Decoding language of the dog species

By COLIN BARRAS

According to a new study, barking dogs are better able to communicate than we thought. A computer software that distinguishes dogs differently by barking, from which barking can be seen as a language in the dog world, conveying information in their brains and gaining all the copper kind of understanding.

Csaba Molnár and his colleagues at the University of Eötvös Loránd - Budapest, Hungary have recorded the bark of 14 Hungarian sheepdogs in a number of different situations such as approaching strangers, playing, fighting and when alone They then sounded in an artificial neural network led by the research team led by Frédéric Kaplan at the Swiss Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.

Artificial neural networks have identified key sound characteristics of each bark. Molnár's team also found that the computer software could determine the situation where the bark was created.

Accuracy changes

However, the accuracy of the software is not stable. It correctly identifies the barking when the dog approaches strangers up to 63%, but when it comes to recognizing the bark when playing with an accuracy of only 6%.

The reliability of the software when identifying each dog separately is also not fixed because it depends on the circumstances of recording the bark. It can accurately identify each animal when playing at a rate of 60%. But it is very difficult to distinguish the barking of each dog against strangers - only 30% accurate.

Molnár said the results of the study proved that the barking of dogs contained a lot of information. 'In the past, scientists have argued that the barking of dogs is a byproduct of domestication so it has no purpose of communication. But we have proven there are differences in circumstances. '

Human choice

Molnár thinks that human selection can explain why artificial neural networks easily identify a dog when fighting more than playing. Domestic dogs are so cautious that people easily know when it barks because there are strangers.

'In this situation, the dogs bark very differently. But when they play, there is no rule that forces them to bark alike, so each one has their own bark. '

Brian Hare of Duke University in Durham, NC said: 'This idea sounds great. This is a study of animal behavior. We see a model that nobody thinks it exists. We ourselves are not aware of that difference. '

Juliane Kaminski of Max Planck Institute, Leipzig, Germany added: 'It is interesting to know that the language of domestic dogs is even more flexible than what we still know.'

Templates are handed down

Juliane also said that there are suitable explanations for Molnár's research.'For example, when playing, dogs have many opportunities to learn about the relationship between their barking and human behavior, which barking brings a characteristic human behavior to happen?'

If this is the case, it is possible that the barking of play has evolved over time compared to the barking of a fight. 'When fighting, the dog barks more aggressively, causing people to run away. That's it. This may explain why the bark is altered slightly.

Hare argues that research has demonstrated the importance of understanding dog behavior.'People often think that dogs are boring because they are made by humans. But that is exactly why they become so great. '