Bark (sound)

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A dog barking A dog mid-bark.jpg
A dog barking

Definition

There is no precise, consistent, and functional acoustic definition for barking, but researchers classify barks according to several criteria. [3] Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Hampshire College have defined a bark as a short, abrupt vocalization that is relatively loud and high-pitched, changes in frequency, and often repeats rapidly in succession. [2]

Barking in dogs

Dog barking is distinct from wolf barking. Wolf barks represent only 2.4% of all wolf vocalizations, in warning, defense, and protest. [4] [5] In contrast, dogs bark in many social situations, with acoustic communication in dogs being described as hypertrophic. [6] While wolf barks tend to be brief and isolated, dog barking is often repetitive. [7]

One hypothesis for why dogs bark more than wolves is that dogs developed vocal communication as a result of their domestication. [7] Domestication can alter a species and affect its physical and physiological characteristics. [8] Domesticated breeds show vast physical differences from their wild counterparts, an evolution that suggests neoteny, or the retention of juvenile characteristics in adults. [9] The behaviour of adult dogs also shows puppy-like characteristics: dogs act submissive, whine, and bark often.

The frequency of barking in dogs compared to wolves could also be the product of the different social environments of dogs. From a young age, humans may be among a dog's primary social contacts, an environment that presents different stimuli than would be found by wolves in the wild. Intruders may frequent the boundaries of a captive dog's territory, thus triggering the bark response as a warning. Dogs also live in densely populate urban areas, allowing for more opportunities for socialization. For example, kennelled dogs may have increased barking due to a desire to facilitate social behaviour. Dogs' close relationship with humans also renders dogs reliant on humans, even for basic needs. Barking can be used as a way to attract attention, and any positive response exhibited by the owners reinforces the behaviour. For example, if a dog barks to get food and the owner feeds it, they are conditioned to continue said behaviour. [10]

Types

The purposes of barking by domestic dogs is a controversial topic. While barking is suggested to be "non-communicative," [11] data suggests that it may indeed be a means of expression that became increasingly sophisticated during domestication. Due to the lack of consensus over whether or not dogs communicate using their barks, not much research has been done to categorize the different types of barking in dogs. Some existing research has been criticized by Feddersen-Petersen as "lack[ing] objectivity." Using sonographic methods, Feddersen-Petersen identified several distinct types of barks, then analysed them for meanings, functions, and emotions. He separated dog barks into subgroups based on said sonographic data:

BarkCharacteristicsBehavior
Infantile bark (pup yelp)HarmonicEmitted spontaneously in protest or as a distress call
Harmonic play barkMixed sounds involving "concurrent superimposition" of growls, noisy barkAfter barking, play behavior was often observed.
"Christmas tree" barkSonogram displayed "Christmas tree" effect. There is a "sequential loss of overtones."Seen in German Shepherds and Alaskan Malamutes.
Noisy overlappingsShort, overlapping soundsSeen in poodles.
Pure harmonic soundOften accompanied with play behavior.
Specific vibrato-growl
Noisy barkAgonistic contexts only. Seen in Alaskan Malamutes.
Play-solicited barksOften combined with growls, other bark subunits.Matched with play behavior
Noisy play barkHarsh, short sound. Low-pitched, with an extremely short, sharp rise.Associated with more harsh play-fighting seen often in American Staffordshire Terriers and Bull Terriers. "Often show[ed] changeovers to aggressive interactions."
Threat barkShort, low-pitched sound.
Warning barkShort, low-pitched sound.

Not all breeds demonstrate every subgroup of barking. Instead, there is significant variance in vocalization between different breeds. Poodles show the least of all barking subunits. Barking in wolves was observed as less diverse. For example, wolf barks are rarely harmonic, tending instead to be noisy. [12]

There is some evidence that humans can determine the suspected emotions of dogs while listening to barks emitted during specific situations. Humans scored the emotions of dogs performing these barks very similarly and in ways that made sense according to the context. In one example, when subjects were played a recording of a dog tied alone to a tree, a situation in which one could infer that the dog would be distressed, the human listeners tended to rank the bark as having a high level of despair. Some suggest that this may be evidence that dog barks have evolved to be a form of communication with humans, since humans can determine a dog's needs by listening to their vocalizations. [13] Further studies have found that the acoustic structure of a bark "[varies] considerably with context." [14] These studies suggest that barks are more than just random sounds, and hold some communicative purpose.

