One of the most natural sounds to hear is that of a dog howling.
I'm talking a head back full throat instinctual sound that cuts through the air turning heads to see what and where it came from.
I am currently looking after Baxter a small black Cockerpoo with a happy, lively nature. He is best friends with my Bumble, a Springer Spaniel who also loves life and all it brings.
Recently, when I get out of the car to collect another dog for a walk, the two of them go into a duo of howling!
It starts with a bark, then they ramp it up to more frequent barking before throwing their heads back and letting out the cutest howls in unison with each other. This may last a minute or so before they settle down again.
A few years ago I used to care for two beagles, a breed that is renowned for howling, Roe & Sox (I still care for Sox, Roe is no longer with us). These 2 loved to howl, not often but once they started, it took a while to get them back in the room!! My children when they were younger would start the howl noise and after a few seconds would trigger them into joining in, it was fun and lovely to see them all bonding in such an animalistic way, the dogs became an extension of the human animalistic tendencies.
If I popped out to the car for 20 seconds, they would start. Now with Beagles, when they howl, the whole street knows they are there, it is loud and full on, but still something so gutterule and ancient that it's a pleasure to behold.
So why do some dogs howl?
It is a behaviour that may well come from their ancestors. All dogs go back to the wolf & they would howl for a few reasons. They would howl to give the call to regroup, if the pack was spread out over an area, the howl would cut through the air and let them know to head back to be together. Sometimes it was used to communicate with another pack, warning them off of their territory. When there was a possible threat to the pack, they would howl to generate enough communication to either scare off the threat or call the pack to battle & defence.
It's fascinating how over 20,000+ years how our pet dogs can sometimes find their ancestral behaviours once again.
Nowadays it may be triggered by a sound they hear, a certain tone such as a piano or the local ice cream van can coming into the neighbourhood will trigger the vocal response or at dusk when all the dogs are out in the gardens, they may bark or howl to communicate with one another. In Lady and the tramp, a Disney animated movie, they call it the dusk chorus!
Another reason that may trigger dogs to howl is separation anxiety or the thought of missing out on something. In Baxter and Bumbles case, it is when I leave them for a second or two, their anxiety and stress levels rise together sending them into the duet of the howl!
It is a way of communicating to the world, they gain attention from it, mostly making an owner laugh, come back to them or shout at them for the row they are making! either way the right outcome is produced for them, by howling, they have gained attention.
Dogs can also howl for other reasons:
They may be upset, lonely, stressed, anxious bored or frustrated. Many reasons to get that energy out of their bodies with a long, silence breaking howl. But it can more often than not be a sound of excitement too, the sheer joy of hearing their owners car pull up or seeing next doors cat sitting on the fence, can send them into a level of sheer joy which explodes in the cacophony of noise.
Dog breeds well known for howling are:
Bloodhound, American Eskimo dog, American & English foxhounds, Coonhounds, Finnish & Japanese Spitz & of course THE BEAGLE, along with the odd Springer Spaniel and Cockerpoo!!
Thank you for reading, please share & support.
Paul.
Roe & Sox