# Anyone got an explanation? (My dog says "poof") **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 24, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301 "2007-01-24T20:22:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/1 "2007-01-24T20:22:19Z")
Okay, so my dog has started this new vocalization. Instead of a “uff” (that noise they make when they’re thinking about growling or barking) or a “mreowl” (whiny dog noise), she’s now responding to “Hi Sienna” or “Do you want a cookie?” or almost anything with “poof.” The “oo” part is slightly vocalized, which makes it weird, and the “word” doesn’t seem to be connected to any particular behavior. She uses it as a greeting, as a response, she even randomly says “poof” to her toys. It’s a little weird, and we (the fiance and I) haven’t quite figured it out. Any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/2 "2007-01-24T20:31:30Z")
Clearly your dog is British homophobe. ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/3 "2007-01-24T20:33:54Z")
Quick! Take away _Magic Tricks for Dummies_ before somebody gets hurt! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Aholibah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Aholibah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aholibah)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/4 "2007-01-24T20:52:58Z")
Not that this will necessarily help produce an answer to your question, but what breed of dog is she, and how old? ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/5 "2007-01-24T20:55:57Z")
I think I’m going to need to see a picture of the dog to determine the answer to this question. My dog says “woof.” Sometimes I say “woof” back to him, and he says “woof.” ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/6 "2007-01-24T20:56:50Z")
Sienna is three years old (will be four in April), and is a German Shepherd/Shar Pei mix. (For those who are curious, [this has photos of her](http://www.dogster.com/dogs/322578).) ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/7 "2007-01-24T21:02:39Z")
I think she says it because you dress her up and pull on her cheeks. She’s saying “poof” and trying to make you disappear. By the way, what were you doing in my kitchen? That’s my kitchen floor in a couple of those pictures. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/8 "2007-01-24T21:07:22Z")
As for the “dressing up” bit, this was a photo taken from when she’d had a bath. No matter how hard you try (she won’t sit still for a blow-dryer), she’s next to impossible to get dry after a bath. Worse than this is she gets cold. Hence the t-shirt in the one photo. So she looks stupid for an hour. As for those kitchen tiles, that was at my future MIL’s house. Strangely enough, also in her kitchen. We don’t live in MN. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/9 "2007-01-24T21:33:36Z")
My Shar-Pei poofs at us, too- He does it because he knows it’s irresistably cute and will result in getting some sort of food that we’re eating. He puffs out his fat Shar-pei cheeks when he does it, too. I’m forever yelling “Stop poofing at me! It’s not working!!!” but he keeps it up. ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/10 "2007-01-24T23:53:43Z")
It’s the doggie version of Sqee. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/11 "2007-01-24T23:58:39Z")
Sqee? ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/12 "2007-01-25T00:01:32Z")
[QUOTE=nashiitashii] Sqee? [/QUOTE] Damn, I meant [squee](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=403949&highlight=squee) . ---
**Author:** ![Dishfunctional](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/35a633/32.png) [@Dishfunctional](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dishfunctional)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/13 "2007-01-25T00:02:45Z")
[QUOTE=nashiitashii] Sqee? [/QUOTE] Parrot colloquialism. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/14 "2007-01-25T00:04:37Z")
Does that make my dog a fangirl, then? ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/15 "2007-01-25T00:47:33Z")
My dog talks. My dog can actually play a trivia game. “What’s on top of a house?” “Roof! Roof!” “What kind of vegetable is a potato?” “Root! Root!” “What’s the name for neckwear of the Elizabethan Era?” “Ruff! Ruff!” “What’s another word for ‘tersely-said’?” “Gruff! Gruff!” Likely, what has happened is that when your dog made that vocalization at first, it really captured your attention. Somehow, you positively reinforced this behavior and now your dog thinks you want her to vocally respond when you speak to her. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-got-an-explanation-my-dog-says-poof/389301/16 "2007-01-25T11:20:56Z")
I think your dog has a lisp. I used to have a Japanese Bobtail cat that meowed “HEe-new”. The first time I heard it was in the box in the car coming home. She was peeking out at me through a hole in the box with her green eye (the other eye was blue). I leaned over and said “Now,. what should we name you?\*\*”. She replied “Heenew, heenew, heenew.” I laughed and said “Ok. Heenu it is” She was a funny little cat. Looked just like [this one](http://karellomanx.com/bobtail.jpg) \*\*She was purebreed and had some dumb purebreed name like Spacemuffin Lou Lou Skittle.