A bark of its own kind – the acoustics of ‘annoying’ dog barks suggests a specific attention-evoking effect for humans

Abstract

Dog barks represent a major source of noise pollution worldwide. However, the exact reasons why dog barks annoy people and why particular people show stronger reactions to dog barks than other noises, are poorly understood. In a sound playback study, we tested Hungarian participants (N= 153) from three age groups and three residential areas. Each participant was tested with 12 different bark sequences, assembled from original barks, based on their pitch, inter-bark intervals and tonality. Subjects rated each sequence according to the degree of annoyance caused by the barks and also to the apparent inner state of the dog. The results showed that the residential area did not have an effect on annoyance ratings. However, compared to children and older adults, young adults found high-pitched barks to be the most annoying. This finding is consistent with earlier results of the effects of baby cries on humans. The most annoying barks showed unique acoustical structures (high pitch, low tonality), this combination was not associated with the extremities of any other emotional scales. We assume that the strong attention eliciting effect of particular barks could be one of the evolutionary reasons why barking has become the main vocalization of the dog during domestication.

Separation-related behavior of dogs shows association with their reactions to everyday situations that may elicit frustration or fear

“…As we expected, all but one of the factors that emerged from the questionnaire were somehow associated with vocalizations. Vocalization is one of the most often mentioned signs of separation stress, with a strong association between particular acoustic features of the vocalizations emitted by isolated individuals and the possible inner state of the subject 26 , 38 , 39 . In other canid species—either pups or adult individuals—whining or howling is what mostly appears instead of barking 40 – 42 .…”

“…Based on these findings, both vocalization types have a different role during interspecific communication between dogs and humans, thus during separation they are probably emitted with an adaptive outcome by potentially changing the owner’s behavior. Barking is a long-range vocalization type, thus in this case its function might be to capture the attention of the owner and it is provoked by the unpleasant frustrating situation 39 . The whining of dogs (being a short-range vocalization) might rather elicit caring behavior from the receivers once they reappear at the scene 41 .…”

Urban Ecosystem Disservices in the Global South

“…Other UED in this impact category, include bird species that are considered noisy (Belaire et al 2015;Cox et al 2018;Echeverri et al 2019), pets or other animals making loud or unpleasant noises (Lyytimäki 2014;Jégh-Czinege et al 2020;McLellan and Shackleton 2019), the presence of bird and dog excrement (Belaire et al 2015;Delshammar et al 2015;Cox et al 2018;Lyytimäki 2017) or the dung from cattle and other livestock that are perceived as unpleasant or unsightly (Shackleton et al 2017). However, it is important to note that most studies that examined or mentioned UED impacting the aesthetic value of urban environments and UGI were concentrated in the Global North; only a few studies have been conducted in the Global South.…”

Factors Affecting Canine Obesity Seem to Be Independent of the Economic Status of the Country—A Survey on Hungarian Companion Dogs

“…In the case of companion dogs, it is the responsibility of the humans to fulfill all the biological needs of their animals, ranging among others from basic nutrition to the properly enriched social environment and activities and necessary medical assistance. When humans fail in one or the other area of responsible ownership, the consequences can affect negatively the welfare of dogs (e.g., [3]), the humans (e.g., [4]), or the broader environment (e.g., [5]). Being obese or overweight, which is considered as one of the most pervasive chronic conditions, leading to lessened life quality and decreased life expectancy in both humans and dogs [6], is one of those serious canine welfare problems, where the causation almost exclusively can be attributed to misguided husbandry practices by the owner.…”