Barking, the Sound of a Language

by Turid Rugaas

Barking is natural and almost all dogs bark. It is one of the many ways dogs communicate with each other as well as with humans. In this book, author Turid Rugaas, well known for her work on identifying and utilizing canine calming signals, turns her attention to understanding and managing barking behavior.

Genres: Dogs, Nonfiction, Animals, Reference

112 pages, Paperback

First published February 11, 2008

About the author

Turid Rugaas is an internationally renowned trainer and writer who has devoted her life to dogs, their behavior and their well-being.

The Norwegian dog trainer has worked with dogs for many years and studied the body language of dogs for more than a decade. After a project where Turid and a colleague observed dogs carefully, recording their behaviour on video and in photographs, she became well-known around the world for her work on the calming signals. And Turid Rugaas is now one of the world's leading experts on dog behavior.

In the critically acclaimed book On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals, she shares with us her insights on the fascinating world of communication between dogs, as well as dogs and their owners.

Turid lives and works in Norway where she owns and runs a dog training school, Hagen Hundeskole. Being a popular speaker, she is spending more time abroad than at home, speaking and presenting programs at conferences, seminars and workshops.

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's amazing how many people would come into the store and complain about their dog barking and want a shock collar solution to stop it. Seeing as how we only promote humane methods I suggest this book instead. It tells you how to identify the type of barking your dog is doing, why it is doing the barking and how to correct it. It takes a lot of time to train them out of this but it can be done.

[Babble · Rating 3 out of 5]

Turid is a champion of non aversive dog training - and a powerful advocate for the dog's perspective. This book is short, snappy, easy to read. It provides good general information about why dogs bark,but not nearly enough information about how we can assist them not to.

[eulalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there is a lot of good information in this little book, I wish the examples would have better explained how to solve the problem rather than just demonstrating that there is a problem. With what is included I do hope to make progress with my dog.

Oh, and for anyone considering getting the Kindle version, there are pictures in color, but they would probably be fine to have in black and white. They are photographs (no diagrams) and you can get the idea without having the in-color paperback version.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very helpful book! More people should know about this. Nice and concise for people who are too impatient to read larger books. I suggest this to people at the animal shelter I work at to deal with potential barkers.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hoping this will help me deal with my puppy's barking. Can't wait to try out these theories and "cures" when I pickup my puppy from doggy obedience bootcamp.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this author and her philosophy of dog training . See her calming signal book as well. Everything comes from a place of kindness and respect. What did I learn? Well there are reasons for why dogs act the way they do. We often inadvertantly train them to act in certain ways. Leash pulling,yelling, over reacting may lead them to overreacting. These books talk about why dogs may react in uncomfortable situations and what we can do to help calm them. This book points to many types of bark/dog sounds and possible interpretations. Many ideas on letting your dogs be dogs and do it in a way that acceptable to you. One tip is not to yell at a dog for growling as this is one step away from biting. Eliminatating growling may remove this safety valve

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent little book from Turid Rugaas, this one dealing with a common complaint from dog guardians - "My dog barks too much." Rugaas explains the many reasons dogs bark and offers advice on how to determine why your dog is barking. She also offers suggestions on how to change your dog’s behavior so they bark less. Since many of the reasons dogs bark excessively are a result of stress and anxiety, Rugaas addresses the need to reduce the dog’s stress, which may mean changing our behavior as well. She also clearly explains why punishment based strategies and tools like anti-barking shock collars are more likely to make the problem worse, rather than better. If you feel your dog is barking too much, this book is a MUST READ. Even if your dog is quiet as a mouse, I recommend this book as it will give you greater insights to your dog’s vocalizations and their canine point-of-view.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and fairly simple: your dog is trying to communicate with you, so pay attention and try to understand what's going on. If your dog is barking because s/he perceives a problem, change or avoid the root cause before you try to change the dog. Focusing on changing the dog may cause frustration which leads to aggression or depression, or may cause the dog to lose warning behaviors (which are important to avoiding violence). The book goes through several types of barking, their possible causes, and ways to manage it, if necessary.

The aha! moment for me was realizing that the conventional attitude of "I must control the dog", in this situation, is a lot like the attitude that "children must be seen and not heard". Certainly harmful to humans, so it makes sense that it would also be harmful to dogs.

[Florence · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is a must-have for dog owners. It saved my life as I live with 2 dogs and 4 aspies, the latter often reacting violently to barking. Understanding what the barking tells and how to deal with it, efficiently and without words has proven to be a very powerful tool. It also has changed my relationship with my dogs, as they feel I understand and respect them better. A really good book that I open each time I feel at a loss or need to retrain my skills.

