Dogs are descended from wolves, so naturally they have a lot of similar behavior. Due to this, people may wonder if wolves bark just as our canine companions do. The answer to this is a little more complicated than one might expect.
Wolves can technically bark, but they do not do so as often or for the same reasons that dogs do. Dogs bark pretty frequently and for many different reasons, as many dog owners likely know. Some people believe that this may be due to dogs needing to use different means to communicate with humans, though dogs do often bark at each other.
Wolves, however, don’t bark that often. Similarly to how cats mostly meow to their mother as kittens, wolves bark more when they are younger, and mostly grow out of doing so when matured. Dogs have behaviors similar to that of juvenile or infant wolves due to them being domesticated.
So when do adult wolves bark, and how else do they communicate with each other?
How do wolves communicate?
Much like with dogs, wolves have many different ways they can communicate with each other. They use both verbal and nonverbal ways in order to communicate, depending on the situation.
Usually when people think about wolves, they think about howling. Wolves use howling in order to communicate with members of their pack in certain circumstances, or in order to communicate with other packs when needed. This can help wolves know how far the other wolves are from their howls.
It also seems that wolves communicate through howls for recreational purposes or for bonding with other members of the pack. For instance, wolves often howl before and after hunting as a pack.
Other forms of wolf vocalization include barking, whining, and growling. They might also make certain vocalizations that seem to combine these sounds, such as a “bark-howl.” Sounds like bark-howling or growling can be used defensively if the wolf believes that they need to convey a warning to other pack members.
Young wolves bark frequently, just as a dog does. Adult wolves rarely bark, but when they do so it is usually used as a way of warning the other wolves in their pack. It can also be used to express aggression or in order to ward off other wolves from their pack.
Nonverbal communication is also important. As wolves have a very good sense of scent, they use this to their advantage. A wolf pack will strategically urinate around the edge of the territory of their pack. When the other wolves smell this, they will avoid hunting in that area in order to avoid retaliation from the other pack.
Wolves also have a scent gland on the tail that is not present in domesticated dogs, which gives them more ability to communicate via scent through odor marking. Due to this gland a wolf will be able to recognize which member of their pack the smell belongs to when smelling the urination or defecation of another wolf.
They have very expressive faces, so they often use facial expressions in order to communicate with other wolves. For example, a wolf may have flattened ears in order to indicate submission, or in order to express their fear. While domesticated dogs also do this, it seems that they sometimes use barking in order to better convey their emotions.
Body posture also plays a factor in how wolves communicate. A tucked in tail, or a wagging tail, can indicate submission to other wolves. Submissive wolves will also lower themselves or roll over in front of a dominant wolf. The dominant wolf, on the other hand, will have upright posture while their tail is held high.
Have you noticed similarities between how wolves communicate with each other and how dogs do? If you’re a dog owner yourself, you may have picked up on how dogs also use some of the same methods in order to communicate. Why do you think that wolves and dogs are similar in some ways in how they communicate, and yet different in others?