Many times, dogs may bark constantly for no apparent reason. It is a way of expressing what you feel, whether it is anger, that you are happy or that you need something.
On the other hand, some specialists emphasize that a dog’s bark can vary depending on the situation in which it is found. Pitch, frequency and volume are some of the factors that change according to what the dog interprets.
However, many times you can easily notice that a dog is not barking at a stranger, but at another. There is no clear explanation for this, but there are some factors that can approximate an answer.
According to some dog behaviorists, this mainly depends on whether the dog likes the person or not. The manager of the Spanish veterinary center Catdog, Felipe Vázquez Montoto, assures that dogs have people they don’t like and others they like.
“The same thing happens to dogs as it does to people. There are people you like better and others you like worse; well, the same goes for them. There are people who canines don’t like, so to speak,” he says.
Furthermore, he explains that this is related to some aspects of the person that the dog might find unpleasant, such as their smell, the way they walk or move, and how they speak, among others.
Dogs, like many other animals, are highly territorial; This means that any situation that disturbs your environment affects you in a particular way. “Dogs tend to be very territorial and many times they simply bark at people they don’t know, especially when they invade their safe space,” says Vázquez Montoto.
Following this line, the dog media American Kennel Club maintains that it is normal for dogs to bark at people outside their home, as a sign of defense of their territory.
