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Barking is a noise most commonly produced by dogs. Woof is the most common representation in the English language for this sound (especially for large dogs), other than "bark." Other transliterations include the onomatopoeic ruff, arf, yip (for small dogs), and bow-wow.
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Although dogs are a subspecies of the wolf, Canis lupus, their barking constitutes a significant difference from their parent species. Although wolves do bark (or more accurately, howl or bay), they do so only in specific situations. According to Coppinger and Feinstein, dogs bark in long, rhythmic stanzas but adult wolf barks tend to be brief and isolated.Coppinger R, Feinstein M: \'Hark! Hark! The dogs do bark...\' and bark and hark. Smithsonian 21:119-128, 1991 Compared to wolves, dogs bark frequently and in many different situations.
It has been suggested that the reason for the difference lies in the dog\'s domestication by humans. Dogs present a striking example of neoteny, the retention of juvenile characteristics in the adults. They are similar to young wolves in many of their mannerisms and physical features, such as large heads, flat faces, large eyes, submissiveness and vocalizing – all of which are exhibited in wolf puppies.
Some believe that these characteristics were deliberately selected soon after domestication. There may have been a number of reasons for this. For instance, an overgrown puppy would very likely have been seen as a more engaging companion than a more mature but less amusing pet, as well as being less aggressive. More prosaically, an increased tendency to bark could have been useful to humans to provide an early warning system. Dogs may have been used to alert their owners that another unfamiliar band of humans or a predatory animal was in the area.
Individual dogs bark for a variety of reasons. They may bark to attract attention, to communicate a message, or to express excitement. Dog barks do not constitute an information-rich message in the same fashion as human speech, but they do nonetheless constitute more than mere noise. Statistical analysis has revealed that barks can be divided into different subtypes based on context and that individual dogs can be identified by their barks. Disturbance barks tend to be harsh, low frequency, and unmodulated, whereas isolation and play barks tend to be tonal, higher frequency, and modulated. Barks are often accompanied by body movements as part of a broader package of dog communication.
A warning will usually start out as a low, quiet, but ferociously noticeable growl before escalating into something of a howling bark. This type of reaction is most typically seen in domesticated animals in response to a perceived territorial intrusion. The dog may also bare its teeth if it feels immediately threatened.
This kind of barking is known as \'alarm barking\', and is common within a variety of breeds. It is a dog\'s attempt to be alert, attentive, and informative to his human "pack", as regarding unusual events. It does not signify aggression, and (although often associated with unusual noises intruding on the dog\'s \'territory\') is not the same as territoriality type barking. It may take the form of just one or a few barks, or it may give rise to sustained barking until the dog sees that some action has been taken.
Alarm barking is more likely to arise when a dog can hear, but not see the source of, some noise. Examples of sounds which commonly cause alarm barking include doorbells, cars, noises from adjacent dwellings, and the like. It is a behavior that tends to develop with age and maturity, and also can be related to whether there are others around who might need to be informed of such events - often an alarm barker will remain quiet if alone and there is nobody to \'tell\'.
A dog barks when its owner gives a command, such as "Speak", or "Bark".
Canine barking can be a nuisance to neighbors, and is a common problem dog owners or their neighbors may face. It is important to realize that a dog which barks is attempting to communicate something, be it anxiety, discomfort, friendliness, assertiveness, loneliness, warning, alarm, deterrent, or other meanings. Different kinds of barking often require different kinds of approach to reduction.
Common approaches are as follows:
Note:
The controversial surgical procedure known as \'debarking\' is a veterinary procedure for modifying the voice box so that a barking dog will make a significantly reduced noise. It is considered a last resort by some owners, on the basis that it is better than euthanasia, seizure, or legal problems if the matter has proven incapable of being reliably corrected any other way.
Debarking is illegal in the UK and opposed by many animal welfare bodies.
Despite criticism over debarking of the dogs, dog barking is something many people report is extremely unpleasanthttp://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/noise/pdf/barkingdog.pdfhttp://www.ehsni.gov.uk/noisebarkingdogs.pdf.pdfhttp://www.stopthebarking.com/ and it has even caused people such suffering that they lost their sanity and poisoned their neighbor\'s barking dogs which happens often enough to make regular news reports.http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=37602&cat_id=1http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/0213cr-dogspoisoned.html http://www.barkingdogs.net/newsmdhagerstown.shtmlhttp://www.wayodd.com/fed-up-of-barking-woman-tries-to-poison-neighbors-dog/v/6090/http://www.gazette.net/stories/013008/germnew201147_32364.shtmlhttp://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/10/09/news/doc470bc6f71d88a690132974.txthttp://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/424407http://www.wgrz.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=43764http://www.barkingdogs.net/newscasanjose.shtmlhttp://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/108844
Woof is the conventional representation in the English language of the barking of a dog. As with other examples of onomatopoeia or imitative sounds, other cultures "hear" the dog\'s barks differently and represent them in their own ways. Some of the equivalents of "woof" in other European and Asian languages are as follows:
Look up woof in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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