Atomic Dog

Bow Wow Wow Yippee Yo Yippee Yay*

I heard on the radio today that, according to some study or other, dogs develop a bark or "voice" similar to the sound of their owner's regional accent. For example, dogs in Liverpool communicate in a higher pitch than other dogs (eh? eh? eh?) and Scottish dogs tend to have a lighter tone to their bark.

Bearing in mind I'm from London, I always thought that my Boxer George would sound like John Geilgud ("my dear dear boy"), especially when looking haughtily at younger dogs which he did a lot , I think he might even have worn a smoking jacket (although he was not a Beagle). On other occasions, when breaking up a fight for example, which he also did a lot, such a pacifist, I imagined he'd be like my IB, Ray Winstone (Oi, you, leave it!).

My friend's (Scottish) Boxer was a little wiry firecracker and I thought he'd sound like David Tennant (co-incidentally he's 'regenerated' too now). I also knew a Cockney Giant Schnauzer who would have sounded like Norman Wisdom.



*Atomic Dog, Parliament/Funkadelic, 1982 (saw them in the Hammersmith Odeon two nights running in 1978, mad as hatters).