Athena's Got a Boyfriend...

Athena is very much a single lady who likes to scope out her dating options while out and about.  But, there's one dog in particular that makes Athena get all googley-eyed.

Meet Hercules:

The first time that Athena met this handsome dog was on a typical morning walk.  When I say typical, I mean that we can always expect to have the pleasure of meeting at least one off-leash dog  Our first encounter with Hercules was when he ran from his front yard to greet Miss Athena.  It was love at first sight for the both of them.  Athena did not greet Hercules with her usual play bow, play bow, play bow, "hey let's play!" attitude, but instead she whined and whined.  The two of them calmly sniffed one another and whined excessively.

The next time that we walked by Hercules' yard, he ran out again for another off-leash greeting.  This was when we learned that his name is Hercules because his owner called him back to the yard and scolded him with a, "Hercules!  You know that you aren't allowed to leave the yard!"  Yeah, I'm sure he really knows that he's not allowed to leave the yard when you leave the gate wide open...

But back to the love story, Athena and Hercules get to see each other at least a couple of times per week on our morning walks.  We can usually count on Hercules being in his front yard waiting for his girlfriend to walk by.  Unlike most dogs in the neighborhood, Hercules does not bark at us.  Instead, he whines and howls as if to say, "Athena, you are so beautiful!"  Athena tries her best to lead us over to Hercules' yard as she whines right back at him.

Of course I googled "Why do dogs whine at each other?" and found a list of different reasons why these two lovebirds might have the urge to whine.  We are simply assuming that they whine because they want to greet or play with one another.  I probably don't help the situation much though because whenever we are nearing Hercules' yard I start my lovebird talk with, "Is your boyfriend out today Athena?"

Any other thoughts about why Athena and Hercules do this major whining at each other (I might be upset though if you don't believe that it's due to true love).  Also, any ideas as to what breed of dog Hercules is?