Listening for Sounds - Decoding the human voice!

Hi, Charlie Phillips Life Coach here again. Today I want to talk more about how dogs understand people when we don't share a common language. Actually, you might not be able to speak woof, but we can both communicate effectively through the tone of our voice. Let me simplify this one, by getting you to think about talking to dogs or small children. You may want to say the following things out loud!

There is a tone (the sound of your voice rather than the words you use) when:

• You are praising someone - 'Good Boy Charlie!'
• Encouraging someone - 'Come On, Charlie, You can do it.'
• Angry - 'Charlie! Did you do this?!' (you didn't really want that mobile phone...)
• Scolding - "Bad Boy Charlie!'
• Comforting - 'It's okay, Charlie Boy'
• Teaching someone - 'Let's do it like this, Charlie'
• Excited - 'Yay Charlie, Yipee!'
• Scared - 'Charlie - is that you?'
• Lonely - 'Charlie - please give me a hug'
• Whiney - 'Why do you keep doing that Charlie?'
• Happy - 'You're a good friend, Charlie'
• Loving - 'I love you Charlie!' (that's my favourite one)

You can also listen to how loud the voice is. Is it normal, strong, hesitant, shouting, quivering, a whisper?

Learning: Humans often forget what a powerful tool their voice can be. Listen to the tone of voice of other people, and begin paying attention to your own tone of voice. It will help make your communication a lot clearer. If you're not sure how to do this, read books out loud to little children and put lots of expression into your voice. That's what tone is. Expression and emotion, and it's often more true than the words coming out at the same time!