We discovered over the weekend that our new 8-month old Siberian Husky\Border Collie Grady can howl like a wolf! It’s really funny when he does it, he will walk out onto our porch at night [we live waaay up in the Rocky Mountains] and howl. Luckily we don’t have a lot of close neighbors - but its a really cool thing.
Anyway, the other night I went out on the back porch with him for a little training session and at the end I gave out a big Howl - IMMEDIATELY his eyes lit up and he began howling with me. He appeared very excited that I was howling and very happy - but of course I can’t ask him so I don’t really know.
Does anyone know what howling behavior means for Dogs? I know wolves communicate over long distances with long, deep howls - and I don’t think they are a negative in domesticated dogs, but I just don’t know.
We had a Siberian Husky (who died last spring) and a Husky/Shepherd cross, and we’ve always howled with them. It’s interesting how they sometimes try to match our tone and rhythm, and they always seem to enjoy it. It’s almost a bonding thing.
Khuno (Husky/Shepherd) howls/talks to us all the time. He doesn’t howl when alone, but does a single howl or talks to greet us, or if he’s especially excited about something. Prolonged howling only happens when we initiate it.
One night, my roommate and I thought it would be a splendid idea to teach my dog, Mia, how to howl. We made several “aaahhh–woooooooooos” before she caught on. At first it was gurgled on her end, but she got the hang of it pretty quickly. She will totally mimick the howl you do-- if you do SHORT SHORT LOOOOOONG, she’ll do it perfectly at you.
She never howls when alone, but when she’s with my dad’s dog in the yard, they will often howl at sirens and things like that. Oh, my dad’s dog never did it before Mia “taught” him, either.
But yeah, she gets super happy when we have what I call “howl-offs.” Her eyes light up, she throws her little head into it. I figure it’s a pack thing and it reassures her little doggy DNA that we’re a pack.
In my experience, it is really easy to imprint behavior on a dog early it its life. If you cuddle with it a lot when it is a pup, you might be creating a lap dog that always wants to cuddle (maybe not a great thing with a large breed), and if you howl and bark a lot, you may be creating a noisy dog (maybe not a great thing for your neighbors). ETA: but at 8 months, it might developed enought that it is not an issue.
Our cocker spaniel border collie mix liked to howl, inside. But he never initiated the howl. We had to do that. He would look at us and pretty much tell us that he wanted to, but he never did it by himself. He died last year at 14, and was never noisy, so I don’t think there are any side effects.
We’ve just started a new tradition of Family Howls including our JRT Sammy when we have something to celebrate. He gets excited when we all howl together and barks a few times, and then starts into real, prolonged howls. He never starts it or does it on his own. I’ve read that it is indeed pack behavior and is a reassuring reminder of belonging to the pack for them.
I had a rescued-from-a-puppy-mill Boston terrier who howled when he lost track of me. Say I went outside to work in the yard. He’d sit on the back of the couch, intently watching my every move. If I dropped out of sight, he’d start howling. The minute I stood where he could see me again, he’d stop.
:: dogzilla putters out of sight ::
oooooWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOO
:: dogzilla pops back into sight ::
ooooW- oh. There you are.
He had pretty severe separation anxiety, so in his case, it was just an expression of distress. Sometimes, the other dog, rather than comforting him, would join in on the act. I think she did it for shits and giggles, because she’s a totally well-adjusted dog. Maybe he asked her to sing a duet with him, I dunno. Who knows what critters think?
The boys howl when they hear sirens (as the sirens move away–never while the noise approaches or during its loudest, only as it dopplers away). Four of my six dogs have hound in them, so they can get some nice sound going. The Golden sings along, and the Rattie tries to howl, but doesn’t really have a good one. Sometimes we sing along, but mostly we enjoy the show.
My late English Springer Spaniel(Buddy) would howl-only when my stepson was practicing on his saxophone. We were never able to get him to howl without that saxophone.
I used to howl with my dogs (don’t anymore because one has passed away and the other is stone deaf–kind of pointless). I didn’t see it lead to anything bad, and it was kind of fun bonding. They’d get so happy when I’d howl.
I always wondered what I was saying in dog language. Was I giving a “prey is near” howl, a “lets eat” howl, or was my howling just doggie gibberish? They enjoyed it regardless.
As a kid, we had a Norwegian Elkhound(that might have had a little coyote in him). Best dog EVER. Best breed ever.
We lived on a acreage and the coyotes would howl at night(awesome!). One summer night shortly after we got him, they started up. Well, his little ears perked up and he said “awooo?” and then let let loose with the wobbliest howl you ever heard, loud as he could.
And way off across the fields in the woods somewhere, there was sudden silence. And we never heard them again.
