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Social animals tend to have wider vocal repertoires than asocial animals, and dogs make a lot more noise than other canids, both in quality and quantity. Dogs whine, yelp, growl, howl, and bark (Lord et al. 2009) in addition to other less‐described vocalizations such as pant‐laughing and grunting, to name a few.

Howls and barks are loud and noisy. Howls carry for long distances, while barks are for shorter‐range communication (Feddersen‐Petersen 2000). Both attract attention and can be socially facilitated, although some dogs bark more than others even in the presence of the same stimulus. Barks vary in acoustic property and duration, but each is repetitive and loud. Barks performed in different contexts sound different from one another, so barks from a “stranger approaching,” isolation, or play context will each sound distinct (Yin and McCowan 2004). Tonal and high‐pitched barks indicate fear or desperation (e.g., “alone” bark), while low‐pitched barks that are harsher with little amplitude modulation are described as aggressive (e.g., “stranger approaching” bark) (Pongrácz et al. 2006).

Barks are one of the lesser‐appreciated vocalizations and are associated with dog relinquishment and “misbehavior” (Wells and Hepper 2000). Problems with barking can stem from bark quantity (frequency), quality (style or context), or even perceived annoyance (Pongrácz et al. 2016). Yet barking can be affected by altering its consequences, and positive reinforcement procedures have been found effective. Even pairing a neutral stimulus with a tasty treat has been found to decrease barking (Protopopova and Wynne 2015). Barking can be increased or decreased, and people can modulate barking if necessary.

Growls, too, are nuanced, and dogs attend to these differences. Growls can indicate growler size (Taylor et al. 2010), and they are performed in agonistic as well as play contexts. Faragó et al. (2010) recorded growls in three contexts: guarding a bone, growling at an approaching stranger, and during play. These growls were then played to dogs as they approached a bone that was sitting in front of a crate that, unbeknownst to them, had speakers concealed inside. Dogs were more likely to retreat when they heard the “my bone” growl than when they heard the “threatening stranger” growl. People may have more difficulty than dogs in evaluating growls, and people should attend to both dog behavior and context to infer meaning (Faragó et al. 2017).