They are also digging into whether AI can tell a dog's age, gender and breed based on the noises it makes.
  • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
    33·
    3 months ago

    Any good dog owner pretty quickly learns what a dog’s bark means most of the time. Also, I’m not sure a bark alone without the body language to go with it is really all that helpful. I can tell so much more from my dogs’ body language including things like when they’re looking for a place to poo on a walk as opposed to just walking around and sniffing stuff.

    You also would be a lot less likely to know that one of my dogs is super angry if you didn’t know that her hair stands up like she has a great big stripe down her back when she does.

    Body language is so important with a dog.

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      3 months ago

      Because that’s how a lone dog learns to communicate with you. That doesn’t mean that their bark doesn’t communicate things you cannot understand…

      I would imagine this will eventually show the socialization of dogs. I can’t imagine my dog, who was rescued from Hurricane Harvey in some woods in Oklahoma has many distinctive features in her barks. She would have only briefly knew her mother, otherwise she has only grown up around humans and cats.

        • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          1·
          3 months ago

          I am sure its vastly different than other dog’s barks, just like the body language is.

          But why would they use the bark as communication, if they communicate fine with body language? It’s pretty obvious my dog is aloof to other dogs when we are at outings, she wants to join in but can’t figure out how to act more often than not.

          Then there are the other dog’s who do seem to communicate, verbally and else wise.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
            1·
            3 months ago

            I think it’s a combination of things, barking and body language and possibly other things we can’t detect.

  • Mango@lemmy.worldEnglish
    167·
    3 months ago

    These scientists are stupid. It’s not a language. Barks are always just trying to provoke a reaction.

    • Revonult@lemmy.worldEnglish
      10·
      3 months ago

      Not the same as barking but wolf howls are complex and unique to species and pack. Atleast shows they may be something there.

    • Eggyhead@kbin.run
      4·
      3 months ago

      100% agree. I imagine most dogs just think their barks are magic and they just want to try it on everything.

      However dogs also make a lot more sounds that just barks. Woofs, whines, yips, groans, whimpers, harrumphs…

      • Drusas@kbin.run
        2·
        3 months ago

        My dog always harrumphs when I tell her to stop barking, there’s no one here.

    • Gsus4@programming.devEnglish
      4·
      3 months ago

      It’s almost like an emotional state. What is complex for dogs is smell, the way they read the local bulletins pissted by all the locals, their health, their fertility, what they have been eating, their emotional state. And then they can leave their own peemail for others to smell and get all the latest community news :)

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
      21·
      3 months ago

      I don’t know if they are necessarily intended to provoke. Some are definitely intended to warn and I think greet sometimes as well based on my own dogs’ barks.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
          11·
          3 months ago

          I’d say that depends on the warning bark and my dogs have more than one kind. There are kinds they seem to do to sound fierce and there are kinds they seem to do in order to get my attention.

          But the greeting bark is definitely not provocative, it’s just “open the door now now now now now pet me!”