Even Dogs Can "Talk" Too Much

Just as we can form sentences and change the pitch of our voice to mean different things, a dog change its bark depending on what it is trying to tell you.

Bark #3; "Hello"

According to K9 Magazine, here are the Top 10 Barks and, briefly what they mean.

1. Continuous rapid barking at a mid-range pitch: “Call the pack! There is a potential problem! Someone is coming into our territory!”

2. Barking in rapid strings with a few pauses at a mid-range pitch: “I suspect that there may be a problem or an intruder near our territory. I think that the leader of the pack should look into it.”

3. Prolonged or incessant barking, with moderate to long intervals between each utterance: “Is there anybody there? I’m lonely and need companionship.”

4. One or two sharp short barks at a mid-range pitch: “Hello there!”

5. Single sharp short bark at a lower mid-range pitch: “Stop that!”

6. Single sharp short bark at a higher mid-range: “What’s this?” or “Huh?” This is a startled or surprised sound. If it is repeated two or three times its meaning changes to “Come look at this!” alerting the pack to a novel event.

7. Single yelp or very short high-pitched bark: “Ouch!” This is in response to a sudden, unexpected pain.

8. Series of yelps: “I’m hurting!” “I’m really scared” This is in response to severe fear and pain.

9. Stutter-bark at a mid-range pitch: If a dog’s bark were spelled “ruff,” the stutter-bark would be spelled “ar-ruff.” It means “Let’s play!” and is used to initiate playing behavior.

10. Rising bark – almost a yelp, though not quite that high: Used during a rough-and-tough tumble play time, it means “This is fun!”


For those of you who would like to train your dog not to bark.