My dog realised if I was working and he tried to get attention from me I would usually just ignore him or give him a quick pet and go back to work. So he started yelping like hurt himself and giving me a sad look so I would actually come over and make a fuss over him.

I know my guy’s barks pretty well.

He’s super vocal though so I’ve had time to learn.

He’s got a kind of honk that’s for initiating play.

A polite “buf” that’s an attention/request noise (though it can intensify with agitation).

And then a smorgasbord of stress or demand barks that can blur together a bit but often can be worked out in combination with frequency and body language.

Plus also the manic “that’s my purse. I don’t know you.” He reserves for when he hears anything like a dog near our house.

For real. Trying to second-guess what others are thinking or implying is a whole separate skillset. And some of us do that professionally…