What is your dog talking about? Sound signals in dogs What sounds do dogs make

Dogs can't talk? Nonsense! The main thing is to be able to understand them.

Tulyachka Anastasia Savka and her pet Zhuzha understand each other without words.

Galina Kuzina.

P You can understand the mood of your beloved dog by the postures he takes. Take a closer look: what does the dog want to tell you?

@  Articles about animals, consultations of veterinarians - on MySLO .ru

Many dog ​​owners are surprised by the circling of the dog, which he performs before lying down. From the point of view of dog language, this means nothing. Whirling the dog is necessary in order to better orient his body in space. Do not be alarmed if a sleeping dog twitches its paws and makes muffled sounds (barks, whines, growls, chomps, chews or smacks). By the way, if a puppy twitches in a dream, it means that he is growing.

"Play with me!"
The ears are upright, the tail "walks shaking." The dog has decided to invite you to play and is trying to show how much fun it will be. Give your pet some time and attention!

"Wow, how curious!"
The tail is perpendicular to the body, the lips are tightly compressed, and the ears are erect. The animal saw, heard or smelled something. The dog turns sharply towards the source of interest to him.

"I feel good and calm"
The dog lay on his back and languidly moves his paws. This is a sign of complete trust and relaxation. He is fine, he is resting or waiting for something. Caress him or leave him alone, without interfering with his complacency.

"I'm scared"
The ears are drawn back and strongly pressed, the corners of the lips are lowered, the tail is tucked between the legs, a growl with periodically opening teeth. The dog is scared. Cheer up the dog, let him know that you are around.

"I will attack"
A bared mouth and a menacing growl. The dog has bared its teeth, its hair is upright, its body is tensely inclined towards you. This is a signal of active protection of the pet. It is better not to approach him at such moments.

"Master, where are you?"
The dog runs, stretched out to attention, the ears are alert, directed forward, the look is “empty” - there is nothing familiar! This means that the dog is lost or looking for the owner.

"Follow me"
The dog moves confidently, not very fast, constantly looking around. The pet wants you to follow him. For example, to the kitchen to treat yourself to something delicious.

"Treat Me Delicious"
The dog stretches out its paw to you when you do not ask him to - he wants to attract your attention. Stroke him, compliment him.

Listen to Sharik - you will learn a lot of new things!

« Vocabulary» adult dogs contains ten types of acoustic messages, which can be roughly divided into five functional groups: growls, howls, squeals, whines and barks. Sometimes there is also a groan. Dog sounds such as sneezing, coughing, snoring and sighing do not carry a communicative load.

Barking is usually made by dogs to say hello or to get attention:

The barking is short, on slightly higher notes - the dog is in a great mood.

Barking frequent, loud, sometimes choking - "Danger!".

Barking loud, booming - “This is mine! I will defend it."

Barking is quiet, single - "I want to attract attention to myself."

The growl of a dog speaks of the threat posed by the pet, of its readiness to attack. Sometimes dogs growl during the game:

Growling (low threatening sounds when showing teeth) - "Stop immediately, I'm going to bite!".

Growling with twitching lips - "Stop, I can bite!".

Short growl - "Leave me alone."

A short growl, a tensely fixed look, directed into the eyes of the enemy - this is usually followed by a throw.

Whining is a request.

Puffing - "I feel good and have fun with you!".

Howling is a sign of a dog's loneliness.

Affectionate grumbling is an expression of love, trust.

Do you know that…
Dogs understand us!

Dogs have 42 teeth. Six pairs of sharp incisors in front. Two pairs of large fangs. The dog's incisors and fangs are especially necessary: ​​they bite and tear food with them.

Cocker spaniels have the biggest appetite among dogs.

Dogs hear sounds up to 35 kHz. For comparison: the upper limit of human hearing is 20 kHz.

A dog distinguishes 500,000 smells. The dog constantly sniffs the air, the ground and nearby objects in order to orientate itself in the world.

The dog sticks out its tail

The tail of a dog can tell a lot. For example, what mood is your pet now.

