Dog collars are a great way to express how barking mad your pooch is.

Dog collars are a great way to express the personality of your dog. But some dog collars seem a little too barking mad. A Japanese toy company has launched a dog collar that supposedly translates your dogs barking into an understandable language. The Bowlingual Voice dog collar however has been dismissed by animal behaviourists as 'doubtful'.

Japanese Dog Collars Unleashed

The claim that dog collars can translate woofs is clearly a topic that might raise questions about a pet owner's sanity. And the invention puts to mind one of the best jokes in the world – the woof woof joke. Scientists working at the University of Hertfordshire conducted research that became known as the 'LaughLab experiment'. The research was undertaken under the leadership of psychologist Dr Richard Wiseman, who discovered that the woof woof joke was one of Europe's favourites:

An Alsatian went to a telegram office, took out a blank form and wrote: "Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof." The clerk examined the paper and politely told the dog: "There are only nine words here. You could send another Woof for the same price." "But," the dog replied, "that would make no sense at all."

Talk to the Animals

The press in America have picked up on the dog collars that claim to understand what dogs say. The dog collars work by strapping a microphone and separate digital reader around the dog's neck that – the Japanese toy manufacturer claims – actually translates barks into an 'emotional state'. The dog collars are supposed to register six emotions: happy, sad, frustrated, threatening, needy or assertive.

Get a Grrrr...ip

But sceptics have said they don't believe the dog collars can be accurate – and that different dogs can have very different barks. Some animal behaviourists say dog barks simply don't correspond to human emotions or words. Most pet owners feel they can understand their own dogs simply by living with their pets on a day to day basis. But Kathryn Lord studying organismic and evolutionary biology at University of Massachusetts-Amherst told the American press the dog collars were a 'cute idea' but said: “When we say a dog feels something, it's probably not exactly that.” Some dog lovers have said the dog collars are laughable. Whether the dog collars will ever be 'unleashed' onto the British pet market is another thing, but a consensus of experts in animal behaviour agree that although humans may want to talk to the animals – the idea that we ever will is a fantasy.

At Collars and Tags, we have a wide range of dog collars, tags and leads to help you train your pet safely. Browse our website to find out more and shop online today.

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