By Ron Swerdfiger

A study shows that the sounds of barking dogs can stress out dogs also

Everybody hates the sound of a cronic barker. Maybe its your neighbor's dog or a dog across the street. Every neighborhood has one of these dogs that everybody just wants to strangle, but have you ever stopped to think if your own pet dog likes the persistent noise making?

Research suggests that the noise made by barking dogs may be stressful to other dogs that have to listen to it. A veterinary medicine instructor at the University of Illinois states that the deafening noise that is made when a lot of dogs are barking at one time, can lead to behavioral, physiological and anatomical changes in a dogs mental make up.

The reactions of dogs to the noise of barking dogs was analyzed by researchers who studied dogs at an animal shelter. The researchers gaged the reactions of the dogs based on the volume of the background noise and learned, "Noise levels regularly exceeded the measuring capacity of our noise dosimeter, which was 118.9 decibels," said Coppola. "These levels were higher than that produced by a jackhammer (110 decibels)."

A common reason for dog barking is the inability of one dog to reach another. Dogs are very social animals and when they are not permitted to be in contact with each other, they will tend to get frustrated and begin barking incessently. Usually dogs that call animal shelters their home, are caged individually but have a clear view of all the other dogs in the shelter. They can see each other, yet they can not interact with each other they way they would like, thus they bark, and when they all bark, the noise level zooms through the roof.