Do dogs 'know'?

Just recently Bella has been getting a little vocal! Its never in an aggressive way, she just isn't that kind of dog. But she barks ... much more than she used to!

Thing is, its only select things / people. For example, I have only ever known for her to bark at three dogs in our area. But the thing is, these three dogs are aggressive. I know this because I have either spoke to the owners or they have said "Don't come close as he/she doesn't like other dogs".
Does she KNOW their aggressive and is worried / warning me?

Another thing is select people. Usually men, and if they are walking towards us. She will bark. But if the people do the kind of 'Ohh you silly doggy' (friendly) and bend down to stroke her, she laps up the attention.

Other than knowing the reason why, my main concern would be how do I shh her! I say 'shh shh', and she does know, because she stops. Then I say good girl. and she barks again! I know she isn't aggressive, and would never hurt a fly. But people who don't know dogs, may take her barking as aggression....and I don't want that!

Bare in mind, she is a beagle, and unfortunately....does have a mind of her own!

Hello Carla

...I am not sure how old Bella is now but I think she is an older puppy? As puppies mature and grow in confidences some do become more vocal
Dogs bark for many different reasons and the first thing is to try to work out is what your dog is trying to tell you. It is scared or excited maybe. You can tell a lot from your dog's body language. Look at the ears/eyes/tail and general posture for clues.

Most dogs can read every tiny nuance of another dog's body posture and behaviour, so yes they can often detect when another dog is likely to be aggressive and the barking can be saying 'I have seen and noted you, keep away'.


When dogs bark at certain people it can be because they haven't seen that kind of person before and are a bit unsure about them . That is why when socialising a puppy it is important to try to expose them to as many kinds of people as possible eg people in hats/ postmans uniforms etc.

The best way to teach your dog not to bark when out with you is first to teach it to bark and shush on command
This is not a difficult thing to do and is demonstrated in this excellent video by The Dogs Trust.


These videos by the Dogs Trust are really good and watching a demonstration can be much easier than trying to explain things to someone

Hi Carla

Agree with Mini and that dogs can bark for a number of reasons, and I guess it's hard to say why without seeing them (and the situation) for yourself.

Some dogs bark because they want you to play for example, sometimes their bark may be a warning bark, other times it could be less friendly

The video in Mini's post should help - the Dogs Trust training videos are pretty good

Thanks guys! Video looks good, I've just got to try some things tonight to get her barking out and about if she barks, she gets in quite a state so I don't think it would be beneficial to train there.

Yes she is 14 months now. I think its generally an unsure bark, as she will back away / circle and bark from a distance. Her ears tend to go back, and her tail is down (but not right between her legs). I think as a pup she generally got more attention from cooing ladies, than gentleman, which may be a reason why she is more unsure of men.

I'll definitely give this a go...thanks again! xx