Why Dogs Bark So Much

Posted by Alex in Animal on July 16, 2009 at 2:03 am


Why do dogs bark so much? Evolutionary biologist Kathryn Lord thinks the answer has got something to do with trash dumps and scaring away intruders:

“What we’re saying is that the domestic dog does not have an intentional message in mind, such as, ‘I want to play’ or ‘the house is on fire,’” explains Lord.

Rather, she and colleagues say barking is the auditory signal associated with an evolved behavior known as mobbing, a cooperative anti-predator response usually initiated by one individual who notices an approaching intruder. A dog barks because she feels an internal conflict?an urge to run plus a strong urge to stand her ground and defend pups, for example. When the group joins in, the barks intimidate the intruder, who often flees.

“We think dogs bark due to this internal conflict and mobbing behavior, but domestic dogs bark more because they are put, and put themselves into, conflicting situations more often,” she says.

Needless to say, dog lovers who think that their pets are communicating with think, of course, that she is barking up the wrong tree: Link


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COMMENT

12 comments to "Why Dogs Bark So Much"

  1. Mr Pudifoot
    July 16th, 2009 at 5:01 am

    The Domesticated Silver Fox experiment seems to suggest that barking is a byproduct of when you breed for domestication.

  2. Neal
    July 16th, 2009 at 8:02 am

    I thought it was just to piss me off. Seriously, if you have ever been stuck living next door to a relentlessly barking dog (whose owners just don't care) then you know what hell is.

  3. ozoozol
    July 16th, 2009 at 8:20 am

    Looked up domesticated silver foxes. Interesting. Didn't look too hard, but maybe breeding for domestication is partly what causes the "internal conflict" that this article suggests is responsible for barking?

  4. LisaL
    July 16th, 2009 at 8:48 am

    What a load of horse balls.

  5. Mytake
    July 16th, 2009 at 9:04 am

    This is interesting, but ultimately it's just a theory, and a very difficult one to test at that. There is too much stuff on evolutionary biology that sounds overly tentative and ambitious for science's usually rigorous standards.

  6. xultar
    July 16th, 2009 at 11:25 am

    That is the dumbest analysis of why dogs bark. My dogs will go to their bowl and bark, then when I look at them then lower their head towards the bowl...meaning feed me bitch.

    My dogs will also bark @ the door when they need to go out.

  7. ozoozol
    July 16th, 2009 at 12:19 pm

    #6, suggest you read the article, because the last paragraph addresses situations like those you describe. Also, bear in mind the specific definition within the article of what is a considered a bark, and that not all vocalizations qualify--just because it's a sound a dog makes doesn't mean it's a bark.

    I do agree with #5, though, that it is a difficult-to-prove theory.

  8. Skipweasel
    July 16th, 2009 at 1:22 pm

    Yup, dogs bark for two reasons. One is to annoy the hell out of me. The other is 'cos one of our cats is showing the superiority of being able to sit just out of reach on top of a fence. It doesn't need to stick its tongue out and shout "Ner ner na ner ner", that'd be uncool.

  9. elbarko
    July 16th, 2009 at 3:14 pm

    what dogs mean ... is the equivalent of the phrases "rabble" and "shenanigans" from South Park.

    Where's my post-research grant.

  10. vonskippy
    July 16th, 2009 at 8:22 pm

    Dogs bark because their owners are morons. Trained dogs hardly ever bark.

  11. Mark Smith
    July 17th, 2009 at 11:05 am

    #7 The last paragraph in the article you refer to is completely asinine and certainly does NOT address the dog that goes to the back door at 10 p.m. and barks to be let out! That is most certainly an intentional message from dog to human, and if it's a "learned cue" then it's the same kind of learned cue that your kid knows when asking "Can I have a drink?" Suggesting that there's no intelligence behind it is just foolish...

    I happen to have a dog that performs this behavior, but not just at a fixed time. Whenever she needs to hit the restroom in the backyard she walks to the back door and issues a single 'woof', then waits for somebody to come let her out. If nobody shows up within a minute or two she woofs again.

    I think the lady who wrote the article must not know too many actual real-life dogs. Or maybe only the dumb ones!

  12. elbarko
    July 20th, 2009 at 8:03 pm

    dogs are as smart as any creature that can interact with the environment to fulfill necessities for survival... ie...

    not-very. and limited.

    cats are the ones who are trying to take over the world using a trained primate army.


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