What do you call it when a dog sort of purrs?

November 12, 2015 1:47 PM

Almost all of the dogs I have ever known (including our new rescue, Mia) have made huffing, blowing or sort of chewing noises when they are feeling a bit soppy or are being petted or cuddled intensively. I'm curious as to why there's no word for this - does anyone have any theories? Is it not as widespread as I think it is? If you have a word for this yourself then bone-us points for sharing your coinage here.
posted by Chairboy to Pets & Animals (42 answers total)

My pup does this, too! He's a Boston Terrier, so he's rumbly by nature, but I call this particular version "snuggle grumbles." It's the best, happiest sound in the world.
posted by divined by radio at 1:54 PM on November 12, 2015

Well, purr is sort of onomatopoeia, which works because all cat purring sounds like, well, purring. Dog purring, at least in my experience, all sounds different. My dog sounds like he's softly oinking. Like a tineh bebeh pig. Tougher to find a catchall word to describe something that can sound so different from dog to dog.
posted by phunniemee at 1:54 PM on November 12, 2015

Mine makes snorfles, yes, just like a tineh bebeh piggy.
posted by mochapickle at 1:57 PM on November 12, 2015

No idea, but our Staffordshire Bull Terrier does this and it sounds like growly little piggie noises... Thus in our household it's referred to as a groinkle or groinking!
posted by teststrip at 1:59 PM on November 12, 2015

I'm curious as to why there's no word for this - does anyone have any theories?

My theory is that purring is a distinctive feline trait, with a distinct (although poorly understood) mechanical basis. On the other hand (as the tineh pigeh comparisons show) the noises that dogs make are not distinct in the same way.
posted by howfar at 2:03 PM on November 12, 2015

None of my dogs have ever done this. Maybe it's not universal?
posted by zug at 2:03 PM on November 12, 2015

My dog does a noise we call "grottling" but it's more often when he wants attention (or to get on the bed) than when he's already getting it.
posted by babelfish at 2:06 PM on November 12, 2015

My mini schnauzer does this, and it does kind of sound like purring, so my wife and I just call it "puppy purring". We're boring. My chihuahua-dachshund mix doesn't do it because he's too busy trying to chew my hand.
posted by LionIndex at 2:07 PM on November 12, 2015

When my cocker spaniel does this, we call her Grunty McSkritchies. I always assumed she does it because she lives with two cats.
posted by Ruki at 2:08 PM on November 12, 2015

My wife tells a story about when she was babysitting for a family that had a doberman. She put the kids to bed, feeds the dog, and then sits on the couch to watch TV while waiting for the parents to come home. The dog comes over, puts his head in her lap, and starts growling ferociously; she is petrified and doesn't move for the next hour until the parents come home.

At which point they tell her, "Oh, he wasn't mad at you. He was raised with cats, and thinks he's purring!"
posted by thecaddy at 2:13 PM on November 12, 2015

Neither of my dogs make much noise when being snuggled, but my big shepherd mix makes noises we call "oot oot oot" when he's poking around wanting pets or foods.
posted by Squeak Attack at 2:17 PM on November 12, 2015

My dog Huck does a pretty impressive Chewbacca imitation when he's wanting attention, so we just call them wookie noises.
posted by valkane at 2:29 PM on November 12, 2015

My sister's St Bernard does a deep moaning kind of sound when I massage his ears really deeply. It's awesome, but I have no idea what it is called.
posted by suelac at 2:50 PM on November 12, 2015

It never occurred to me to call this purring, but that is a good word. We currently call our happy terrier's such rumblings one of the following: "snorf," "snorfing," or "pig noises."
posted by samthemander at 3:01 PM on November 12, 2015

When my family's golden retriever dreams, she makes little barky noises that I call "getting soapy"

I don't know why.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 3:04 PM on November 12, 2015

We call it purring or humming. Only one of my three dogs does it often, and always if you rub his ears just right. The second dog rolls her eyes into her head but remains silent, the third one will make horrible whimpering sounds when she's excited for floppins and then occasionally continues to whimper urgently while being pet, but only if we've just come home.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:19 PM on November 12, 2015

Yeah, it's very piggy-like grunty snorfly stuff, like a delighted piglet that found a truffle under its blankie.
posted by poffin boffin at 3:30 PM on November 12, 2015

In my house we call these noises "borts".

I love that everyone has their own household idiom for this :)
posted by anotherthink at 3:34 PM on November 12, 2015

Our Doberman is the most vocal dog I've ever met, and I've met a lot of dogs.

When she wants something, attention, help getting a ball out from under a table or behind a door, to go outside, she "talks" to us which is something below the high pitch of her whine (when she wakes up in the morning and wants out of her crate), but above a lower bark or growl. It's more like tempered down yowling.

But when she's on the couch or bed getting her cuddles, she groans, much the same way her daddy groans when he leans back in his chair and stretches his upper back by pushing his arms out.

This is why she is a Groany Cuddle Bear.

