vocalizations barks and whines..what does it mean to you? - Page 1

I have always been deeply fascinated by our dogs communication towards us and others...i.e .barking,deep growl,high pitch yelp,whining ect) how do you interpret it? I'm not looking for scientific evidence just want to know what all of you think. examples would be great...any video links would be fantastic too. aggressive, fear aggressive, submissive, excitement,loneliness, joy ect...thanks..

It is a running conversation, really. The high yips can be questions or desires. Deep barks, a great big brag or warning. I swear sometimes my dog just plain reads my mind, or wants to any way.

It is communication.
You need to put the total picture together by observing everything thats going on.
In time you will understand most of it.

My girl is very vocal.  Combine that with her body language and there is quite a conversation going.  She yips when she wants something and I can usually tell what it is.  She has different barks, yips and growls for different things.  She has a funny little low growl that she makes while bowing just before she runs to the door when she realizes I understand she wants to go out.  This tells me that the whining yip I just received prior to that didn't mean I want to go out to potty, it meant I'm bored, let's go out and play.  You can ask her if she wants to go out...of course she does.  But if you ask if she needs to "get busy" when she is asking to go out she will give a very loud definate bark and jump towards you before heading for the door letting you know that you better hurry up and get that door open, fast!  She makes a funny quiet little yip when you are fixing her meal letting you know that she is more than ready to eat and just the tip of her tail is moving then.  When she is bored she has a high pitched bark that says "Hey!  Let's play!"  This bark is usually accompanied by her toy of choice at that moment being dropped in your lap or at your feet.  She has an excited, high pitched bark ,bark, bark when we are at the Schutzund field and she is watching another dog being worked.  She is in essence saying, "I can do that, let me do that, I wanna do that."  She looks at me wondering why we aren't out there too.  She also has a sharp ringing bark for when one of us is about to go out of sight that says, "Hey, don't leave me behind!" of "Don't go!" and she usually accompanies this bark with pulling on the leash and straining to go with whomever just left.  She also has what I call her "big girl" bark that she uses when she isn't sure what she hears or sees and wants to make sure whatever it is knows she is paying attention.  Her I'm guarding this house bark that comes from way down deep and usually comes with a deep rumbling growl, hackles raised.  These are just a few examples.   

If you want me to write a very long post here about that, please let me know.

Dogs talk to us all the time, some people listen, some people listen to some of it, some people don't listen.

I fall into the category of listening and understanding some of it.

Video or sound files would be great to demonstrate, unfortunately I do not have any.

Mindhunt:  Regarding your middle dog that makes all the weird vocalizations, my young male does it too.   Many times if he is really excited, he adds head tossing and head shaking to his vocalizations.  I think a big part of it maybe  he is mimicking  myself and my DH.  He has no concept of all the words we are using but he does understand the emotion behind our words so maybe this is partially why they do it.  With mine, it's always when he is in a real high state, and in any case, it's pretty funny when he gets going - and it's always really clear exactly what he wants!

I love it, I can only imagine what it's like when all 3 get going.  A veritable symphony or cacophony, depending on who's listening!

 great examples everyone....now we just need to get the recorder out(lol)