When a dog barks and nothing is there, why is it barking? Only the dogs know for sure!
Recentresearchshows that the domesticating of dogs began between 20,000-40,000 years ago. At that period of time, dogs have learned how to understand large vocabularies, complex sentences, and up to 1,000 words if trained properly. Like us, dogs use verbal and nonverbal cues to communicate. For dogs, barking is a completely normal behavior—it's one of the most effective ways dogs know how to communicate with their owners.
Dogs rarely bark for no reason. Experts in animal behavior say that a dog's bark is often trying to tell you or another creature something. Just what they're trying to communicate can be quite a puzzle, but some common messages are: "Come on, let's play!" "Is that the kid's school bus I hear?" or even "The mail carrier is here!"—and then when the carrier leaves, "I have protected our home once again. You're welcome." They use barking to communicate a variety of feelings, so in order to fully understand what a dog is communicating, pet parents need to contextualize a dog's verbal cues within their nonverbal cues.
There are many more reasons why dogs bark aside from these common barking situations that you'll likely encounter. The key to understanding your dog's barking is to look at their body language and then for the reasons causing the bark. If your dog's barking is a problem, a vet or dog trainer may be able to help you teach your dog the "rules" that your family wants it to follow. Otherwise, just as you may not understand your dog's barking, your dog may not understand your barking—in people talk.
