Soft whimpering: "I hurt!" "I'm scared." The average person is most likely to hear this at the veterinarian's office, when the dog is suffering, or when a submissive dog is in a strange place that appears threatening. This is really a carryover of the mewing sound that young puppies make when cold, hungry, or distressed.

Louder, more prolonged whining sound: "Please give me . . ." or "I want …" A dog usually uses this sound when waiting for food, or for the leash to be put on, or when trying to get his owner's attention, and so forth.

Sighs: This vocalization, which is invariably accompanied by the dog's lying down with his head on his forepaws, can have two meanings, depending on the context and certain facial expressions. With eyes half-closed, it is a sign of pleasure, meaning "I am content and am going to settle down here." With eyes fully open, it is a sign of disappointment when something anticipated has not materialized, best interpreted as "I give up!"

Baying: This is the characteristic sound of hounds during a hunt. It is usually interpreted as "Follow me!" "Let us get him!" or "All together now!"

Yip-howl: This is really more of a yip-yip-yip-howl, with the final howl quite prolonged. It usually means "I am lonely" "I feel abandoned!" or "Is anybody there?"

Howling: "I am here!" "This is my territory!" or "I hear you out there!" A confident animal will often howl simply to announce his presence. Howling also often occurs in response to a yip-howl from another dog. It has a more sonorous sound to the human ear than does the yip-howl, which is often described as mournful.

Moaning: This sounds something like "ar-owl-wowl-wowl . . ." over a short interval of time. It is a sound of spontaneous pleasure and excitement that means "I am excited!" or "Let us play!" A dog usually moans when something he really likes is about to happen.

Panting: "Let us go!" This is a sign of excitement.

Dogs can also learn specific vocalizations. For instance, the bark that dogs give to the command speak sounds qualitatively different from a spontaneous bark. The same can be said for the bark that police and protection dogs learn to give. Some dogs can even be taught
specific sounds for specific settings, ranging from simple barks, moans, or play-growls to more complex sounds that may sound like yodels or attempts at speech.

Why Dogs Jump Up And Lick People's Faces

Part of the canine greeting is to sniff and lick faces. Because people are so much bigger than they are, dogs try to bridge the gap by jumping up. Some people really dislike it when dogs, their own or someone else's, jump on them. But dogs, on the other hand, do it all the time because they think they are being polite.

The next time you take your dog to the park, watch how he greets and is greeted by other
dogs. They start by sniffing each other's mouths, then move around to sniff the back ends. All
of this is considered proper and polite behavior among dogs, and they assume it is the way they should greet people.

Dogs do not have any trouble sniffing our bottoms, they will do it all the time if given a chance. But the first part of the greeting, the mouth sniff, is not possible because we are so much taller than they are. Except for very short people with very tall dogs, the only way this is going to happen is if dogs get up on their hind legs.