Excessive barking

Causes and solutions

Signaling to a dog with the palm of the hand is prescribed as a way to address a dog that is alert barking Hand signal.jpg
Signaling to a dog with the palm of the hand is prescribed as a way to address a dog that is alert barking
Splitting is prescribed as a way to address a dog that is alert barking Splitting.jpg
Splitting is prescribed as a way to address a dog that is alert barking

Barking is a normal behaviour for dogs. What counts as excessive barking is a subjective idea. [15] Excessive dog barking can be a nuisance and a common problem that dog owners or their neighbors may face. [16] Excessive barking indicates an underlying problem, a trigger or the dog lacking exercise or mental stimulation. Reasons for excessive barking can be, among others, pain, fear, boredom, frustration, separation anxiety or territorial behaviour (warning about potential threats). [15]

Different kinds of barking require different approaches to reduction. [17]

Common approaches are:

  1. Attempting to understand, and if possible eliminate, the causes of barking.
  2. Using positive training methods to correct the behavior. Dogs may bark from anxiety or stress, so punishment can often cause problems by reinforcing a cycle of bad behavior. Positive approaches can include:
    • Repeated exposure to stimuli whilst calming the dog and persuading it to remain quiet.
    • Distraction as the stimulus happens, through treats, praise, or similar.
    • Reshaping via clicker training (a form of operant conditioning) or other means to obtain barking behavior on command, and then shaping the control to gain command over silence.
  3. In her 2008 book Barking: The Sound of a Language, [18] Turid Rugaas explains that barking is a way a dog communicates. She suggests signaling back to show the dog that the dog's attempts to communicate have been acknowledge and to calm a dog down. She suggests the use of a hand signal and a Calming Signal called Splitting.
  4. Seeking professional advice from local organizations, dog trainers, or veterinarians.

If all other methods have been tried, a last effort is using a bark collar. These collars might release an unpleasant smell or mild to painful shock. Various bark collars have been praised and criticized; some are considered inhumane by various people and groups. Critics consider them torturous and compare their use to electrocution. However, most Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals agree[ citation needed ] that in a last resort an electric collar is better than euthanasia if it comes to an ultimatum, for a stubborn dog that will not stop any other way. Most agree that understanding the communication and retraining by reward is the most effective and humane method.

Surgical debarking

The controversial surgical procedure known as 'debarking' or 'bark softening' is a veterinary procedure for modifying the voice box so that a barking dog will make a significantly reduced noise. It is considered a last resort by some owners claiming that it is better than euthanasia, seizure, or legal problems if the matter has proven incapable of being corrected any other way.

Debarking is illegal in many European states and is opposed by animal welfare organizations.

Breeds

The Huntaway is a working dog that has been selectively bred to drive stock (usually sheep) by using its voice. It was bred in New Zealand, and is bred based on ability rather than appearance or lineage.

Naturally "barkless" dog breeds

Compared to most domestic dogs, the bark of a dingo is short and monosyllabic. During observations, the Australian dingo's bark has a small variability; sub-groups of bark types, common among domestic dogs, could not be found. Furthermore, just 5% of the observed vocalizations consisted of barking. Australian dingoes bark only in swooshing noises or a mixture of atonal and tonal. Also, barking is almost exclusively used for giving warnings. Warn-barking in a homotypical sequence and a kind of "warn-howling" in a heterotypical one have also been observed. The bark-howling starts with several barks and then fades into a rising and ebbing howl and is probably, similarly to coughing, used to warn the puppies and members of the pack. Dingoes also emit a sort of "wailing" sound, which they use most often when approaching a water hole, probably to warn already present dingoes. [19] According to current knowledge, it is impossible to get Australian dingoes to bark more often by making them associate with other domestic dogs. However, Alfred Brehm reported a dingo that learned the more "typical" form of barking and knew how to use it, while its brother did not. [20] Whether dingoes bark or bark-howl less overall is unknown. [21]

The extinct Hare Indian dog of northern Canada was not known to bark in its native homeland, though puppies born in Europe learned how to imitate the barking of other dogs. [22] When hurt or afraid, it howled like a wolf, and when curious, it made a sound described as a growl building up to a howl. [23]

The Basenji of central Africa produces a yodel-like sound due to its unusually shaped larynx. [24] This trait also gives the Basenji the nickname "Barkless Dog." [25]

Barking in other animals

Besides dogs and wolves, other canines like coyotes and jackals can bark. [2] Their barks are similar to those of wolves and dogs. The bark of a dingo is short and monosyllabic. [26]

The warning bark of a fox is higher and more drawn out than barks of other canids.

