BARKING: THE SOUND OF A LANGUAGE
By Turid Rugaas
3.5/5
()
Dog Behavior
Dog Communication
Dog Training
Dog Behavior & Training
Dog Language
Man's Best Friend
Nature Vs. Nurture
Nature Vs. Civilization
Power of Patience
Protective Instincts
Loyal Dog Companion
Training the Wild One
Importance of Socialization
Training the Beast
Wild Animals as Threats
Barking
Dog-Owner Relationship
Human-Dog Interaction
Dog Welfare
Dog Breeding
About this ebook
Barking is one of the many ways dogs communicate with each other and with humans. Think of barking as part of your dog’s language. When a dog barks, he is expressing something and you can learn to understand what he is he is trying to say. In this book, author Turid Rugaas, well known for her work on identifying and utilizing canine “calming signals,” turns her attention to understanding and managing barking behavior. If you can identify what your dog is expressing when he barks, you can take steps to minimize the negative effects of barking in cases where you find it a problem. Click here to view an excerpt.
What reviewers are saying...
NORTH SHORE NEWS
“It is just one of a number of means of communications they use, but it can be one of the harder ones for us to understand. Turid Rugaas, dog trainer and behaviorist, has studied canine social language for 30 years and shares that knowledge in this easy-to-follow reference book. Learning to understand your dog’s communication signlas will help you build a better relationship with it and allow you to “minimize the negative impact of barking behavior.” Rugaas takes you through six common reasons for barking, and explains them from a dog’s perspective. In each instance she describes how that particular bark will sound and refers to activities normally involved with that behavior. She goes on to analyze what the dog is trying to communicate and to make suggestions for how you should react to it. There are plenty of training tips to help you adjust the dog’s reaction to a given situation and the accompanying photographs illustrate the various scenarios. With a bit of understanding you can distinguish the different types of barking and learn how best to respond to it.” Terry Peters
DOGS: NEW SOUTH WALES
“Barking is natural; almost all dogs bark. It is one od th amny ways dogs communicate with each other as well as with humans. In this book, author Turid Rugaas, well known for her work in identifying and utilizing canine ‘calming signals’ to interpret behavior, turns her attention to understanding and managing barking. By learning to identify what your dog is expressing when he barks, you can take steps to minimize the negative impact of barking behavior. In this book you will learn how to utilize your knowledge of canine body language to help you communicate with dog before barking gets out of hand, barking characteristics of different breeds and groups of dogs, how to recognize six types of barking and their causes, and step-by-step training methods to solve barking problems.” Editor
APDT CHRONICLE OF THE DOG
“I was very interested in reading this new little book by Turid Rugaas. Ms. Rugaas is known for her compassionate ability to see things from the perspective of the dog, and for helping humans understand why dogs do many of the things that they do. This book is advertised as a “Dogwise Training Manual” and as such presents as a slim, colorful paperback with a glossy finish to the cover... This presentation makes the book ideal as an aid for clients who are dealing with barking dogs. The author stresses that barking is part of the dog’s language; a communication… She then goes on to describe the many ways that dogs are communicating, such as calming signals, body language, and sounds: barking, whining, growling, howling. Ms. Rugaas emphasizes that barking is a “natural way for dogs to express themselves.”… Overall, this book is sensitive to understanding why a dog might be barking and gives detailed advice about how to work through these behaviors. Training techniques are also outlined, such as parallel walking and counter-conditioning. I would strongly recommend this book for beginning trainers and as an adjunct to training
Turid Rugaas
Turid Rugaas lives in Geithus, Norway and is also the author of My Dog Pulls What Do I Do? and the DVD counterpart to this book, Calming Signals: What Your Dog Tells You. She has studied canine social behavior for over 30 years and written and lectured on the subject throughout the world.
Read more from Turid Rugaas
ON TALKING TERMS WITH DOGS: CALMING SIGNALS 2ND EDITION Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5MY DOG PULLS: WHAT DO I DO? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for BARKING
15 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Barking: The Sound of Language by Turid Rugaas is a short book. I can't say that it was really all that helpful. To use the principles she's outlined, you have to determine what type of bark your dog is giving. I have small dogs. All their barks are high pitched. I've listened to them, and I can't really determine what is frustration barking and what is learned barking. I will try to use some of her methods to lessen the amount of barking, but I'm not sure that I'll be all that successful.
Book preview
BARKING - Turid Rugaas
Barking
The Sound of a Language
Turid Rugaas
Dogwise Publishing
A Division of Direct Book Service, Inc.
