This just made me smile…the image of you in the closet with the dog. Perfect.
One of our previous dogs was strongly bonded to my sister. If I asked him “Where’s Pat?” he’d put his nose down and sniff her out.
My wife often intends it as “respond” but given that she is calling me from more than a room away and often upstairs while I’m in the kitchen the functional meaning is “Come to me.” My hearing is not as good as it was and it was never so good as to have a conversation across floors.
Of course when I yell her name she just responds and I end up going to her to make it out. I don’t know if that is her having better hearing or just speaks to my place in our relationship… 
Depends on the tone. Usually means “Come”, but could mean “Stop Eating Horseshit/Oily Dirt/Dead Rabbit”, or “Stop Trying to Dominate by Humping, You Naughty Dog!” and sometimes “Who’s a Good Dog?”
When I hear my name called out, It means I’m drunk and hearing things.
Wife and grandkids yell out “Papa.”
With my wife, the response is, “Yes Dear” to whatever.
With the grandkids, I come a runnin’. Something is broke, bruised, or fun ensues. Never a dull moment.
I always carry my phone. If my gf carried hers we could keep in touch via texts, but she doesn’t. Yesterday she was off trail riding on horseback. I bought her a phone pouch that is attached to her saddle. Yet when I texted her I heard her phone chime from the kitchen, where she’d left it.
I get called often and aggressively in my house by 6 different individuals. It’s always because they want something, and they want it now! Dinner is what they want most. But, they never call me by name—they just yell “meow!”
I work from home. Alone. My office is up a steep set of stairs in a loft. I also always carry my phone. I don’t set it on my desk, it will be in a holster on my hip. Always.
My wife is pretty good about this. I worry for her when she’s walking the dogs. We have moose and bear in this county and often in our yard.
Probably most often to initiate conversation, but depends on tone and context; it might just mean ‘are you here in the house?’ or ‘whereabouts are you?’. If I call it out in a distressed tone, it might mean ‘Help! Please come here!.’
My rule in my household, is if you need me to talk or otherwise, come find me. Don’t yell throughout the house, I may or may not hear you.
For us, it’s not just a matter of hearing, it’s also a matter of respect. Forcing your spouse or God forbid, parent to come to you instead of going to them is disrespectful. Why should they trouble themselves to go to you if you’re the one who has something to say?
My fault for not making that clear setting up the poll. In my view calling someone by name meaning “where are you” plus getting a response goes under the heading of “initiating a conversation”.
But that isn’t always what it’s about; sometimes ‘where are you’ is the whole of the desired communication. And, in the further context of what you appeared to be asking, even if further communication is desired, then whether one person goes to the other and if so which one relocates may depend on the answer to ‘where are you’.
Or did you mean that ‘where are you?’ followed by some form of ‘here I am’ is a conversation in itself, which is initiated by the ‘where are you’?
Yo! Means where can I find you
Chela! Means it’s ready
I always go to my wife when she calls my name. Sometimes she says that I didn’t have to go to her, sometimes she was expecting me to go to her. I can’t tell beforehand which one she means in any particular case so I always go to her.
I have discovered that it’s usually possible to avoid all reprimands for yelling by including an extravagantly complimentary word or phrase in the yelled remark. Oddly enough, nobody seems to mind having things like “Sorry, gorgeous, I’m in the basement!” or “Is that my favorite sister? Sorry, I can’t hear you!” yelled at them. Preferably loud enough that the neighbors can hear it too. 
Clearly I’m in the latter camp. I’m not worried about my wife disrespecting me. I know she respects me. And potentially creating conflict needlessly is something I don’t do … on purpose, anyway. Lawd knows I do it by mistake enough!
But do you respct her? I mean, of course you do, but when my wife and I first moved in together many years ago, I’d call her over sometimes to talk to her and her keenly-honed feminist instincts would kick in and she’d resent me for “summoning” (the fact that we’re both ex-military was probably also a factor - she felt like I was pulling rank). So we had a few arguments, and eventually agreed that from now on, if either of us have something to say to the other, we’d get up off of our asses, walk over and say it.
About halfway through our marriage, smatrphones showed up, and that made things much easier.
Ace!
Means come here. Maybe a spider needs killing or get a glass from the top shelf.
Clearly, you are more intelligent than I! 