Posted on 07/19/2009 2:05:34 PM PDT by JoeProBono
Biologically speaking, many animals besides dogs bark, according to Kathryn Lord at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, but the evolutionary biologist also says domestic dogs vocalize in this way much more than birds, deer, monkeys and other wild animals that use barks.
The reason is related to dogs 10,000-year history of hanging around human food refuse dumps, she suggests.....she and colleagues say barking is the auditory signal associated with an evolved behavior known as mobbing, a cooperative anti-predator response usually initiated by one individual who notices an approaching intruder. A dog barks because she feels an internal conflict an urge to run plus a strong urge to stand her ground and defend pups, for example. When the group joins in, the barks intimidate the intruder, who often flees.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Why do dogs bark so much? A recent paper by UMass Amherst evolutionary biologist Kathryn Lord and colleagues suggests that it has more to do with their evolutionary history as scavengers in dumps than their desire to communicate with humans. (Credit: Raymond Coppinger)
She’s from Massachusetts and there for not credible.
I have a basenji, which is an ancient breed of dog. He “vocalizes” but he doesn’t bark;-)
Dogs bark because a dometic dog has the mind of an immature wolf. Wolves grow out of their barking tendency. Most dogs don’t. But some dog breeds that most closely resemble wolves or wild canines bark much less than a typical dog.
I have a cat that meows and meows and meows. He also likes to ‘yelp’ to his hearts content when he feels we need to be hanging out with him rather than living life. No amount of ignoring diminishes this annoying trait. Must be part dog and no he is not a Siamese—just spoiled and a noisy butt. The three AM talking to got old real quick but has lessened except last night when he trapped himself behind the closed door of the bathroom and then WE got a talking to. Who runs this house anyway? LOL.
these two SOB’s next to me must ve awful insecure they bark all day and all night.
We have a huge oak tree in the back yard that is always home to large grackles (a sort of black bird) raising their young in Summer. I know when a stray cat is roaming around because of the racket from the birds.
I don’t know if you’d call it barks, but they sure squawk raise cain.
My husband also barks.
Fixed.
Cute basenji puppy! Nice wrinkles!
I think I taught one of my cats to meow all the time.
When she was a kitten, she, along with her littermates, was mauled by a dog. One of the kittens didn’t make it. Little Nicky was bitten on her haunch, and developed abcesses.
She was only 2 weeks old. I could not open her mouth to put antibiotic in. So I would hold her on her back and shake her until she meowed, then drop the antibiotic in her little open mouth.
I thought she would become vicious because of that arguably cruel treatment. But not at all. I got a friendly kitty who meows ALL the time.
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