Bark! Bark! Bark! What Are They Saying?

Guess what?  Dogs bark.  This isn’t the first time you have heard it from me.  This post is another segment in why dogs bark.  Here’s the scenario:

You are walking down the street with your dog on a leash and working on having your dog heel.  Your dog spots another dog in the distance and starts barking (and barking and barking).  What is your dog saying?

Your dog’s bark could be saying:

“Look a dog!  Hi dog!  I’m a dog!  Come here dog.  We can play!”  Or…

“Oh no a dog!  A big dog!  A little dog!  I don’t like how that dog looks or smells.  I need to get that dog – now before he gets me (us)!”  Or…

“Look a dog!  Get me outta’ here!  That dog just said he doesn’t like me and to prepare to defend myself. Run!”

There is so much more than just a bark happening in these moments.  Some dogs have more obvious triggers than others, and it takes time in learning those triggers and if your dog is being assertive and dominant, passive and frightened, or just wants to have fun.

To those on the other end of the leash, it appears that when our dog sees a dog it goes crazy for no reason and we either panic or get embarrassed.  I have a vocal dog, so I have to tell people, “sorry, he’s vocal.”  It seems like common courtesy to apologize for our dogs barking.  Seldom do humans apologize for being overly vocal.  Granted a barking dog can be annoying but for them it is not without purpose.

Observe and learn from your dog, watch their body language, and while you can’t remove their ability to communicate, you can keep them from escalating into panic mode.  You can acknowledge what they are saying and they should trust and respect your request for them to be quiet.