Just like
amongst humans, vocalizations and sounds in dogs are a way of interaction and
communicating. What makes things complicated is that every different dog
vocalizations may sound very similar, if not totally identical, to us humans,
yet might mean opposite things.
If we are greeting someone for the first time, depending on the situation, there are a variety of responses and tones we will possibly use. Most often, unconsciously. If your dog feels intimidated or outshone, or threatened in some way by this new individual (dog or human), its response may underline apprehension, shyness, fear or aggression and hostility.
Dog sounds
are emitted by a pet to be understood . Such dog vocalizations can be made to
scare an unwelcome visitor, for example, or to display amusement during
playtime.
By working
toward an understanding of why a dog makes a certain sound, it is possible to
process their communication on an almost human level. It takes a lot of time,
and what was learned with one dog will differ with another, but the day you
understand what your dog’s sounds mean, you will be fulfilled.
Historically,
dogs were used for guard purposes but in modern society this need is reduced
and with it, the ability for humans to understand as easily the message a dog
is trying to convey when it expresses itself through vocalization.
The
ability of the human ear to perceive changes in tone and process them, but it’s
easier for us to do it with fellow humans than with dogs. We do not really know
what is a dog’s vocabulary or what would be the equivalent to a word. Often,
when people hear dog sounds, the tone or underlying context is lost, we simply
focus on the sound. And we should not!