Proudly raised up like a flag - “I have a great mood, I do what I like. I'm proud of myself."

Lowered, but not tucked in, almost motionless - “The mood is so-so, normal. Nothing interesting, gray everyday life.

Lowered, slightly raised, smooth swings - “Polite smile”.

The tailless wag their booty - “Hurrah! What a joy!”

The tail is lowered, only the tip wags finely - "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Pressed between the legs - "I'm very scared!".

The tail is tucked to the stomach - "What a horror!"

Looking for an owner!

Get to know the basic acoustic signals emitted by dogs

From the first days of their lives, puppies make a number of sounds that carry a certain functional load and are a kind of communicative signals of animals.

Scientists identify eight types of acoustic signals that puppies emit: normal squeak, staccato squeak, trembling squeak, grunt, whine, grunt, scream-yell and bark. All sounds made by puppies are aimed at attracting the attention of the mother, only a cry-scream expresses resentment or pain. Immediately after birth, puppies have recorded sounds such as grunts and squeaks. Only on the tenth day they bark.

The "vocabulary" of adult dogs contains ten types of acoustic messages, which can be roughly divided into five functional groups: growls, howls, squeals, whines and barks. Sometimes there is also a groan. Dog sounds such as sneezing, coughing, snoring and sighing do not carry a communicative load.

One of the main causes of moaning in an animal is considered to be prolonged loneliness, when for several days the dog is unable to communicate with either a person or other individuals of its species.

- threat. Often the growl is accompanied by threatening facial expressions: a bared mouth and a demonstration of fangs. At the same time, than stronger dog shows her grin, the less likely she is to decide to attack. The most dangerous dogs are self-confident dogs that are aware of their superiority and their growl is accompanied by a slight lifting of the upper lip.

Dogs can growl during the game, in this case the threat is demonstrated, but not real, but playful. A dog growling at the owner is a sure sign that he is raising her incorrectly.

Howling dog, although it usually causes rather unpleasant unrest in its owner, in fact it is a demonstration of loneliness and "longing", a manifestation of the desire for unity with relatives. Thanks to howling, dogs separated by any obstacles can unite, feel some cohesion.

squealing dogs regarded as a manifestation of the high emotional stress of the animal. Dogs make similar sounds in case of joy, if they are afraid of something, or if something hurts them. Depending on what sounds the squeal is combined with, it can reflect a whole gamut of emotional shades. A squeal of fear and pain is accompanied by the corresponding position of the corners of the mouth, which are so strongly pulled back that the mucous membrane is exposed. If squealing is a manifestation of joy, then the expression of the muzzle of the animal is appropriate: the eyes are cheerful, the mouth is slightly open, some talk about the "smile" of the dog.

Whining especially for puppies. In the adult state, the presence of whining indicates that the animal considers itself an individual occupying a subordinate position. Often it is with the help of whining that adult dogs demonstrate one or another request addressed to the owner.

And the most common and widely used way for adult dogs to communicate is barking, which, first of all, is a communicative signal for collection or attention. Dogs use barking to invite their congeners to play, and also to show a negative attitude if they are reliably protected by an insurmountable barrier. Barking is usually credited with the function of luring and threatening.

The barking of a dog is characterized by certain individual parameters, thanks to which the owner is able to distinguish his dog from others. The dogs themselves, just as they determine the steps of people, familiar and unfamiliar, by sound, distinguish their fellow tribesmen by barking, dividing them into “friends” and “strangers”.

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Read also:

Choosing a collar is no easy task.

A dog collar is a very important and useful accessory. Absolutely every dog, regardless of its breed, size and habits, needs such ammunition as a collar. Properly chosen ammunition, which is also tailored to your pet, is the key to a reliable protector and assistant in various situations.

In order to unmistakably decipher the various sound signals emitted by a dog, no great experience is required. Only in relation to some, rarely used sounds, some difficulties may arise.

