Dogs have remained the faithful friends and the dependable helpers and companions of humans for centuries as both understand each other in spite of the dog’s inability to speak. How do dogs communicate? Dogs are intelligent animals and using body language and some forms of vocalizations, dogs can very well communicate with other dogs, with other animals and with humans. Dog owners would attest to the fact that man’s best friend really do have the ability to show their feelings and to convey what they mean to their human friends.
Being pack animals, it would be an inherent attitude of dogs to dominate other dogs thus in a two or three dog household, one would be the leader of the pack. Dogs have a unique form of communicating with other dogs. The leader of the pack can easily stop unruly play between pack members. All the alpha male has to do is to assume an intimidating position, bare the teeth and growl and dogs lower in rank will show signs of being submissive by lowering the eyes and holding the tail between the legs.
When the alpha male bares sharp teeth and growls menacingly, dogs lower in rank will know that the pack leader is displeased. Dogs have another form of communication – the butt sniffing ritual. It is rather amusing to see dogs greet and communicate with each other as this is done by sniffing each other’s rear end.
Dogs cannot speak in the same manner that we humans cannot bark or whine and yet through long years of association, we humans have finally understood what the wagging tail, the whining and the barking, the erect ear and the furtive glances of the eyes mean. Its true, dogs and humans have different ways of communicating but a patient and discerning pet owner will understand what the pet needs and what the pet want to convey simply by understanding the body movements as well as the facial expression of the dog. A dog that is alerting the owners to possible territory intrusion would bark in a different manner than when it barks with joy at the sight of the master.
Apart from being man’s best friends, dogs are also man’s most loyal companions. It would certainly be nice if dogs can talk so that the pet can give its two cents worth of opinion on the troubles of the master but since man and dog have a different ways of communicating, both would have to be content with understanding each other’s body language and facial expression.