What’s your dog trying to tell YOU? Scientists discover animals’ bark can reveal whether it is scared or lonely…and can even be used to tell its gender and age
Ever wondered what your dogs trying to tell you with its bark? Well, now there is a computer program able to do just that – and youd be surprised at just what your pet is able to communicate.
Scientists developed the program after discovering dogs arent just trying to attract attention, or scaring off intruders when they bark.
Amazingly, the bark could also let you know the gender and age of your pet – as well as whether it is scared, happy or even lonely.
More than just noise: A dogs bark reveals more than just its feelings, but also its gender and age
The research team from Eotvos Lorand University, in Hungary, and the Technical University of Madrid, in Spain, hope the new computer program will help vets diagnose canines in future.
It could also be used to help dog shelter staff identify levels of aggression, fear or distress, the Independent reported.
But there is another possible use for the algorithms which have been developed.
We could develop emotional sounds for robots based on dog barks that can be recognised by humans – that would be a way to create believable social robots, Dr Tamas Farago, of Eotvos Lorand told the Independent.
The program was created after recording around 800 barks made in a host of different situations – from holding a bowl of food in front of the dog, to a stranger walking to the front door – by seven different dogs of different ages.
And when they put the newly developed algorithm to the test, the team discovered that, more than 81 per cent of the time, it could work out the age and gender of the dog as well.
Helpful: After recording more than 800 barks, scientists created a new computer program which will hopefully be used by vets to let them know a bit more about their four legged patients
In 2010, the team from Eotvos University developed software which was able to recognise the dog by its individual bark 52 per cent of the time.
This discovery, and the ones made this year, were published in the journal Animal Cognition.
Why does my female dog only bark at males?
Although there are many reasons that a dog could bark or act aggressively with men, I find that fear is the most common one, followed by the feeling that they need to protect their owner. … They will also help the dog understand that he does not need to be fearful because you are in control.
How do you tell what a dogs bark means?
In addition, the more barks in a row, the more aroused the dog is. A single bark may be given when a dog is surprised or annoyed, as if to say, “huh?” or “knock it off.” On the other hand, a long string of barks likely indicates the dog is far more worked up, such as the prolonged sound of alarm barking.
Your dog has different kinds of barks — here’s why
Expecting a baby can be a very exciting time! Will they have her nose? Will they have his hair? What color eyes will the little guy or gal have? These are all questions that future parents ask as they get closer and closer to their due date, but what about gender?
Gender seems to be a huge deal to parents-to-be. With gender reveal parties and ways to predict babys gender popping up all over the internet, parents are definitely obsessed. You could wait for your gender reveal ultrasound from your doctors office, or pay big bucks to a photo studio that does fetal photos, or maybe you could just consult your dog.
Say what? Thats right, your dog. There have been a lot of thoughts in online forums that say that dogs understand a babys gender before parents do – but is that possible?