For people who work with dogs, understanding what our dogs are trying to communicate to us while they are using body language is helpful. Learning what our dogs “mean” to us will also mitigate potential hostility or abuse when our dogs are outside the house. It makes us understand when a dog is frustrated or hurt.
Voice and audio signals are significant to a dog. Dogs don’t speak our language so they must use other methods to communicate with their people. barking is one of several resources a dog needs to be able to communicate effectively with us. It is essential to understand, as a pet owner, where the bark of your dog comes from and how to differentiate between a bark used as a joyful, greeting, a bark used as a threat, and a bark used to tell us when something seems to be wrong.
Barking is a mechanism closely linked to emotion and excitement. It has been shown repeatedly that these sounds’ acoustic parameters will differ depending on the situation and the motivations. It is proven that low and rough barking is perceived as violent while barking at high frequencies is regarded as fear and despair.
The intervals between different sounds are also necessary: short intervals stain the barking with violence, long ones sounded like notes of fear and despair or play and joy; a mixture of high frequencies and long ranges are represented as desperation, happiness or the game.
Did Humans Encourage Dogs to Bark?
There was a perception among many scientists for a long time that the barking of dogs was not so much informative as it was merely a “by-product” that originated in the domestication process. Unlike wolves, barking is rarely used for joy in wild dogs and domestic dogs of certain breeds bark only when they interact with their owners. Next to people, dogs did not take the risk of being heard while barking by their natural enemies, so it became more relaxed for them to do it, particularly while trying to communicate with their owners.
Speaking of barking, one can not forget that various types of dogs can vary considerably in their “talkative” tendencies. It is because people in some cases actively try to breed dogs with some acoustic properties (for example, guard dogs need to warn their owner of a stranger’s approach by barking).
For a dog to convey many thoughts, barking is a common way to. When you don’t know the trigger, you can not wean your dog from barking. If your dog has a legitimate and acceptable reason to bark, you need to praise it. Additionally, “idle barking” or belling can be ignored as it may be for attention-seeking. Most trainers believe that the carrot-and-stick approach (where good behaviour is rewarded with a treat) has always explained itself as successful. Of course, the best way to avoid your dog from barking is to teach him to bark on command and give him the right response when he is behaving correctly.
The Various Signs of Dog Language
There is no manual or specific rule book for dogs as to how they “speak” to us, but there are some general physical signals that your dog will always give you. Here are some suggestions about how to understand these.
Stillness
If a dog stops moving and stays very still, this also means they want to be left alone and are afraid to lose anything. Trying to communicate with them in this state (especially if you haven’t defined yourself as the clear leader of the pack for your dog) can be risky.
Growling and Teeth
There are several ways of demonstrating a threat, which begins with a dog baring their teeth. Some people are asking their dogs to avoid doing this, but sometimes it is better to leave the action alone.
Despite how disgusting it is, baring teeth is the first of a series of simple warning signals to humans and animals that a dog is frustrated and needs to be left alone. Growling appears next and then attacks. When you train your dog not to bare his teeth or growl, then they can end up escalating straight to strike.
Arched Backs
Dogs raise their backs as they try to look bigger to frighten off a danger. Such action usually means the dog is frightened-and a terrified dog is a dangerous dog. If you experience this activity in another dog, it is best to leave it alone.
Tail between their Legs
when a dog has it tail in between it legs, is an indication of either scared or nervous. This may be the product of many factors, including something as simple as leaving the house for their owner.
Head Lowered
A lower head is an invitation to play, a first action which says “I am happy!”
Raised Paw
A raised paw means the dog wants to be a friend of yours (which is why it is so easy to train a dog as a trick)
Tail Wagging
A dog’s tail is a powerful means of communication. Not all tail-wagging, however, signifies the same thing. A free, wobbled tail means pleasure typically, but other wobble motions are not inherently good:
Mostly always keeping a flickering tail is
supposed to drive people away from troubling him.
A barely shaky tail can mean insecurity or anxiety and a dog with a tail-wagging between his legs is excessively afraid.
Dogs are highly vocal creatures. Sometimes, the biggest challenge we’ll have in training our dogs is that we’re not paying attention to what they’re telling us. Our dogs, on the other hand, will read any move we make. If we’re trying to hide it or not, a dog would know whether we’re sad or pleased or frustrated, based on our body language almost entirely.
Your dog may learn to connect behaviours with some of the sounds and phrases you ‘re saying, but in the end, it’s the body language and movements you ‘re making that will dictate how well you’re both interacting.