Dog–human communication has recently been extensively investigated. We found that dog barking is highly informative to humans (Pongracz et al., 2005; Pongracz et al., 2006). The role of dog barking still is not clear, however, in dog–dog communication. By measuring heart rate in the laboratory, it was shown that dogs can discriminate between barks, which were recorded in different contexts (Maros et al., 2008 ). The goal of this investigation was testing the effect of barking on dogs in their natural environment. We worked with owners who had at least 2 adult dogs. At first we recorded the barks of all dogs in 2 contexts: ‘‘left alone’’ and ‘‘stranger arrives’’; these recordings served as playback material later. Each dog was tested 4 times, with familiar and unfamiliar barks, from both contexts. There was a minimum 2-day interval between the 2 tests. During the test, only 1 dog was out in the yard; the owner and the other dogs were in the house. The playback device was hidden outside the yard, within 1 meter of the fence. Dogs’ behaviors were recorded with 2 cameras in the yard, and the bark responses were recorded by a DAT device. A test session consisted of three 1-minute periods (pre-bark, bark, and post-bark). Playing back barks had a significant effect on the dogs’ behavior, moving to- ward the gate, and moving at the gate were higher in the bark period than in the pre- or post-bark periods. We did not find a clear effect of context and familiarity of the barks on the dogs’ behaviors, with the exception of the frequency of gaze alternation, where we found several interactions. Dogs showed more gaze alternations between the source of sound and the house when they heard familiar barks. We also found a strong significant effect of dominance rank of the subjects on their responses to bark playbacks. Our results show that dogs react to other dogs’ barking, and their responses depend somewhat on the familiarity and the context of the barks. These results support the theory that barking can have a role in dog–dog communication.
Do dogs talk to each other? Field investigations on dog–dog acoustic communication / Szabó E.; Borgi M.; Molnár C.; Pongrácz P.; Miklósi A.. - In: JOURNAL OF VETERINARY BEHAVIOR. - ISSN 1558-7878. - STAMPA. - (2009), pp. 59-59.
Do dogs talk to each other? Field investigations on dog–dog acoustic communication.
BORGI, MARTA;
2009
Abstract
Dog–human communication has recently been extensively investigated. We found that dog barking is highly informative to humans (Pongracz et al., 2005; Pongracz et al., 2006). The role of dog barking still is not clear, however, in dog–dog communication. By measuring heart rate in the laboratory, it was shown that dogs can discriminate between barks, which were recorded in different contexts (Maros et al., 2008 ). The goal of this investigation was testing the effect of barking on dogs in their natural environment. We worked with owners who had at least 2 adult dogs. At first we recorded the barks of all dogs in 2 contexts: ‘‘left alone’’ and ‘‘stranger arrives’’; these recordings served as playback material later. Each dog was tested 4 times, with familiar and unfamiliar barks, from both contexts. There was a minimum 2-day interval between the 2 tests. During the test, only 1 dog was out in the yard; the owner and the other dogs were in the house. The playback device was hidden outside the yard, within 1 meter of the fence. Dogs’ behaviors were recorded with 2 cameras in the yard, and the bark responses were recorded by a DAT device. A test session consisted of three 1-minute periods (pre-bark, bark, and post-bark). Playing back barks had a significant effect on the dogs’ behavior, moving to- ward the gate, and moving at the gate were higher in the bark period than in the pre- or post-bark periods. We did not find a clear effect of context and familiarity of the barks on the dogs’ behaviors, with the exception of the frequency of gaze alternation, where we found several interactions. Dogs showed more gaze alternations between the source of sound and the house when they heard familiar barks. We also found a strong significant effect of dominance rank of the subjects on their responses to bark playbacks. Our results show that dogs react to other dogs’ barking, and their responses depend somewhat on the familiarity and the context of the barks. These results support the theory that barking can have a role in dog–dog communication.
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