Psychology of barking....?

[Pombliboo123]

I have 2 small dogs... loves of my life

The little one just tends to copy whatever the older one is doing.

My question is... neither dogs bark when both me and DP are out (unless somebody rings the doorbell) (I know because I asked the neighbour)

Neither dogs bark when me and DP are both home (again, unless somebody rings the doorbell)

HOWEVER if only one of us is in... both dogs bark like crazy every time a car drives past/somebody walks past the window/a crisp packets blows in the wind.

Thankfully it's not very often that only one of us is here but wondering what is going on in their little brains that makes them do this???

I've given up trying to work out what goes on in my dog's head about anything least of all why she barks.

There's a large dog living a few doors away from me, beautifully behaved, never shown any interest in my dog at all, never barks, just walks along beside his owner like a perfect gentleman.

My dog who never barks at any dog ever goes absolutely crazy every time he passes our house even if she can't actually see him, likewise if we see him in the street - we are working on it and it's getting better but still not perfect.

Anyway, we'd just got home from our walk this afternoon when he passed the house with his owner. Front door was still open as I was taking off my shoes and my dog was in the hall; not a sound, not a peep out of her. Big dog walked went by, my dog ran happily up the stairs as quiet a you like. Weird creatures.

It is possibly something that you may do when you are alone eg maybe you glance at the window etc to see if your partner is returning, or you may react when your partner returns and the dogs pick up on that vibe so noise outside may to your dogs be a pre -indicator of them returning

Perhaps your dog thinks a person on their own needs protecting/guarding, but if you're both there you can manage OK without her help
My dog never barks when he's home alone. I recorded him once and not a peep out of him, but when there's someone in the house he barks at anything slightly unusual, children going past on scooters, lorries reversing, bin men etc.