There are non-canine species with vocalizations that may be described as barking. Because the alarm call of the muntjac resembles a dog's bark, they are sometimes known as "barking deer". Eared seals are also known to bark. Prairie dogs employ complex communication involving barks and rhythmic chirps. [27] Various bird species produce vocalizations that include the canonical features of barking, especially when avoiding predators. [2] Some primate species, notably gorillas, can and do vocalize in short barks.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basenji</span> Dog breed

The Basenji is a breed of hunting dog. It was bred from stock that originated in central Africa. The Fédération Cynologique Internationale places the breed in the Spitz and primitive types. The Basenji produces an unusual yodel-like sound, due to its unusually shaped larynx. This trait also gives the Basenji the nickname the 'barkless dog.'

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canidae</span> Family of mammals

Canidae is a biological family of dog-like carnivorans, colloquially referred to as dogs, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid. The family includes three subfamilies: the Caninae, the extinct Borophaginae and Hesperocyoninae. The Caninae are known as canines, and include domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes, foxes, jackals and other species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolf</span> Type of canine

The wolf, also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gray wolves, as popularly understood, only comprise naturally-occurring wild subspecies. The wolf is the largest extant member of the family Canidae, and is further distinguished from other Canis species by its less pointed ears and muzzle, as well as a shorter torso and a longer tail. The wolf is nonetheless related closely enough to smaller Canis species, such as the coyote and the golden jackal, to produce fertile hybrids with them. The wolf's fur is usually mottled white, brown, gray, and black, although subspecies in the arctic region may be nearly all white.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dingo</span> Canid species native to Australia

The dingo is an ancient (basal) lineage of dog found in Australia. Its taxonomic classification is debated as indicated by the variety of scientific names presently applied in different publications. It is variously considered a form of domestic dog not warranting recognition as a subspecies, a subspecies of dog or wolf, or a full species in its own right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolfdog</span> Dog-wolf hybrid

A wolfdog is a canine produced by the mating of a domestic dog with a gray wolf, eastern wolf, red wolf, or Ethiopian wolf to produce a hybrid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dog communication</span> Communication of dogs with other dogs and as well as humans

Dog communication is the transfer of information between dogs, as well as between dogs and humans. Behaviors associated with dog communication are categorized into visual and vocal. Visual communication includes mouth shape and head position, licking and sniffing, ear and tail positioning, eye gaze, facial expression, and body posture. Dog vocalizations, or auditory communication, can include barks, growls, howls, whines and whimpers, screams, pants and sighs. Dogs also communicate via gustatory communication, utilizing scent and pheromones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Guinea singing dog</span> Dog breed

The New Guinea singing dog or New Guinea Highland dog is an ancient (basal) lineage of dog found in the New Guinea Highlands, on the island of New Guinea. Once considered to be a separate species in its own right, under the name Canis hallstromi, it is closely related to the Australian dingo. The dog is relatively unusual among canines; it is one of the few to be considered "barkless", and is known for the unusual "yodel"-like style of vocalizing that gives it its name.

Canid hybrids are the result of interbreeding between the species of the subfamily Caninae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dog</span> Domesticated canid species

The dog is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from extinct gray wolves, and the gray wolf is the dog's closest living relative. The dog was the first species to be domesticated by humans. Experts estimate that hunter-gatherers domesticated dogs more than 15,000 years ago in Oberkassel, Bonn, which was before the development of agriculture. Due to their long association with humans, dogs have expanded to a large number of domestic individuals and gained the ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domestication of the dog</span> Process which created the domestic dog

The domestication of the dog was the process which led to the domestic dog. This included the dog's genetic divergence from the wolf, its domestication, and the emergence of the first dogs. Genetic studies suggest that all ancient and modern dogs share a common ancestry and descended from an ancient, now-extinct wolf population – or closely related wolf populations – which was distinct from the modern wolf lineage. The dog's similarity to the grey wolf is the result of substantial dog-into-wolf gene flow, with the modern grey wolf being the dog's nearest living relative. An extinct Late Pleistocene wolf may have been the ancestor of the dog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dog behavior</span> Internally coordinated responses of dogs to internal and external stimuli