It is also important to be aware that not all dogs use vocal cues in the same way and that the voice often appears as a displaced response. For this reason alone, it is important to study dog ​​voices. Dogs use many of the signals we know from the wolf. The differences between their voices are not very great and are easily perceived as the result of purposeful breeding of dog breeds. At the same time, the signals given by the dog are clearly different from those of both the jackal and the fox.

Barking. The most common sound signal in most dog breeds is barking. The dog barks first of all in those cases when its mood is affected by a combination of alertness, fear and aggressiveness. Very often, barking manifests itself in the form of a displaced reaction or a weak short exhalation, which does not give rise to a real sound, but only a fleeting noise. Along with this, it often turns into an almost continuous loud howl, in which it is difficult to distinguish individual sounds. The more aggressive the dog is, the lower the sound of barking; the more timid and fearful she feels, the higher the sound. Sometimes it is difficult to trace when barking turns into a squeal. A non-anxious dog will not bark, unless the barking is in the form of a displaced reaction associated with a happy mood, or when the dog is in a state that is characteristic of barking. Similar conditions are caused, for example, by hunting, in which one has to track down fast-moving game or bark at overtaken prey. Well, of course, the dog barks in situations where barking brings him immediate benefit: for example, the animal learns very easily that by barking you can attract attention to yourself and thereby help satisfy any need.

Dog barking performs a warning function that a person can use. But an alert dog barks, whether it is perceived by a person, other dogs, or any creature at all. Therefore, in such situations, barking is an automatic sound signal that expresses a certain mood, and has nothing to do with intelligent activity, or even with acquired behavioral skills. Barking sounds can mean anything from extreme aggressiveness to intense fright. To figure out what one of them wants to express by barking when two dogs meet, they do not have to know each other at all. The intensity and shades of barking, in addition to the mood, very clearly indicate the size of the dog. A small fearful dog, hearing the booming barking of a stranger big dog, is often frightened, even if her "interlocutor" is very far away and she does not see him. A dog familiar with another knows its bark and is apparently able to use its knowledge to distinguish the voice of an unfamiliar dog, as well as to determine its size and degree of danger. But we do not know how a small dog will behave, not familiar with other relatives and not understanding the shades of their voices. Suddenly hearing a voice big dog, will she be able to distinguish it from the voice of the little one? Most likely, a dog that does not have such experience will hardly be able to correctly determine the size of the interlocutor by the pitch. Meanwhile, in a pack of wolves, such strong differences do not appear in the size of an individual, and, consequently, in the nature of the voice it emits.

Very often, a dog barks his joy. The animal, which knows from experience that something pleasant is coming soon, barks with pleasure. Such barking can probably be attributed to a kind of displaced reaction. Often it also serves as a very specific call to a person.

Barking also serves as a signal to collect, or even just an order to approach a barking dog. In that case, it is intense, but with longer intervals. As far as I can judge from my own experience, such a calling signal is characteristic mainly, if not exclusively, of dogs that take the place of the leader of the pack. My older dachshund called his daughter in this way, the male dachshund in the summer on the island calls his son in the same way, as well as other dogs weaker or much younger than himself; he does it willingly and when asked. All you have to do is ask "Where's Linus?" and he usually gets his son to show up in an instant, as long as he's within earshot. The puppy and other untrained young dogs in many cases are accustomed to this order much faster than to the whistle of the owner or to his command.

The characteristic barking, which usually appears during the chase, may have originally meant some kind of signal to follow for other members of the pack. At the same time, it can probably be taken as a biased reaction. The dog is very excited, but the object is out of reach, although at times it is even clearly visible. Probably, man, due to rather intensive selection, managed to influence the predisposition of dogs to lava during the chase and in general on the hunt. Often a dog that is taken for hunting barks even in the case when barking does not promise it any benefits, rather the opposite. So, the barking of a cop at the sight of a bird from the grouse family sitting on a tree does not at all increase its almost non-existent chances to seize such a tasty prey on its own. Only the intervention of the hunter will make the barking of the dog useful to itself.

