![]() ![]() One Or Two Short Sharp Barks In A Medium To High Pitch Your Lab will sound an alarm like this when they sense an intruder coming into their territory, or something is happening that needs looking into or their family needs alerting. This is the classic ‘alarm bark’ and possibly the most commonly heard form of all barking. Continuous And Rapid Barking In Strings Of Two To Four In A Medium Pitch NOTE: please see the list of sources used at the end of this article when compiling this list and for further reading on the subject. The same bark may have a different meaning depending on the context and the situation it’s used in.īut combining an understanding of canine body language and what’s written in this article gives a very good approximation of what your dog is thinking and feeling in any given moment and is about the best we can do for now. I will now list and describe the most commonly heard recognizable barks and describe the most commonly accepted interpretation of them.īut before I do, a little disclaimer: We don’t yet know everything there is about canine communication and some recent studies have shown that animal communication is more complex than we first thought. What Do Different Dog Barks Mean? The 14 Most Common Barks Interpreted If they fail to repeat a sound or if when they do the repetitions are very spaced out, it means they’re showing little interest and aren’t particularly bothered about a situation.Īs an example, if a dog is out in the yard and barks at something once or twice over the course of a few seconds, they aren’t overly interested or placing too much importance in what it is they’ve detected.īut if the same dog barks rapidly, many times in quick succession and repeats these bursts many times, the dog thinks the situation is very important and extremely urgent. If they repeat a sound rapidly and continuously, it means they see the situation as very important and urgent. The more frequent a dog repeats a sound, the more urgent or excited a dog is feeling about a situation. What Does The Frequency And Repetition Of Barking Tell Us? This indicates the dog is unsure and a little worried about being faced with and showing aggression and may well stand down and back away. Whereas a more timid dog in a similar situation will make shorter bursts of growling that aren’t sustained too long. He’s made a conscious decision to sound out his confidence and his aggressive intentions. In general the longer a dog makes a sound, the more likely it is that the dog is making a conscious decision about making that sound and hence the more deliberate the actions they’re planning.Īs an example, a dominant dog faced with a perceived threat will make a deep and long sounding growl which means he’s serious about standing his ground and will not back away. What Does The Duration Of The Sound Tell Us? In contrast to this, lower pitched sounds generally mean that a dog is feeling threatening and possibly aggressive, that you should stay away.īasically, the higher the sound the less there is to worry about, the lower and louder the sound, the more threatening and aggressive it usually is. The dog isn’t feeling fearful, dominant or aggressive. Generally speaking, higher pitched sounds are used to communicate the idea that a dog is anything from non-threatening to positively welcoming and that it’s generally safe to approach. Let’s take a look at each in turn, summarizing what Stanley Coren has to say: What Does The Pitch Of A Dogs Bark Tell Us? ![]() The duration or length of the sound created.What do different dog barks mean? How Do Dogs Differ The Sound Of Their Bark?Īccording to Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C., a professor of canine psychology in his article: What Are Dogs trying To Say When they bark? Dogs have the ability to alter the sound of their bark in 3 different ways.īy altering one or more of the following they can create a range of different sounds conveying very different meanings: This will enable you to make a best guess about what their barks and other sounds are trying to say, ultimately helping you to answer the question: This article will detail the range of sounds a dog can make, how they vary them and what they mean. In much the same way we use words to form sentences to say different things, dogs can vary their barks depending on what they’re feeling or trying to say.Īnd if you know what to listen for you can interpret the range of sounds your Labrador creates.Ĭombine with this the knowledge learnt in my previous articles on why dogs bark and interpreting canine body language, with a little observation and practice you can soon learn to know their intentions and immediate feelings at any given moment. Dogs are highly expressive animals and are always communicating exactly how they think and feel.Īlthough most of their communication happens with body language, they also have a surprisingly large range of vocalizations such as barks, yelps, whines and growls. ![]()
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