Whether it’s a whimper when they need to pee or those classic puppy eyes when they want food, dogs have many tactics for communicating with their owners.
What we may not realize, however, is the intentionality behind some of these actions.
Researchers have probed this world of dog communication — which has evolved over thousands of years in domestication with humans — and are beginning to interpret their barks and ploys for attention.
The Basis of a Dog Barking
While dog barks may seem simple to an untrained ear, they are a lot more complicated than one may think. Those who listen closely can learn to hear the difference.
A unique study published in Animal Behavior researched the types of dog barks back in 2004. In that work, a team placed six different breeds in three different situations: one where a stranger rang the doorbell, another where the dog was isolated from its owner in a separate room and one where either two dogs or a human and a dog played together.
The results were fascinating. In disturbance situations (scenario No. 1), the dogs were more likely to release lower toned barks. In isolation and play situations, the barks were more commonly a higher pitch.
“[There are] a couple studies that show acoustic differences in barks. The aggressive barks are lower pitched, and the playful or fearful barks are higher pitched,” says Leah Nettle, a dog and cat behaviorist, who was not involved with the 2004 research.
The frequency of a dog’s bark, Nettle says, may also vary depending on how the dog is feeling. While an aggressive bark is likely to be singular or more sparse, the excited, high-pitched expressions will involve many barks.
Why Does My Dog Bark So Much?
While a dog’s barking is sure to get on our nerves at times, we don’t know if barking annoys a dog itself. However, a dog’s barking can impact other dogs.
“Dogs will use body language to show that they’re stressed and use vocal communication to either get their owner’s attention o
