The aim of this study was to investigate the vocal communication between dogs and their owners. Most dogs vocalized at least once, and there were contact-seeking behaviours such as eye gazing and tail wagging that accompanied the vocalisation suggesting a communicating purpose of the dog.

Comparing the refusal and affirmative phase revealed that dogs vocalized more during the refusal phase, and the type of vocalization that increased was whining. This suggests that dogs vocalize when they want the owner’s attention. During the refusal phase dogs also performed more stress-related behaviours than during the affirmative phase. The dogs did not change their vocal intensity in response to their owners changing theirs. Since both the owners and the dogs did not differ in their vocal frequency during the two phases it is not possible to say if the dogs would alter their vocal frequency in response to a change in vocal frequency of their owners.

The mean proportion of overlaps for all analyzed dogs combined ranged from 14 - 50 %. In human-human communication, studies have found that approximately 40 % of all turn-changes are overlaps. Studies on non-human primates, in which turn-taking occur, found that for the common marmoset the proportion of overlaps were 5-10 % and in the white-handed gibbon 21 % of turn-changes were found to be overlaps. The mean size of gaps during turn changes for all analysed dogs combined ranged from 0.8 – 1.4 s. In humans the mean gap size range from 0.1 – 0.8 s. For the common marmoset and the white-handed gibbon the gap size have been estimated to approximately 5 seconds. Humans seem to have shorter gap size but a higher percentage of overlaps than other non-human primates. The results from the present study puts the dog-human communication somewhere in between, with longer gap size than humans but shorter the non-human primates mentioned. During the phases with longer gap size the proportion of overlaps decreases, which can also be seen when comparing humans and the non-human primates. The results from the presents study suggests that turn-taking occurs during the communication between dogs and humans. 

During the refusal phase with a toy as teaser, males performed more overlaps than females. In contrast, females tended to perform more overlaps than males during sessions of free talk. Hence, suggests no firm conclusion can be drawn whether there is a difference in overlaps between males and females.

Comparing age differences, young dogs vocalized significantly more than old dogs during the refusal phase with a treat as teaser. When looking at the different types of vocalizations, a significant difference was found in the amount they spent whining. During this phase, young dogs also gazed at their owner and at the treat significantly more often than old dogs. Gaze alternation is important for dogs when seeking the attention of humans, especially when faced with a problem. Unlike the present study, previous studies found older dogs to seek more eye contact than young dogs. However, studies have shown that young dogs interact more with both their owners and strangers compared to older dogs.

In conclusion, the present study suggests that dogs intentionally communicate through vocalisation with their owners to gain the attention of the owner. The present study also suggests the age and sex of the dog affect the type and amount of their vocalization as well as other aspects of their communication with their owners. Lastly, this study indicates that turn-taking occurs in the vocal communication between dogs and humans.