701B Poplar Wenatchee, Washington 98801
1-509-663-9115, 1-800-776-2665
www.dogwisepublishing.com / info@dogwisepublishing.com
© 2008 Turid Rugaas
Graphic Design: Nathan Woodward & Lindsay Peternell
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, digital or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.
Limits of Liability and Disclaimer of Warranty:
The author and publisher shall not be liable in the event of incidental or consequential damages in connection with, or arising out of, the furnishing, performance, or use of the instructions and suggestions contained in this book.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rugaas, Turid.
Barking : the sound of a language / by Turid Rugaas.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-1-929242-51-1 (alk. paper)
1. Dogs--Barking. I. Title.
SF433.R84 2008
636.7’0887--dc22
2007051580
Printed in the U.S.A.
Contents
1 Barking as Communication
2 When Barking is a Problem
3 Excitement Barking
4 The Warning Bark
5 Fear Barking
6 Guard Barking
7 Frustration Barking
8 Learned Barking
9 Breed Related Barking and Other Vocal Expressions
10 Final Thoughts
Recommended Reading
About the Author
1 Barking as Communication
When the topic of barking comes up, people often first think that:
• A dog is showing aggressive behavior
• The dog is dominant
• Dogs do it to irritate us
• It is bad behavior on the part of the dog
• It is a cause of complaint from neighbors
On a superficial basis, these reactions make sense. Nothing is more irritating to people than barking. It makes many people very angry and gets on their nerves and neighbors often complain. People often respond to barking by becoming irritable, angry, nervous, and unsure about what the dog is doing.
Such reactions are based on a lack of knowledge about why dogs bark—and people tend to over-react to what they do not understand. Typical responses include yelling and wanting to punish the dog—all of which usually have the opposite effect from what was intended. Instead of quieting the dog, it often results in just more barking. If it does succeed in quieting the dog, there are usually negative side effects. The dog will likely become afraid of the owner (or neighbor), more afraid of being alone, or develop eating or health problems. A whole range of symptoms due to chronic stress may develop in the dog.
These types of reactions to barking are the result of not understanding what is really going on when a dog barks. Knowledge provides understanding, and understanding gives us a little more insight and patience. When we are not stressed ourselves, we become able to keep a cool head, and self-control lets us handle problems better. We become better observers and can find smarter and more efficient solutions to the problems we face. In other words, analyzing the situation and calmly finding the reasons for what is happening is the best way to find a lasting and good solution without scaring or mentally destroying the dog.
Barking as Communication
Barking and the use of body language are important means by which dogs communicate. Vocal sounds and body language are used by all sorts of animals and people to express a wide variety of needs and emotions. Communication is necessary to be able to live together in a relationship with minimal conflicts and to be able to understand each other well. The key to understanding how to interact with a barking dog is learning how to interpret what a dog is trying to communicate.
This concept applies to humans as well as to dogs. In books and articles about family therapy it is often stated that most of the problems families struggle with arise due to a lack of ability to communicate—to talk with each other. They talk past each other, and accuse each other of not listening to what I say.
You never listen to me
is a common accusation, often yelled at the top of the voice, and the yelling becomes louder and louder the more people do not feel they are being listened to.
It is exactly the same with dogs. When we think a dog is not listening, we yell louder and more angrily. Dogs also get frustrated about not being heard.
They start yelling
also— especially when no matter how much they bark, they fail to make us understand what they are trying to communicate.
It is important for us to teach ourselves to listen
to what our dogs try to tell us. Ideally we can recognize their attempts to communicate—the calming signals, the small signs of stress—so we can solve problems before there is a real conflict. We need to pick up on the communication as early as possible. Or, if conflict has occurred, and we already feel we have a problem, to start listening
more intently to what the dog is actually telling us. It is only then we can find the right.
Most mammals use a variety of sounds
and body language to communicate.
So How Do Dogs Try To Communicate?
Dogs have many different ways of expressing themselves beyond barking. Most (but not all) dogs communicate in a similar manner and these expressions can usually be easily recognized by other dogs. Some forms of communication are easy for people to understand, but some unique expressions are harder for people to comprehend without taking the time to learn about them. Dogs communicate in many ways including:
• Distance creating signals used to keep someone away or increase the distance from another individual. Examples are showing teeth, lunging forward, snapping, biting, growling, and barking.
• Calming signals used to express politeness, solve conflicts, or to show friendliness.
• Body language that express fear or defense. Examples are tail between the legs, crouching, backing up or taking flight, and of course the stress symptoms like peeing, scratching, and shaking.
• Signs of joy. Examples are a wagging tail, licking, jumping, wiggling the whole body, and showing a happy face.
And then there are all the sounds that