Dog Owner's Manual › Chapter 3: Daily Interaction With Your Dog › Dog Verbal Cues and Body Language ›

Dog Verbal Cues and Body Language

Audible dog communication typically assumes one of the following forms:

Howls: Wolves howl to locate other pack members over long distances. Many domestic dogs have kept this behavior. It can sometimes be initiated by such things as police sirens.

Growls: This sound is often associated with aggression, threats, and displays of dominance. However, dogs may growl during play as well. Study the dog’s body language to distinguish one from the other.

Grunts: These are often heard when dogs greet humans or other dogs. They are the equivalent of a human sigh.

Whines: A form of communication over intermediate ranges that can signal anything from pain to submission to happiness at meeting someone.

Barks: As with howling, these can be used to get attention, to raise the alarm, or to identify an individual. A dog who is anxious tends to bark in a high pitch; a dog who is warning off an intruder barks at a lower pitch. Warning barks may become more rapid as a stranger gets closer.

Dog Body Language

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Quirk BooksThe Dog Owner's Manual is a basic guide to dog care.
The book was written by a celebrated veterinarian and an acclaimed author. It provides dog owners with well-researched and helpful information presented in a lighthearted manner. The creators chose to write the book in a style similar to what you'd find in "operating instructions" for a car or computer. Of course they--and we--respect the fact that our beloved pets are not products or machines!