[lynn P.]

I thought this would be a fun topic. You know how mother's know their babies different cries? Well I have bonded so closely with my dog, that I clearly know her different barks and what they mean lol. Feel free to add your own experiences. So here's a few discriptions:

1. Muffled Bark - Bella has a habit of barking too much when looking out the window. She knows it's not preferred behavior. So when she sees something tempting, she'll bark with her mouth almost closed and do this quiet bark.

2. The Sneeze/Bark - this happens when someones eating something she really wants. If she thinks we're taking too long, she makes this disruptive, szeezing /bark, as if too say "I'm here you know and I'm waiting".

3. The Back Talking Bark - this happens when she's doing something wrong but wants to protest and argue. She wags her tail and barks similar to the muffled bark.

4. The Food Patrol Bark with Jump - since she gets the occasional tidbit of leftovers she waits for any food left on plates. If heaven forbid, it's left on the counter she becomes very ancy. She jumps completely vertical and barks - the ears fly straight up in the air. She'll continue this until the plate is put away.

[sundog]

Very cute!!!!!!! I'll have to come up with some terms for this Bark Dictionary!!!

[kitty004567]

I like this topic! We have:

1. Sleeping bark
a) A muffled bark of a sleeping dog dreaming
b) A sound so strange it makes you look to make sure the dog's not having a seizure: a quiet bark/whine combination that's really disconcerning

2. There are kids playing across the street bark - I also have a dog who barks out the window knowing full well it's not allowed. It generally consists of 4-5 earsplitting barks followed by tearing out of the house to bark. She comes back in and repeats the process. If she is reminded of the rule then after the 4-5th bark she comes to me to be reassured then right back to the window.

3. I've just been woken up and am startled bark - a jump up followed by running in a random direction and 2-3 earsplitting barks (this dog is deaf) then a sheepish look of realization that I woke her up

4. Stay out of my space bark/growl - generally directed at a puppy (or my mother) by a dog so sweet he'll let kids dress him up. He can hold my mom completely out of a room without getting up then act like nothing happened.

5. Mail's here - both dogs going absolutely crazy barking their heads off jumping on the door and front windows accompanied by tearing through the house. Generally also involves torn mail on the floor...especially bills and items from the government (we have a mail slot so the mail comes directly in the door). This continues for about 5 minutes after the mail has arrived and is next to impossible to stop.

[radio_flyer]

cute....a barking dictionary....

can't say I can add to it tho. Puppy just barks and sounds to me like the same bark.. although when his water dish is empty he barks and bats the empty bowl across the floor which gets my attention..

There is a "scary" bark.. The three AM bark when he runs to the door and barks and barks and barks like someone is out side which freaks me out...I dunno if anyone is peeking around outside because I am too scared to look.. I just grab my shoes and phone and get ready to run should someone bursts in the door...

[kitty004567]

lol I'm glad it's not just my dogs. They do the "scary" bark occasionally. One of mine will flip her food bowl upside down and back right again and continue to do so if she thinks it's time to be fed....it's generally not.

[Sabrina]

We tell Amy to "say please" for her supper and then she barks twice.

Ruger gives a howl type bark when he is happy to see me or when my son plays with him.

[lynn P.]

LOL - thanks everyone for sharing your barking experiences. Amazing how dogs personalities are so vibrant. Dogs definitely put their feelings right out there.

I joke that Bella listens better than the girls sometimes - Bella still sleeps in her crate at night and it's used to be, I had to bribe her to go in with a treat. Now after her nighttime walk, she just walks in on her own, but I have to tell my girls a couple times, "it's time for bed" lol.

[Gus1234U]

aaah rhoooo rooooo rhoooo ~~ "You're Taking Tooooo LONG!!"

[kitty004567]

My deaf dog "listens" better than my hearing dog. It's very obvious when she ignores me though..she just turns her head away. My hearing dog ignores me too. I know he heard me though because his ears perk up. I have the cutest video of my mom's puppy trying to get my deaf dog to play (lots of barking and zooming) but I don't know how to post it without posting it to youtube and putting a link here.

[kitty004567]

Look at this...it's not just us

http://news.discovery.com/videos/ani...r-meaning.html

[Fresia]

I can relate to all those barks when I had my choc Lab, Duncan. Plus he would walk up to me with a high-pitched bark (plea) to tell me if I was late with dinner.

Then there was one, a lower pitched short series, when he absolutely couldn't get something out of his Kong. I used to seriously plan and work hard at stuffing it so he had to work for it b/c he was so smart (would throw them down the stairs to loosen them up) but occasionally too tough; he would then bring it over to me, drop it at my feet, and say the same thing again AT me until I picked it to rearrange what was inside. He didn't think it was funny but had me in stitches when it did.

[lynn P.]

Originally Posted by kitty004567

Look at this...it's not just us

http://news.discovery.com/videos/ani...r-meaning.html

Thanks Kitty for posting that video -very interesting to watch.

[lynn P.]

Thanks Gus for that doggy translation lol

Thanks Fresia -for sharing the story about your chocolate lab...so cute - shows how smart that breed is.

[(JD)]

My first dog, a black lab, used to make sounds very close to the actual word. He had a 3 syllable that went up and down like "I'm hungry" for when I had forgotten to feed him. And he did a wonderful aaaaaauuuuuuuu ("out") for wanting to go out.

[Omers]

OK... OT but have to throw this one in!
My older service cat used to come with me to see my massage therapist (the massage therapist actually got to work on my cat wgile she was being spayed to reduce stress and boost recovery and work on her several times after)... Anyway... My massage therapist is working on me while the cat wanders her office. Then I hear that meow. I ask my massage therapist to please excuse us as the cat needs to pee. The massage therapist leaves the room and I pull out a travel litter box. I call the massage therapist back in. No sooner than the massage therapist begins to work on me you hear scratch, scratch, tinkle, tinkle, scratch, scratch. Oh to have had a camera for the look on her face!

