Yodel-ay-hee-hoo!

Athena isn't a very noisy dog.  She rarely full-on barks but instead will just give a soft woof if she feels the need to speak.  However, for what she lacks in the bark department, she more than makes up for in the yodel department.  That's right, Athena is a yodeler.  You know, like "yodel-ay-hee-hoo!"

You just really need to watch this video in its entirety to see the yodeling in action (or at least make sure you get to my favorite part starting at 0:50):

Athena's yodeling isn't so much a problem in the house as it is when she gets in the car.  Whenever Athena thinks we're in the car to take her to one of her favorite places (the park, doggie daycare, flyball practice, etc.) she starts to yodel.  It usually starts as a whisper yodel as she stares out the car window in hopes that the car turns down a street that will lead her to one of her favorite places.  If the car in fact turns down a road that goes to the park, doggie daycare, or one of her many other favorite locations, Athena's yodeling will increase in loudness until she completely drowns out the stereo and our conversation.

I love Bean - yodels and all!

I find myself saying, "shhhhhhhh" "shhhhh" "shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," during most of the car ride, especially when we get REAL close to the park (or other favorite place) because that's when Athena goes totally ballistic.  As you probably saw if you viewed the above video, 0:50 in the video shows the exact instance when Athena has realized that we are in fact driving to the park.  She yodels and dances all the way until we stop the car.

Bean LOVES the park

Now, there are many other locations that we frequent that just so happen to be along the same driving path as some of Athena's favorite locations.  This means that we get to hear yodeling even if we're not planning on stopping at the park.  I then feel guilty when Athena stops yodeling because I know that she's pouting that I so rudely didn't take her to a favorite place.

Is your dog a barker, a whiner, a yodeler, or something totally unique?

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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?