I Just Got Lyric & Me A Bow-Lingual...Ask Me Anything!

[mermaid]

It's a pretty cool little device. About a year ago, when these first came out, I wanted one...but they were a God-awful $99!! Well, when I saw it today at PetCo for 12 bucks, I couldn't pass it up!!

[InvisibleTouch]

1. So, how does it work?

What has it been translating for you? I'm curious! :)

[mermaid]

2. Well..

I put it on the "Home Alone" mode overnight, just so I could see what happens when I'm sleeping, and can't hear her...and this was the result...

13 "On Guard" Barks
5 "Frustrated" Barks
1 "Sad" Bark
1 "Happy" Bark

Some of the translations of the "On Guard" Barks were:

These are my rules!
I don't like you, either!
Enough is enough!
Don't bother me.
I'm Strong. Are you?
Go ahead, make my day!
&%$#@$&$$$!!!!

Some of the "Frustrated" Barks traslated as:

Repeating yourself doesn't help.
I've got a funny feeling...

The "Sad" Bark translated as:
"Pay some attention to me!"

And the "Happy" Bark translated as:
"Aren't I great!"

LOL

Not surprisingly, the timestamp on the Happy Bark corresponds to about the time I moved my hand down a bit and began petting her, then she rolled over and had me start rubbing her belly!

The Sad Bark came just before that, when I had been reading my book, as I usually do before going to bed. didn't need the Bow-Lingual to tell me she was vying for my attention at that point, either, because I put up the book and turned off the light shortly after hearing that one. And that was when I started petting her.

So, it worked about like I thought it should...overnight, most of her barks were "On Guard" or "On Alert" barks. Good...I trained her to be a watchdog. Just goes to show the training stuck, I guess.

Now we will see what happens all day when I'm out at work, and see what results I get.

I expect most of them will be "On Guard" too. And some "Happy" Barks for when I walk in the door...maybe some "Sad" or "Frustrated" Barks as I'm leaving.

I'll let you know.

But it seems to work.

[Eurobabe]

3. what is this? a training device?

do tell.

[mermaid]

4. No

It's basically a sort of entertainment device, but is based on scientific research studies of dog barks, and what emotion seems to generate what type of bark.

It seems pretty accurate, from what I can make out...but, of course, it is meant more as entertainment, and it says so on the box...one should never use this device to replace your own instinctive reactions as to how your dog is feeling or behaving.

Most of the barks I am recording seem to be of the "On-Guard" variety, which is as it should be, since I trained Lyric as a watchdog.

Today, while I was at work, I recorded 5 "on-guard" barks, 4 "frustrated" barks, and one "sad" bark.

Presumably Lyric, at some point got bored or frustrated with being home alone, as any dog would. Probably a little sad Mommy wasn't there.

But, the main amount was still "on-guard" barks...as it should be, since, as I said, I trained Lyric to be a watchdog. It not only translates barks, per se...but "chuffs" "woofs" "howls" "groans" Dog owners, you know what I am talking about here!!

The way the science is described is as follows:

Under testing done at Japan Acoustics Laboratory, dog bark samples were taken, and compared with other body language observed at the time of the bark, and these samples were able to be broken down into "voiceprints" and from this, it was determined that dog barks tend to fall into six different distinct patterns
1. happy
2. sad
3. on-guard/territorial
4. frustrated
5. assertive/playful
6. needy

In the manual, they describe the unique characteristics of two of these types of barks...

Sad: A "sad" bark has a strong component in the 5000hz range, but not lower than 3000hz with no harmonic component. In a typical pattern, this bark lasts 0.2 to 0.3 seconds.

On-Guard: An angry bark that has a clear, non-harmonic fundamental frequency in the 250-8000hz range; a strong frequency component of approximately 1000hz, followed by fundamental frequencies in the 24-360hz range, a clear harmonic wave of up to 1500hz and a harmonic wave of up to 8000hz lasting 0.8 to 1.5 seconds.

I imagine more info could be found on this at www.bowlingual-translator.com but I haven't been there yet to check.

[Eurobabe]

5. cool, but then we all know what our animals mean

when they bark, meow, whistle, hoot, etc. Right?

I wonder when someone will release a meowlingual?

[Phentex]

6. What about the sounds they make that aren't barks?

You know when they talk? Where they string a bunch of sounds together like "Rowroarrohrowoomp" kinds of sounds? I swear my husband gets both dogs to "talk". :)

[underseasurveyor]

7. I wanna know what the translation has to say

When the dog is dreaming:boring:
:-)

[Rhiannon12866]

8. This is fascinating! I want one!

We don't have a PetCo, but we do have a PetsMart, so I wonder if they also carry them.:shrug:

Do you believe it? It sounds like you do. Does it make you feel closer to your dog? We've always wished that they could talk to us!:D