Question:
In an earlier column, you wrote that dogs make a lot of different sounds to communicate. Other than barks and yelps, what are they?.
V.L.R., Miami, FL May 28, 2006
Answer:
Many years ago, I did voiceprint analyses of dog (and wolf, fox and coyote) vocalizations. Dogs vary individually and from breed to breed in their vocal repertoire.Nursing pups make distinctive mews and, like adult dogs, make contentment grunts, sighs, moans, groans, whines, yelps and screams. Adult dogs bark, howl, yip, yowl, yap, lip/tongue smack, yawn-yowl, yawn-whistle (a high-pitched cry), pant, pant-huff (laugh), huff (warning) and coo/trill-yowl. Other sounds include tooth-snapping and head-shake ear-clapping.Dogs make "sentences" with these sounds, which vary in frequency, intensity and duration. For example: "Pant-yip-yelp-pant-huff, bark-yelp" when soliciting play, "yip-yelp-bark-whine" to solicit attention and "huff-growl-huff-bark-growl-bark" to give warning. These sounds clearly express motivation, emotion and intention.
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