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Barking Male or female
by Joan
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
We will be getting our second Maltese soon. I have talked to four breeders, and two told me females bark alot . and two said that males do. Is their really any differevce?? Our little male angel, barks,at everything,and we have been advised, to try and get a quieter one, or both will bark all the time. We are leaning towards a female,so he can be "the big boss",also.
DISCUSSION:
Joan, I have never heard of, until now, of any correlation between the gender of a Maltese & barking. Thats a new one on me.
Jay
Joan, I think maybe you are getting misinformation. My Lucy is very quiet--she was never a barker at all unless she heard a strange sound in the night. Boo (rescue) the boy doggie came and he was a big barker (he taught Luce to Bark, she taught him to beg for food at the table). Then Tiki the foster girl came. She barks more often and longer and louder than either of the others. So I suspect it has to do with training and temperment, not gender. Also you are barking (excuse the pun) up the wrong tree about getting a female so your boy can be the big cheese (you must be brainwashed by our society!!). In doggie worlds it is usually the female that takes over the alpha slot, not the male. Boo is huge compared to Luce (he's 15 lb) and much "tougher," but she has ruled the roost here always. And, Tiki, the 4 lb foster girl is fighting Luce for first place but Boo doesn't mess with either of them. So get a new baby based on which one chooses you and don't worry too much about gender as related to either of these issues.
cathy brown
Joan - My first Maltese was female and I had her for almost 13 years. I had her a couple of months before she barked and when she did she scared both of us. Now I have Baxter a 13 pound Bichon and have had him a year and I have Bella a 3 pound Maltese I received as a gift in August. Both bark when someone comes to the door or back gate and both bark when there is mail or the newspaper comes - now as for the boss - it isnt the 13 pound Bichon he is the biggest woosie - when they go for walkies and another dog approaches usually huge dogs its the 3 pound Maltese who barks it off - she is the best watch dog, and much more obediant than the Bichon - she knows immediately to wait until you unleash her, she always sits for treats or dinner without being told and knows as soon as she hears daddy get plastic bags they are going for walk - he knows if there is food around or toys and not a whole lot more. When we got Bella we had the choice of her or her sister - Bella's sister barked Baxter's face off at first meeting Bella hid and was reserved as far as Baxter was concerned - well she got over that on the way home. They both get along really well and play together.
Shirley
Jay, I agree with you. I just came home from seeing 4 darling 4 week old babies. The breeder, also babysits,in her home,and is very good with all breeds. When I asked her about male or female {best for my male} her reply was,when she has other dogs there, alot of the males want to hump the females, alot. She thought,maybe another male would be best. {my little Dennis does do this with his stuffed toys, now.} So now I have another concern, to think about. I"d like to bring them all home, but of course I cannot do that. Dennis, is neutered. Any suggestions, on this matter?
Joan
I can tell you that we have 2 Matlese - a boy and a girl. He doesn't bark very much at all while she is quite vocal! I don't know though if this is typical or just due to their personalities. There is something else concerning barking that I have wondered about though. His bark is very low and gruff sounding while hers is very high pitched. Is this normal for a male to have a lower pitched bark than a female?
Sandie, Evie and Teddy
Joan..I don't know if this is the norm or not, but when Tiki came here for fostering, she went into heat about the 3rd day after her arrival. Boo, who is neutered, but who has a VERY enjoyable relationship with his stuffed bunny, never went near her at all. I was quite surprised, I can tell you. So, if your guy-boy is neutered, it may make no difference if your little new one is a female. Also, once a female is spayed there is no issue between the two in a "humping" regard, at least in my experience with Luce and Boo.
cathy brown
I agree with the others that have posted that gender is not a reliable indicator about barking. I have a male and female and each one can be vocal at times, but usually about different things..Sebastian barks at the doorbell, other animals and strangers, while Sunny only barks if there is food involved. Also, mounting or "humping" can often be a sign of establishing dominance. Sebastian was neutered at about 7 months and 2 years later still occasionally humps the cat (which is a male). When we got Sunny, she was spayed, buy yet he tried this behavior with her and she quickly put him in his place.
Mary Ellen
I am having problems with my two malteses ( a male adult and a female puppy) barking all the time. Aa a matter of fact the problem is so bad my landlord has warned me to stop the barking of my babies immediately or get rid of them. I have moved in resently and paid sizeable deposits so therefore I
don't know what to do about a quick solution to their barking habit. Does anyone have any soultions or suggestions?????
angie, keanu, and jazzy
Cathy, I'm so happy you addressed the issue of alpha dog. My Andy (18 mos.) thinks he is a Great Pyrennes most of the time and yet when Grace (16 wks.) arrived, he took a back seat right from the start. She chases him, bites at his ears and tail, takes his toys, etc. and he either runs away or goes for another toy. I was very concerned at first, but decided to let them work out the pecking order. They do relax and rest together nicely, but Grace RULES!
Mary
Both of mine are girls. Sasha's bark is much, much, deeper than Sophie's high-pitched shrill. Sasha barks a little more than Sophie, but they don't bark constantly or if they do I've grown used to it. As far as the humping goes, both of mine are girls and they spend 1/2 their time humping eachother. At first, Sophie was always the humper and Sasha the "humpee." So we thought it was a dominance thing, but now they take turns and submissively lay down to be "humped" next. I've grown to think that it is just sort of a rough play between the two because they are both spayed. You can imagine all the comments we get from our guests about our lesbian dogs.
Carrie, Sophie & Sasha
I know what I'm gonna try... in "Doctors Foster & Smith" catalog, page 109, there's a very small bark collar for toy dogs, it's called the "Micro-Line Collar". I'm desperate, I've tried everything else and Cuddles is the most BARKINGEST dog I've ever seen. This collar is very pricey, but I'm willing to give it a try. Has anyone else tried this collar?
Susan & Cuddles
We had a few people tell us to try one, that they work. We got one at K-Mark,sent away for a piece to put on it, for small dogs. We tried it once.He hid under the furnature and shook. NEVER AGAIN. He stil barks,at evertthing,and if we show it to him, he runs away or will stop barking,for awhile. Would never use it again,myself. Hope we haven't done him, any harm. Please think about it, before you use one.
Don
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