Feb/March Newsletter: Understanding the Language of Dog Bark

Buddy and I love to go out for walks.

In my house, when my Mom gets the leash, sometimes I “yip, yip, arrrooo” with excitement! I wag my tail and sometimes I bounce a little when my Mom is slow getting her shoes on. I understand when she says Walk or Out – sometimes when she and Harry are deciding who should take me out and they SPELL “o-u-t,” I can understand that too.

Our friend Nugget used special dog-words when he wants his mom’s attention.

He pauses between a long stream of not-too-loud Wufs. Sometimes his dad gives him treats for this. Then his mom says, “no no no” to both of them. She doesn’t want Nugget to use these dog words to ask for treats. She knows he would then do it all the time. LOL, Nug told me she is right – he and his mom really know how to talk to each other.

Remember our friend Molly, the police dog?

She is trained to use dog-words that her handler understands. “Wuf….…wuf……..” (Hey, hey – ie I found something). And “Ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff!” (Come this way, quick!) And he tells her what he needs her to do, words she understands. Pretty cool teamwork.

Our friend Alexi says “harrrrrr-ruff” when she wants to play with her family.

She said she also does her play-bow (think: front down, bottom in the air). Alexi’s Girl thinks this is funny and always comes to play.

Those are all happy woofs. We also have other words that might sound to some like ‘whiny, whiny’ or ‘rrooo, rrooo, rrooo’ sounds. We can’t quite make our mouths do Human words.

Sometimes we dogs get bored.

Especially in nice weather when the front door is screened, Max says it’s like Doggy TV and he likes to watch the people go by. But if he’s bored, he’ll try yelling at them to get their attention. Some neighbor friends will yell “Hi Max” back at him… some walkers are afraid. Max’s mom says, “No Max, only bark if they are coming up the front walk.”

His woof-woof becomes rrrwoof, rrrwoof, screech screech, if that happens. Then his mom knows someone is coming to the door.

And, I think you Humans all know what our canine Danger-Danger “grrroofff, grrroofff” or even a “grrrooooowwwwlllll” sounds like and what it means.

Buddy has a funny “surprised” woof…

…when I sneak up on him. Especially when he is snoozing, I like to come up from behind and bump him on the butt. He jumps and says “Weeff!” It almost sounds like the sound our Humans make when they are surprised.

Besides the discipline words like Come, Sit, Down, etc…

…we dogs do understand other words and phrases. ‘Let’s go for a ride’ – ‘Let’s go see if there are any rabbits in the cul-de-sac.’ – “Are you hungry? There’s Chicken for supper.’ OH BOY!

So, dear Humans and Furry Friends, here’s to chatting with you!

‘Til next time……….
With a wuf wuf and a meeeeow,

Taylor, Buddy & Mango

Mom, is it dinnertime? I just made myself hungry!