Has sciencetist figured out what dogs say when they bark???

Question

have they yet

Answer 1

Dogs were bred from wolves, and became domesticated and more suitable for a close relationship with humans.

One of the traits we bred into dogs was that they shouldn't ever want to become the "alpha dog" of the pack - otherwise they'd reach a certain stage of maturity, and want to challenge their human owners for dominance (as happens in wolf packs).

In wolves, it is only adolescent wolves which bark: adults generally do not (though they do howl, yelp, etc.)

It seems, therefore, that when we bred wolves into dogs, we selected for individuals which have a limited maturity. Basically, they are "fixed" at adolescence, and don't mentally mature any farther (this is called "neoteny"). This means that they continue to bark throughout their lives.

Barks can have a number of different "meanings", like aggressive barking, attention-calling barking, and so on. It is generally more of a way of calling attention - it would be used "in the wild" to get other pack-members to pay attention to something (either the barking dog, or something else).

Answer 2

Somebody built and sold a device that they claim translates a dog's barking into English. I tried it on mine and he said, "You wasted your money on this pile of horse manure."

Seriously, you should be able to interpret your own dog's vocalizations and body language as easily as they can interpret yours.

Answer 3

woof woof = Feed me biiiitchh

Answer 4

This was actually solved by Gary Larson in one of his legendary Far Side cartoons.

When a dog barks, it is actually saying:

Hey, Hey, Hey....

:)

Answer 5

Why do people ask these retarted questions??? And use the spell checker once in a while...