Are there any dogs that don’t bark?

That’s almost like asking if there are any dogs that think that a fire hydrant’s main purpose is to help put out fires. With most any pooch, barking is a basic civil liberty -unless the cat’s got its tongue.

But there really is a canine that doesn’t carp, a pup that doesn’t prattle on for all the world to hear. Well, in truth, he’s not totally silent, but this small dog doesn’t bark. The basenji, a good, if silent hunter, originated in Central Africa, and was valued as a pet by the Egyptian Pharaoh’s. In a mellow mood, the basenji makes a sound that some have described as yodeling.

Well that’s just ducky, a dog that yodels. Next thing you know they’ll say it can mimic Madonna or the drumbeat in Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”

Source: The Handy Science Answer Book by Science and Technology Department of the Carnegie Library