoying – not only to me but to the neighbors.
Because dogs don’t know the difference between day and night, it’s particularly disturbing to me because I don’t want her waking the neighbors with her night-time bark-fests. Hubby says it’s ok to let her bark during the day and he’d leave her out there barking but at night he doesn’t let her do this. I on the other hand, go bring her in no matter what time of day or night it is. She doesn’t have a clue that it’s ok to bark during the day but not at night so I feel we need to be consistent. Riley will bark outside when he sees someone go by the house, that’s (to him) reason for barking – he’s protecting his territory or he’ll bark at other dogs he can see. Nissa on the other hand, doesn’t need a common-sense-to-a-human reason to bark.
So, I’m curious .. what’s your experience with barking dogs? Those with multiple-dog households where you have a mix of male and female … do your female dogs bark more than your males? Do your dogs seem to have a common sense reason to bark or do they just bark to hear themselves yakk? Go ahead and consider the neighbors dogs, too. You probably know if your neighbor’s dog is male or female.
Are female dogs calmer than males?
Temperament. Generally female dogs tend to be a little more independent than males dogs and mostly aren’t so demanding of attention. They love a big cuddle as much as any male dog, but they tend to take themselves away when they want a bit of down time.
Pros And Cons Of Male Dogs
In general, male dogs tend to be larger – often something to consider if choosing one when it’s still a puppy. They often need more robust, assertive training than she-dogs. Once trained, though, they tend to be good, steady family dogs, adaptable to all sorts of situations.
If your male dog is not neutered, you need to make sure he has an area to exercise in that he can’t escape from – especially if there are female dogs on heat nearby.
Male dogs don’t have much parental instinct, and so they tend to view children as potential playmates rather than strangely shaped puppies! This can make things a little boisterous at times, and it’s important that young children don’t become intimidated, giving the dog the idea that’s it’s a rung or two above them on the pack ladder. This varies a lot from breed to breed, however, and some male dogs can be every bit as loving and protective of children as a maternal she-dog.
Male dogs are usually more affectionate than females, and some positively crave human attention. You’ll find it’s always you who brings the cuddling and fussing to an end – he could happily go on like this all day!
In a family setting, the majority of male dogs tend to become great big puppies, taking a long time to mature, and often retaining that playful puppyishness right through their lives. This often makes it relatively hard to keep them focused when you’re training them. Their love of attention is your secret weapon, though – give them lots of fuss when they get it right, and they’ll try hard to grasp what it is that seems to please you so much!
