Japanese Toy Company Alleges Breakthroug; Animal Behaviorists Doubtful

Dog 1
© ABC
Yesenia Aceves, a self-avowed dog lover, says she can tell what her Italian greyhounds want by listening to their barks. But even she isn't buying -- literally or figuratively -- a newfangled dog collar that claims to figure out on its own what Fido is trying to say.

Later this month, TakaraTomy, a Japanese toy company, will release in Japan the Bowlingual Voice dog collar. The device includes a microphone worn around a dog's neck and a separate digital reader that -- the company says -- translates barks into one of six emotional states: happy, sad, frustrated, threatening, needy or assertive.

But dog owners such as Aceves are having a tough time believing it will work.

"Since I have personally trained [my dogs] according to the different sounds that they make, I don't know that I would really trust the collar's telling me what they want," said Aceves, 30, of San Diego. "I don't feel like all dogs do the exact same bark."

Some experts say that dog barks can't even be translated into human words.