It's truly the sound of utter contentment, complete comfort, and inner peace all at the same time.
posted by allkindsoftime at 3:39 PM on November 12, 2015

I call them 'Arrooo' noises, because we had Samoyeds which would often legit say "Arrooo" in the process of making these sounds-- I've also called it a "wurra wurra wurra" noise which I think is one of the noises Tigger makes in the original A.A. Milne books.
posted by The otter lady at 3:39 PM on November 12, 2015

When I was a teen, I had a cocker spanial pup that did this - ended up naming her Snuffles after what I called the noise. I actually thought it was some sort of breathing issue she had til reading this AskMe... (I didn't have her past about six months old - a friend of the family accidentally let her outside the house and she got hit by a car in the drive.)
posted by stormyteal at 3:42 PM on November 12, 2015

My chihuahua got the nickname "Woofles" because of this noise.
posted by Juliet Banana at 3:51 PM on November 12, 2015

The pugs do this, I call it gonk droiding.
posted by yodelingisfun at 3:55 PM on November 12, 2015

My mutt purrs when he is happy and relaxed! It's a low grumble with every breath – I often feel the vibrations before I can hear them – that lasts while he exhales (interrupted while he inhales).
posted by halogen at 4:04 PM on November 12, 2015

One of my dogs does this. It sounds like she's practicing ujjayi breath - the constricted throat breathing I learned in yoga classes. Snorfles is more fun to say, though.
posted by southern_sky at 4:08 PM on November 12, 2015

I always just called it moaning, as in "moaning with pleasure". I need to get out more.
posted by DrGail at 4:58 PM on November 12, 2015

Wuffling. There can be no other possible word for it.

Damn, I miss Polly. Wolfhound/mastiff/staffordshire bull terrier cross, looked terrifying, but the sweetest, most demonstrative, most loving dog I've ever had. She'd march up to you, wedge her brindle cinder-block of a head in your lap and demand to have her ears scratched. And would wuffle contentedly for as long as you'd do it.
posted by tim_in_oz at 5:06 PM on November 12, 2015

We call it snorfling (snorfuling?) here.
posted by juniperesque at 5:14 PM on November 12, 2015

Both of the greyhounds I've had chatter their teeth together (like you do when you are cold), but they do it when they are excited or happy. I call it chattering.
posted by misskaz at 5:15 PM on November 12, 2015

When our lab does this we say someone's playing the groanaphone. We can reliabily get him to do it 5 or 6 times in a row if we're rubbing his belly and he's really comfy.
posted by deludingmyself at 5:36 PM on November 12, 2015

My lab would make aaahhhrrr aaahhhrrr aaahhhrrr noises when she wanted to play; her growl was more of a low mmmmmmm.
posted by brujita at 5:45 PM on November 12, 2015

When Bosco does this, We call it moany groany. It sounds something like Lurch , but quieter, from the old Adams Family show and, had I the naming of him, I would probably have called him Lurch.
posted by BoscosMom at 5:55 PM on November 12, 2015

Mine made those grrheeeerrrrr grrherrrr noises when I stroked him behind the ears-- startled me the very first time when I did it. I thought he was growling! No, he just really liked that.
posted by lineofsight at 6:03 PM on November 12, 2015

It depends on the dog but I also often say snorfling for the grunting/inhale-y happy noises.

The King Charles spaniel that I often dogsit, however, shoves her head into my kidneys and makes very distinct Wookie noises when she's happy.
posted by WidgetAlley at 7:19 PM on November 12, 2015

My Black Mouth Cur mix mongrel is one of the most talkative dogs I've had. She grunts in her sleep, which is exactly the same noise I make in my sleep. ("Hrrnnngg.") She does her mad Chewbacca yodel howl when she's excited or it's feeding time. She grumbles and mutters and grunts and yips for all different reasons. And sometimes, when she's snugged up against me and getting the best itchings, she'll rumble low in her chest with contentment.
posted by cmyk at 8:48 PM on November 12, 2015

Most of the time we call her huffle truffle. She has a proper name too, but it's not as fitting.
posted by superfish at 10:05 PM on November 12, 2015

It sounds like an oof. We call it oofing.
posted by fieldtrip at 10:23 PM on November 12, 2015

We call it huffing when our golden does this.
posted by bifter at 11:27 PM on November 12, 2015

It seems to me that people are talking about several different kinds of sounds, all of which I've heard from dogs in a similar context, but are nonetheless clearly different.

The little snuff or sneeze is fairly universal and is a sign of contentment or happiness. It happens both with "intensive cuddling" and "I'm so glad you're here!" It's apparently an easy sound for a human to replicate adequately, because when you answer a dog who's just done it to you who has never had a human do it at them before, they're all like, "Holy shit this guy can talk! A new best friend!" I refer to it as, "happy sneeze."

There's also the pig noise. It can be more or less snorty (i.e. through the nose), but it sort of stops and starts like a stereotypical pig oinking. This happens with energetic rubs or scratches. I call it "snortling."

Then there's the sustained purr or wheeze (I believe these to be the result of different dogs doing the same sort of groaning thing) that happens when a dog is relatively calm and very happy. My Manchester Terrier wheezes and whistles, but my parents Rhodesian Ridgeback sounds like a distant chainsaw or rumbling lion. I call it "wheezing" for the small one and don't really have a name for the bigger version.
posted by cmoj at 10:05 AM on November 13, 2015

Our lab mix would make a strong exhaling noise when she was enjoying some petting, and we call that "the wheezy noise." The great Dane clearly makes the "happy grumble" when his ears are getting scratched. I've also experienced the greyhound "chattering" that misskaz mentioned above.
posted by thejanna at 11:47 AM on November 13, 2015

Mister Vimes makes "snortels" when he's getting scritched, sort of a short, quiet, snorting/grunting noise. Other times, he almost seems like he's replying to you with conversational snorts. His older brother Fusspot isn't as vocal in that way, although he can yip with the best of them. Middle sister Esme has been known to make what we call "dream woofies" where she makes a high pitched bark in her sleep. Which is odd because her normal bark is almost like she's saying "woof" in a really deep voice instead of what you'd normally expect out of an eight pound dog.

And yes I used this as an excuse to post pictures of my dogs. Don't judge me..
posted by ralan at 2:11 PM on November 13, 2015

Sounds like your dog's got the grunties.
posted by jessicapierce at 9:35 PM on November 13, 2015