[Magen - Inquiring Professional Dog Trainer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful perspective shift, helping people better understand why their dog barks and that there are many types of barks. The audio quality and narrator are great. It is unfortunate that the publisher didn't use the audiobook format as an opportunity to include audio recordings of the kinds of barks. As a dog trainer and long time dog guardian, I mostly knew what barks Rugaas was referencing, but I expect many people won't. Since this wasn't included with the print version either, that's not factored into the rating. My one concern with the book is the consistent reference back to Calming Signals, an earlier book by Rugaas, which I hadn't read. I didn't understand the references to the phrase Calming Signals and I didn't understand the specific references to each one. I went and checked this book out from the library. Calming Signals is another phrase for appeasement signals or more broadly dog body language. There needed to be a few page explanation of Calming Signals instead of assuming the reader had already read the other book.

There are practical solutions here written with the typical dog guardian in mind. I'd recommend listening to the most relevant section twice and to take notes on steps. It's not written for the dog training professional.

Thank you to Dogwise Publishing for providing me with a review copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

[Sofie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good info on canine verbal communication. It helped me pinpoint why my dog barks so much, but I don't feel any closer to solving my dog's barking problem. I think that's because of the limited info on frustration barking. I'm fairly certain it can occur outside of isolation.

It's a bit odd that she claims that you can make a dog more fearful and defensive by giving attention or rewards when they're feeling that way. She's a well regarded trainer in the scientific dog training world, so I wonder if there's more to it than I thought.

[Debra Hahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barking dog anger or fear or us it stress.

This book has great insight on dog behavior .
How they learn things or figure out how to get
Our attention, because they are scared or lonely,
Or feel neglected. Then gives trading answers
To help them and teach their owner on dealing
With both areas of the problems for a life time change.
A must read to understand the dog language.

[Rachel Igo · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I struggle with most is understanding why a dog is barking. I find it perplexing, and sometimes I feel like they’re doing it for no reason. But Turid puts everything into perspective and really shows there’s a reason for everything dogs do- even barking! Putting this information together with the body language of the dog gives the whole picture of what a dog is trying to communicate, and it’s so important to listen to our dogs!

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short, easy to understand explanation of the different kind of barking that dogs express, how to recognize them, deal with them effectively and in an ethical animal friendly way and what causes various kinds of barking.
The book comes with a audio cd with examples which I found very enlightening and listened to several times.
I can highly recommend this to anyone who either owns a dog or comes across dogs on a daily basis

[Justina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Das Buch war leider nicht so wissenschaftlich, wie ich es mir gewünscht hab. Ich dachte es würde einfach sehr objektiv verschiedene Bellverhalten beschreiben. Es ist aber eher eine Art Trainings Buch für Menschen, deren Hunde Ihnen zu viel bellen und hilft bei der Ursachenfindung. Außerdem beinhaltet es einige veraltete, aversive Methoden, die die Autorin selbst heute wohl auch nicht mehr so anwenden würde, wie zum Beispiel blocken.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the perfect starting point for learning about the cause of what has historically been seen as a problematic behavior. Educating myself about the causes and science has helped my relationship with my dog perfectly. It is a quick read and helps to paint the point of view of our beloved canine family members. Barking has diminished in our home and that is due in part to the educational and step-by-step nature of this book.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book, and Turid Rugass is an amazing behaviorist. This book, though slim, gives a nice overview of the types of barking that dogs do, and why they typically do them. There are steps to dealing with barking, as well.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buoni piccoli spunti e buone anche le nozioni di training per risolvere alcuni problemi di abbaio. Tuttavia non mi ha arricchita quanto la lettura del libro sui Segnali Calmanti, della stessa autrice.

[Cynthia L Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barking had nice descriptions of the different types of barks. I liked that it included how to identify them, what could cause them, and how to train them away. It also includes examples of people Turid had worked with in the past and how they fixed the problem.

[Villl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un manual sencillo que ayudaría a la mayoría de la gente con la mayoría de los perros. Como siempre ocurre con estos libros no explica que hacer cuando tu perro es más dominante y no acepta que tu tomes el control por mucho que sepa que se lo estás pidiendo

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a helpful guide to interpreting the meanings of different types of barks. I wish it could be accompanied by an audio resource, but Rugaas does a good job of describing the different types of sounds.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read and finally a book filled with practical solutions instead of theories!

[Degan Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Some of it is not new. it the way everything is explained and steps given is so simple.

[Sam Pawson Heroux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple to the point and informative.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m sure I will be rereading this invaluable book. I know I will start practicing the boring car tips today as my dog barks and whines in the car.

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pros:
+ everything

Cons:
- could use more examples; but I do understand that certain signals vary from dog to dog for different situation

[Aisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides good insight into different types of barking dogs can engage in and helps owners to train them. I wish this book providing more information on how to help dogs.

[Barbara W · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t know there was so many barks

I really enjoyed this book. I would definitely recommend to everyone with a dog whether it barks or not.
I enjoy Turid’s books.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably one of the best ways to understand a dog's set of communication, especially for those getting more into the world of dogs.

[Jeanine · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book for anyone with a barky dog