The predisposition of a dog to bark is usually very high. However, it can be weaned from this - at least in cases where the corresponding stimuli are not very strong. Some individuals bark much less often than other representatives of the same breed. Probably, fear is unknown to such dogs: after all, fear is one of the strongest causative agents of barking.

A dog that is not afraid is often more dangerous to strangers. The notion that "a deceitful dog does not bite" has long been common among the people, from an ethological point of view, is absolutely correct, because it is based on accurate observations. But there are also many exceptions. Thus, an actively barking dog is quite capable of biting stranger, despite the fear, and a dog that usually does not bark can be so aggressive that it will bite without any warning or fear. Of course, animals with such inclinations are not suitable for indoor keeping. Most often, such a little pleasant behavior is due to improper training of the dog.

The animal very quickly learns to bark on command, that is, regardless of the presence of some kind of stimulus that causes barking. It is characteristic that a dog barks if, for some reason, it is not able to do something pleasant for itself. This property is innate, but as you learn it increases. Perhaps this tendency can be partly explained as a biased response. Learning is very simple. A dog that starts barking and thereby calling on the owner to help achieve what he wants makes him perceive barking as a signal of success.

Grunt. A dog grumbling in a low voice thereby expresses an aggressive state, characterized by almost total absence fear. But grumbling does not mean that the animal is certain to attack. On the contrary, it usually manifests itself most strongly in those cases when the dog is indeed very aggressive, but the so-called "social complexes" do not allow him to attack and bite the enemy. Here, grumbling can be considered a kind of expression of "arrogance", the object of which is, first of all, the "enemy", who is nearby, but does not cause fear in her. If the dog rushes into a fight, then the grunt turns into a sound that is in many ways reminiscent of barking; but most likely it can be described as a growl. Even in those cases when the dog does not go into a fight when grumbling, short, not very distinct barking sounds can be distinguished in it. Somewhat different in character is grumbling, which replaces barking when external stimulus too weak and does not cause real barking. In these cases, grunts often turn into squeaks or squeals. There is no clear boundary between the various shades of grumbling. Aggressive grunting can probably be considered a prologue to extremely aggressive barking.

Squeal. In unpleasant situations, the dog squeals. In cases where the animal actively seeks to perform some kind of pleasant action for itself, but for some reason it fails or is not allowed to do this, the animal begins to squeal or whine, or even bark. Thus, any unpleasant situation, whether physical property or hindering the realization of the dog's intentions, that is, most likely "psychic", causes a squeal. The most intense expression of this sound approaches howling, and it is not always possible to clearly distinguish between screeching, barking and howling.

howl. This in most cases short, strong and high-pitched sound most often serves as an expression of pain. But a dog can also yell from various and extremely unexpected influences. So, many dogs make a short cry when they hear a loud unexpected sound in their immediate vicinity or when they see an unexpected obstacle in front of them, which caused them to be frightened. Calm dogs in such cases, as a rule, retreat, demonstrating obvious aggressiveness.

Smells usually do not cause such a strong reaction, even if they bring information about a very dangerous enemy. This is probably due to the fact that the smell occurs gradually, in contrast to a sharp, unexpected sound or a sudden dangerous object. If you inadvertently step on a dog's tail or paw, it will yell or squeak. And dogs that are very good-natured in character can instantly show even in relation to the owner a clear, although not very strong, anger. They can, for example, do initial movement, reminiscent of an attempt to bite. Two out of five of my dachshunds in such a situation always hit my leg with their muzzle, not opening their mouths, but exposing their teeth and raising their hair. Personally, I do not consider this automatic expression of alertness to be a negative feature, although it causes the dog to make an aggressive defensive movement towards the owner. But I admit that there may be a different opinion on this matter: in order to eliminate this undesirable reaction, it is necessary to educate the dog more strictly.

Squeak. From strong surprise or excessive joy, the dog sometimes makes long vibrating sounds, the pitch of which is almost as high as a piercing screech. This happens, it seems to me, only in unforeseen situations.