BTW I also love the "being ignored by my deaf dog". When my deaf cat (who knows sign) is ignoring me he clenches his little eyes so tight his nose scrunches. How could you be mad at that face!

[lynn P.]

That's amazing JD - I've seen videos of dogs doing that.

[lynn P.]

Originally Posted by Omers

OK... OT but have to throw this one in!
My older service cat used to come with me to see my massage therapist (the massage therapist actually got to work on my cat wgile she was being spayed to reduce stress and boost recovery and work on her several times after)... Anyway... My massage therapist is working on me while the cat wanders her office. Then I hear that meow. I ask my massage therapist to please excuse us as the cat needs to pee. The massage therapist leaves the room and I pull out a travel litter box. I call the massage therapist back in. No sooner than the massage therapist begins to work on me you hear scratch, scratch, tinkle, tinkle, scratch, scratch. Oh to have had a camera for the look on her face!

BTW I also love the "being ignored by my deaf dog". When my deaf cat (who knows sign) is ignoring me he clenches his little eyes so tight his nose scrunches. How could you be mad at that face!

Aww that's such a cute story Omers - I should have titled this 'the dog and cat dictionary'. I'm happy to hear about cats too. I think bonding with our pets has a lot to do with recognizing their different sounds. A 'travel litter box' - I've never heard of that before. Thanks for sharing.

My Rottweiller Roxie had different "barks" too.
My favorite one was the very fast bark while jumping up & down which always meant that the cat was up on the counter! If there was anything to eat up there, it was going to be for her! lol

[forever mom 1968]

Originally Posted by lynn P.

I thought this would be a fun topic. You know how mother's know their babies different cries? Well I have bonded so closely with my dog, that I clearly know her different barks and what they mean lol. Feel free to add your own experiences. So here's a few discriptions:

1. Muffled Bark - Bella has a habit of barking too much when looking out the window. She knows it's not preferred behavior. So when she sees something tempting, she'll bark with her mouth almost closed and do this quiet bark.

2. The Sneeze/Bark - this happens when someones eating something she really wants. If she thinks we're taking too long, she makes this disruptive, szeezing /bark, as if too say "I'm here you know and I'm waiting".

3. The Back Talking Bark - this happens when she's doing something wrong but wants to protest and argue. She wags her tail and barks similar to the muffled bark.

4. The Food Patrol Bark with Jump - since she gets the occasional tidbit of leftovers she waits for any food left on plates. If heaven forbid, it's left on the counter she becomes very ancy. She jumps completely vertical and barks - the ears fly straight up in the air. She'll continue this until the plate is put away.

My Golden Retriever likes to play and bothers my husband while he is watching TV. He pulls his socks and throws balls hard into his lap. When my husband says loud "Stop It" the dog makes a growling bark as if he is imitating him. It sounds like talking. It is quite funny.

[alexe3831]

Originally Posted by lynn P.

LOL - thanks everyone for sharing your barking experiences. Amazing how dogs personalities are so vibrant. Dogs definitely put their feelings right out there.

I joke that Bella listens better than the girls sometimes - Bella still sleeps in her crate at night and it's used to be, I had to bribe her to go in with a treat. Now after her nighttime walk, she just walks in on her own, but I have to tell my girls a couple times, "it's time for bed" lol.

I Hope this community will keep up the funny dog dictionary!

[lynn P.]

Thanks alexe3831 - it's fun hearing all the stories and how we get to know our pets. I'm also amazed at how many words my dog knows and she know the meanings too. Here's some words she knows besides her training command words. She understands:

want your food?
want to go outside.
chew stick / treat
we're going
wanna go in the car?
go get your toy and then about 15 training words. Isn't it funny how we think it's fine to brag about our pets lol

my silly dog has a few different barks i can think of:

mail carrier bark: lots of barking but if i'm still in bed i scoop him up and make him snuggle with me and he loves that so the mail delivery isn't such noisy event now

muffled bark: this is sometimes after being threatened with the anti-barking collar (it's humane--just sprays citronella which dogs don't like). he even knows that on the rare occasion that i put it on him if he barks under his breath it won't set the thing off

tv doorbell/knocking bark: someone on the tv either knocks or rings a bell and my crazy dog goes beserk thinking it's real. too funny but noisy

howling: my dog was abused by a former owner so he gets pretty worked up by noises. his normal bark is turning into a howling bark this is usually in response to downstairs neighbors banging their gated door shut.

[krisakira]

here's my dog abbys dictionary:

1. one sharp, loud bark: "I just heard something outside and i dont know what it is but i am letting everyone near me know that i know there is something outside!"

2. A low muffled growl: "I still hear that thing outside, but I've been scolded for barking loud so I am quieter instead!"

3. *Huff*: "I'm annoyed, or I was thinking of something but just got distracted and have decided to stare at my owner until she reacts to me."

4. Several loud barks in a row: "My family is home, my family is home! OMG They've been gone FOREVER and I NEED to jump on them!"

5. High pitched growl: "You are pushing my buttons, and I don't trust you right now, so go away!" or "I was asleep and you are trying to move me, so I am grumpy!"

And here is my other dog, Buddy's, dictionary:

1. grrrrrrrr: "I want you to play with my ball with me!"

2. Deep bark once: "Abby just barked so i want to bark too! I think there's something outside!"

3. Howling: "There's a person walking by the house and I am defending my territory!"

4. low growl followed by a high bark: "I am so excited i cannot contain myself!"