Translations

I love the concept of those dog collars that will supposedly tell you what your dog is saying, but in order for them to work, you essentially have to know what your dog is trying to tell you already, since you have to input the circumstances in order for the collar to interpret. My problem has always been that I want to understand the barks I can’t tell apart.

For example, here are the barks I was/am able to recognize:

Moree- “I am behind a closed door”, “just throw the damn ball already”, “friends are here”, “strangers are at the door” and the “window” bark

Smokey- “Pay attention to me, not the other one”, “here, I’ll distract the other one so that you are fee to pay attention to me”, “strangers are at the door” and “DOG!!!!”

June- “I want something”, “friends are here”, “strangers are at the door” and the “window” bark.

For me, I’ve always wanted to be able to understand the “window” barks of Moree and now June. I can’t tell the difference just hearing them (and yes, there is a definite difference between the “friends” and “strangers” barks), but I know there are differences because Smokey can tell the difference.

For Moree and June, there were/are at least three variants of the “window” bark.

Moree- “birds in the street”, “the birds are attacking” and “DOG!!!!”

June- “kids”, “where’d it go?” and “DOG!!!!”

For Moree, it was his job to protect our house. Birds in the street were just as important to let us know about as the guy with a chainsaw. Smokey often didn’t see much point in either situation and would ignore it.

However, when the birds attacked, he would get up in the window with Moree, not barking, but being an extra presence guarding us.

Explanation: We have a giant bush outside our front window in which many song birds make their nests. Moree lived in the window whenever he was given access to the front room. Because neither the birds nor the dog really understood the plate glass window, the birds would occasionally dive bomb the front window in order to scare him away from their nests. Moree would then need to defend us from the birds.

The dog bark, though, that got Smokey’s attention every time (and still does), and he’d be right up there in the window barking with Moree to let that other dog know this was their territory.

June doesn’t seem quite as big on protecting us, but she is a curious little dog, and often channels Moree’s spirit. She too loves the giant front window. And now that the school bus stop is directly in front of our house, we know every day when there are children. Smokey likes kids, sees no need for them to be barked at, and at most, will lift his head up from the bed and perk his ears for a moment before going back to sleep.

Sometimes, she catches a flash of movement and that prompts a barking fit. By the time anyone else has a chance to look out the window, there’s nothing there, but June is positive she saw something. Depending on how frantic June is about whatever it is she thought she saw, Smokey will get up and amble his way toward the living room window. Sometimes he’ll add his giant bark to hers, but mostly, he doesn’t see anything, and he’ll return to the couch to sleep.

The dog bark, though, still elicits a reaction. In fact, because Smokey believes that June is less capable of protecting us from other dogs than Moree was, it brings a bigger reaction than it used to. From the first cry of dog, Smokey is moving, often barking before he’s fully standing, and off to the front window to join June and make sure those other dogs know that this is his house.

Now, its nice to be able to tell what’s going on based on Smokey’s reaction, but I’m not always in the same room with him, and I would love to be able to understand June’s bark as more than just indicating she’s at the window.