An animal waiting (and receiving) a tidbit will never squeak about it. But if one of the family members, after a long absence, to the surprise of the dog, comes home, then with delight she begins to squeak, and for quite a long time, greeting an old friend. The puppy sometimes greets the mother with a squeak, but she never responds to him in the same way. The mother does not greet the grown-up puppies in any special way, while they still violently express their joy to her. In my opinion, dogs squeak to meet those people or other dogs to which they have become attached in early age("Addiction"). True, there are dogs that squeak in situations that, in my opinion, do not give a special reason for a violent expression of joy. Perhaps this is due to their special sensitivity, they come to a state of extreme delight at what means very little to most of their brethren.

howl. The wolf howls quite often and in the most different occasions which cannot be said about the dog. The most important purpose wolf howl- serve as a gathering signal for pack members when they hunt for prey separately. The dog, on the other hand, only occasionally finds himself in a situation similar to that in which the wolf usually finds himself in winter. As a rule, we do not allow dogs to hunt in packs in wide hunting areas, and we ourselves often hunt alone. Not surprisingly, the dog does not have to associate with relatives to form a pack. But being in a pack or in a group of several individuals, a dog, like a wolf, howls. This, I believe, is the expression of some difficult-to-analyze sensation or action associated with the cohabitation of animals. In fact, we do not know why a group of dogs or a pack of wolves howl from time to time. As soon as one of them howls, others almost immediately join him. It is quite easy to attract almost any dog ​​to such a public howl at home. If a person imitates howling, then the dog will follow his example. Most likely, she will not do this very willingly and only as long as there is an external stimulus. As an illustration, I will refer to my own dogs: not one of them even tried to involve any of the family members in such an activity.

Dogs often try to encourage humans to take part in activities that animals encourage each other to do and that definitely make them feel good. However, one of my males (dachshund) clearly enjoys howling, or at least what causes it. As soon as I turn on the player, he immediately comes up and clearly expresses positive emotions. He reacts especially violently to the orchestral works of Beethoven. At the very first sounds, the dog begins to howl, and it is not easy to wean him from this, to put it mildly, unpleasant habit for listeners. He instantly recognizes the opening bars of the Seventh and Ninth Symphonies and immediately begins his "party". True, playing the accordion causes the same reaction in him. Some dogs start to howl at the sound of any music, but over time they get used to the noise effect, the music no longer affects them, and they stop howling.

Dogs are said to howl in grief. I do not exclude that animals can be in a state resembling grief, but it seems to me very improbable that such a state could in itself be expressed in howling. In my opinion, a dog's grief is more likely expressed in apathy, and a dog howls in a state of sadness, most likely from loneliness. If the animal is locked in a room, then it can begin to howl, and quite loudly, and this can go on for hours, to the displeasure of the neighbors. But it should be remembered that such a howl does not indicate the mistreatment of the owners with the dog. On the contrary, it speaks of the animal's attachment to the family. The habit of howling cannot be beaten off by punishment: the dog's attitude towards family members will only suffer from this. But gradually such a dog gets used to loneliness and soon ceases to yearn. True, in an unusual environment, the desire to howl can manifest itself again, even if the dog no longer does this at home. The wolf, wandering in search of prey, loses contact with the pack and finds itself in approximately the same position as a dog left alone at home, and therefore usually begins to howl. Note also that strong and unexpected joy in some cases causes the dog to howl very loudly for a moment.

The ability to understand the purpose of sounds. Although the main types of voices of dogs appear quite clearly, there is also considerable diversity among them. In addition, there are individual and even temporal differences in their use. Equally common are intermediate forms of two or more types of voices. The dog perfectly distinguishes very subtly reacts to the mixed voices of another dog, characterizing its condition. At the same time, according to the barking of her fellow tribeswoman, she can easily "imagine" that some, in essence, completely harmless object is dangerous, or even misinterpret the meaning of the signals of the "interlocutor". Using scientific language, this can be expressed as follows: the barking of one dog lowers the threshold of sensitivity of another to stimuli that cause fear so much that even those that usually do not stimulate noticeable reactions, in a similar situation, can cause barking (out of fear) and even escape.