Sunday, July 30, 2017

Boof vs woowoowoo vs rowf




So did you know that as early as the 17th century, humans began to describe the barking sounds that we dogs make?  Back then, our barking sound was described as "waff".  By the 19th century, it appears that our barking changed to "woof".

And of course, there are other sounds to describe the sounds we dogs make.  Like yip and yap and arf, and bow wow and grrrrrr...

And here's a site to tell you how to woof in a variety of languages:
http://stories.barkpost.com/woof-other-languages/

This whole topic began because yesterday I described the FG's boof.  Now in our house,  a boof is not a bark - or a "woowoowoo".  It is not a full out "get the heck off my property" kind of sound.  And it's not a "rowf" which means hurry up and get my supper- that's Einstein favorite.  And then we have the "mmmmmmm" with a melodic tone that rises and falls when we are bored or want a treat.  And then we have Einstein's rarawwwwww when he yawns in the morning.  No a boof is none of these.  A boof is quieter than a woowoowoo.  And one makes a single boof at a time.  It's not done in sequence.  It's a "I'm bold but scared" kind of sound.  It's a boof.

Now you may be reading this and thinking that my human has lost her mind since her vacation started.  But there are scientists who actually study the acoustic properties of dog barks in response to different situations. And they have found that we dogs interpret the sounds of other dogs and humans can also tell the differences in our sounds as well.  And like humans, if we have a high-pitched bark in response to something, it usually signifies something happy.  Whereas a low-pitched bark signifies warning, or that we are not happy.  Just like humans!  And did you know the longest recorded barks (for a Cocker Spaniel) in a 10 minute period was 907 - or more than 90 a minute.  That's even more annoying than Einstein.  Clearly that dog had a LOT to say.  Now HE could have run for politics...

So no new critter sightings when we got my human up at 5:30 yesterday.  I got her up - I wanted her to make THE most of her first day off.  She was not impressed.  She took me out, waited for me to pee - and then pretended she was going to get dressed to take us for our walks.  So she went in the bedroom and closed the door.  But she TRICKED us - she went back to bed.  We actually let her sleep until 6.  And then Einstein began to rowf.  He had enough sleep.

Have a super Sunday!  Peace and paws up!  May all your rowfs today be happy - and rewarded with good treats!


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