At times your dog can bark continuously, and you can’t figure out what is happening with it. When this happens, you are left with questions like, do dogs think in between their barks?
Dogs think when something approaches, an example of a prey animal, the dog starts barking. At first, the barks will not be challenging, and also, it will not be aggressive.
When the prey continues to approach, the dog becomes more aggressive, and at some point, it might approach the prey.
These situations show all this time; the dog is barking and it is assessing the situation. When the prey is far, the barks are to warn it, but it knows it’s time to attack when it comes nearer. In this article, you will learn how a dog thinks and what different barks mean.
Dogs Thinking In Barks
Dogs bark in different ways, and every way has its meaning. When they alter their voice when barking, they communicate to the other dogs in a way they understand but humans don’t.
The difference in their barking could be on timing, amplitude, and the pitch they use. The dog’s vocalization sound may not be sophisticated.
In most cases, a dog vocalizes by barking; which can happen indiscriminately. A dog that guards livestock can bark all night even when there is no threat around. So at this point, the dog may not think in the barks as it is barking from arousal.
When the dog is barking from arousal, it has less control over it, and at that point, you may find it barking all night. Those barks carry little information because they are from the emotional state of the dog. As seen above, dogs use different barks and growl to communicate different things.
There is a food growl; if you observe your dog, you will realize it barks differently when it sees food. There is a playing bark that it produces when playing.
There is also a danger bark that it barks when it sees danger approaching. With the difference in barking, you can see a dog thinks, analyzes the situation, and decides which bark to use depending on what is happening. At times the barks may change as the situation changes.
How Do Dogs Think?
A dog has no capabilities of reading or writing as humans do. For this reason, they cannot use words, gestures, and symbols that humans use.
Nonetheless, you can teach your dog how to react to certain words and symbols. For instance, if you want your dog to sit on the dog mat, you can use the word ‘sit’ coupled with a hand signal to instruct the dog.
Once you have trained the dog, he will automatically locate the mat every time you command him to sit. To answer your question, dogs think about things just like humans think. The difference is that dogs will not think about a specific thing in the same manner as humans.
Your cognitive recognition of an event is not the same as that of a dog. This is because you can internalize occasions while the dog will associate the experience with a feeling. The dog will think of a need he has or a goal he wants to accomplish.
If your dog desires to feed on something you are holding, they will learn ways of showing you they are interested. The shelter is a need that dogs have. Even if you provide shelter and food for your dog, he will still retain the natural hunting instincts.
Whatever goal the dog has will be accomplished through learning new ways of communicating the message to you. Alternatively, the dog can use his instincts to accomplish a goal such as hunting for food. The vital thing to have in mind is that dogs think but not as humans do.
A human being’s needs and wants are different from dogs. The thinking process in getting things done is inevitably different. A dog will have a different perspective of something from a human being.
He will then struggle to express the need or desire in a manner that you will understand. The dog communicating by barking does not mean they are thinking in barks.
Barking is because the dog cannot speak. When you learn how your dog communicates, you will have an easier time understanding them. The behavior, including a specific way of barking, will convey a message to you. The behavior is the way a dog expresses themselves rather than how they think.
What Do Dogs Think About?
Dogs can comprehend the messages we pass to them. Our communication coupled up with the dog’s needs and wants, the dog’s mind is engaged.
Do you think of how your dog feels about the treats you give him? Does he think about the homemade dog treats? Well, surprisingly enough, dogs love being rewarded.
The challenge is that you can never really tell why the dog reacted to your treat the way he did. Maybe you fed him when he was famished, resulting in eating the food in a hurry.
The food may have been too sweet to resist, or perhaps the dog didn’t want to hurt your feelings. There is no concrete way of determining what a dog is thinking about.
The task is upon you to interpret the dog’s cue and think of what they are communicating. A proper understanding of your dog’s behavior helps you decipher the intended message quickly. So, make an effort to understand your dog for a better bond.
Understanding Dogs Barks
Some domestic dogs frequently bark as they express their needs and wants to us. The wild dogs, on the other hand, do not bark continually.
This is partly because the domestic interaction dogs have with people results in the frequent barking. When a dog barks, it doesn’t have to be sending a message to a human being; the recipient may be another dog.
If you have a couple of dogs in your home, expect to hear more barks than dog owners who have only one dog or puppy. Even if you cannot understand the bark, you are in a position to tell what the dog wants. Similarly, the way the dog barks communicates his mood and intensity of the message.
The Tone of a Dog’s Bark
Understanding a dog’s bark is all about the tone your dog uses. The pitch and tone your dog will use to communicate a friendly message are not the same as the one he will use to communicate danger.
When your dog sees you walking through the driveway, he will bark while he wiggles his tail joyfully. If the same dog saw a stranger walking through the driveway, the barking will be aggressive. The aggressive tone shows a sense of providing security, while the joyful bark is an indicator of happiness and excitement.
In most cases, dogs use barks to communicate. That is why it is essential to know if dogs think in their barks. But not all barks are meant to convey a message. Some are from emotional arousal. To understand what your dog is trying to communicate, you need to understand its different barks.