Dog behavior is the internally coordinated responses of individuals or groups of domestic dogs to internal and external stimuli. It has been shaped by millennia of contact with humans and their lifestyles. As a result of this physical and social evolution, dogs have acquired the ability to understand and communicate with humans. Behavioral scientists have uncovered a wide range of social-cognitive abilities in domestic dogs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese wolf</span> Extinct subspecies of the gray wolf

The Japanese wolf, also known as the Honshū wolf, is an extinct subspecies of the gray wolf that was once endemic to the islands of Honshū, Shikoku and Kyūshū in the Japanese archipelago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hare Indian Dog</span> Dog breed

The Hare Indian dog is an extinct domesticated canine; possibly a breed of domestic dog, coydog, or domesticated coyote; formerly found and originally bred in northern Canada by the Hare Indians for coursing. It had the speed and some characteristics of the coyote, and the domesticated temperament and other characteristics of a domestic dog. It gradually lost its usefulness as aboriginal hunting methods declined, and became extinct or lost its separate identity through interbreeding with dogs in the 19th century, though some claim the breed still exists in modified form.

<i>Canis lupus dingo</i> Subspecies of canine

In the taxonomic treatment presented in the third (2005) edition of Mammal Species of the World, Canis lupus dingo is a taxonomic rank that includes both the dingo that is native to Australia and the New Guinea singing dog that is native to the New Guinea Highlands. It also includes some extinct dogs that were once found in coastal Papua New Guinea and the island of Java in the Indonesian Archipelago. In this treatment it is a subspecies of Canis lupus, the wolf, although other treatments consider the dog as a full species, with the dingo and its relatives either as a subspecies of the dog, a species in its own right, or simply as an unnamed variant or genetic clade within the larger population of dogs. The genetic evidence indicates that the dingo clade originated from East Asian domestic dogs and was introduced through the Malay Archipelago into Australia, with a common ancestry between the Australian dingo and the New Guinea singing dog. The New Guinea singing dog is genetically closer to those dingoes that live in southeastern Australia than to those that live in the northwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free-ranging dog</span> Dog not confined to a yard or house

A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of which around 20% are regarded as owned pets and therefore restrained.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackal–dog hybrid</span> Canid hybrid resulting from a mating between a dog and a golden jackal

A jackal–dog hybrid is a canid hybrid resulting from a mating between a domestic dog and a golden jackal. Such crossbreeding has occurred numerous times in captivity and was first confirmed to occasionally happen in the wild in Croatia in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleolithic dog</span> Late Pleistocene canine

The Paleolithic dog was a Late Pleistocene canine. They were directly associated with human hunting camps in Europe over 30,000 years ago and it is proposed that these were domesticated. They are further proposed to be either a proto-dog and the ancestor of the domestic dog or an extinct, morphologically and genetically divergent wolf population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolution of the wolf</span>

The evolution of the wolf occurred over a geologic time scale of at least 300 thousand years. The grey wolf Canis lupus is a highly adaptable species that is able to exist in a range of environments and which possesses a wide distribution across the Holarctic. Studies of modern grey wolves have identified distinct sub-populations that live in close proximity to each other. This variation in sub-populations is closely linked to differences in habitat – precipitation, temperature, vegetation, and prey specialization – which affect cranio-dental plasticity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolf communication</span> Overview about the communication of wolves

Wolves communicate using vocalizations, body postures, scent, touch, and taste. The lunar phases have no effect on wolf vocalisation. Despite popular belief, wolves do not howl at the Moon. Gray wolves howl to assemble the pack, usually before and after hunts, to pass on an alarm particularly at a den site, to locate each other during a storm or while crossing unfamiliar territory, and to communicate across great distances. Other vocalisations include growls, barks and whines. Wolves do not bark as loudly or continuously as dogs do but they bark a few times and then retreat from a perceived danger. Aggressive or self-assertive wolves are characterized by their slow and deliberate movements, high body posture and raised hackles, while submissive ones carry their bodies low, sleeken their fur, and lower their ears and tail. Raised leg urination is considered to be one of the most important forms of scent communication in the wolf, making up 60–80% of all scent marks observed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howling</span> Animal sound

Howling is a vocal form of animal communication seen in most canines, particularly wolves, coyotes, foxes, and dogs, as well as cats and some species of monkeys. Howls are lengthy sustained sounds, loud and audible over long distances, often with some variation in pitch over the length of the sound. Howling is generally used by animals that engage in this behavior to signal their positions to one another, to call the pack to assemble, or to note their territory. The behavior is occasionally copied by humans, and has been noted to have varying degrees of significance in human culture.

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