I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s howled at my dog, hoping she would join in and howl along with me, right? Some of you might have dogs that like to howl, like scent hounds or wolf-like dogs such as huskies, but Haley’s not one of those dogs. No matter how much I sacrifice my self-respect in attempts to get her to join me, she’s not having it. She barks, she whines, she yips, she yawns, but…no howl, no way! [pardon the pun]
Long ago, some cultures thought dogs had psychic abilities and the howl of a dog meant someone was about to die, yikes! The truth is a lot less dramatic, howling is just a form of communication and here are a few different ways canines use howls to relate information to each other.
Why Dogs Howl
The Haley Howl
I’ve only heard Haley howl one time and I didn’t get to witness it in person. A few years ago we set up a video camera for a short time to observe Haley’s behavior when we weren’t at home. Towards the end of a Christmas holiday when my son and daughter-in-law were heading back home, they said goodbye to Haley and we all left the house to have lunch together before they left town. Here’s what happened after we left the house.
I was shocked when I watched the video! Was that really her, howling? I wish she would have been standing in the camera’s view but she was looking out the window and probably hoping to call her pack back home. They say each wolf has a distinctive howl that’s like a vocal fingerprint, acoustically calibrated to carry over long distances. Maybe this is Haley’s vocal fingerprint which includes blowing out air and yawning. I did mention she wasn’t good at howling, right?
If you want to teach your dog to howl, try these ideas!
How to Make Your Dog Howl
The last idea was the only one that worked for Haley. She tries really hard but either she needs some howling lessons or I could use some of your suggestions. I’d love to hear her howl again, so share your secrets for how you make your dog howl.
You would think since Bentley is a Basset Hound that he would howl. Nope, nada, never. We have tried every single trick that you mentioned and he simply doesn’t howl. He has come close a few times but nothing as impressive as Haley. I love that she howled when you all left. She was definitely trying to get you to come back with her boy. ♥ ♥
I’m so surprised by that! I thought for sure Bentley would be a master howler. Maybe he’ll surprise you too one day with a big ole soulful howl.
I whine a lot… but howling… never done that before 😛
Haley’s definitely more of a whiner too.
My mom says to let us know when you post on how to stop your dogs from howling. Bailie and I love to howl and we do a lot of it being hounds. If one howls, the other has to howl as well.
Aw, I would love to hear that. If we’re ever in your neck of the woods, Haley will stop in for a howling lesson, lol!
Mom says we are not big howlers, nope just winers! BOL!
Come to think of it, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of a Golden that howls. They are so beautiful and refined, I would probably crack up laughing if I saw one howl. ?
My cousins had 2 Golden’s when I was growing up and they both howled like champs!!! 100% pure bred as well 🙂 I actually stumbled across this page trying to get my Terrier to howl…He’s almost 9 months but I would love for him to sing with me to annoy my wife LOL
Hi Y’all!
I’m a very vocal fellow, but I don’t howl. My Human says if I start howlin’ too…well…I may lose my happy home.
Y’all come on by,
Hawk aka BrownDog
Oh no, don’t say that, Hawk! I’m sure you could do almost anything and still remain at your happy home. ?
My older boy Wilson loves to howl. All I need to do is make a whoo-whoo sound and off he goes. Jimmy has never figured it out, but occasionally he gets his lips in the right mode and belts one out.
Aw, I bet that’s fun to watch when Jimmy manages to let out a good howl.
Never thought I’d want to learn how to howl! I haven’t done it since my first days in my crate, mom thought for sure I was a Beagle. Taffy loves to sing and its easy to get her going. Love Dolly
I remember Haley having a puppy, bark-like howl when she first came home too. I think she only did it on the first night.
Hahaha! Oh boy, this is a great post! I have 3 huskies who lovvvvvvvvvve to howl!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Yes! I thought about you Jenna when I was writing this post. I would love to see a video of your tribe when they start their howling. ?
Gambler can roooo does that count?
I think it does, JoAnn! ??
LOL! The song to Law and Order makes dogs howl? I have to try this. Ruby is not much of a barker or howler, but still must try this.
It’s weird, I listened to the Law and Order theme song and there doesn’t seem to be anything special about it that would make dogs howl but I guess there’s something all those dogs on YouTube love about it. ?
My brothers thought this was vastly amusing to do to my parents schnauzers growing up. I wasn’t a fan then, still not now. They bark enough as it is, no need to teach them howling.
I grew up with schnauzers too and they are pretty vocal as it is. I’m sure I tried to get ours to howl too, but they pretty much just barked, a lot! ?
Ethel howls, but Earl has never howled properly before! Border Terriers are renown for ‘singing’!
I bet Earl and Ethel could perform a beautiful duet together.
I’ve only heard Harley howl once a year. No – really. I take him to Sunrise Service with me on Easter Sunday and the Men’s Chorus always sings. When they get started He throws his head back and belts out a few notes and gets everybody going. Every single year! #truestories
Oh my gosh, that’s so precious Cathy! Harley is just full of love and joy. ?
This post is very interesting. I never knew there were so many reasons for dogs to howl.
I was fascinated to learn that wolves have unique vocal fingerprints. I guess that makes sense though, like how we can recognize other people’s voices.
I haven’t had a dog that howled since our family dog passed over 10 years ago. He used to love howling at the sirens. I’ll have to try some of your tips for getting my dogs to howl.
You’ll have to let me know if you have any luck, Colby! ?
Everyone said, oh you have a hound, they howl all the time. No, she does not howl!! She talks like crazy but no howling. I love the idea of a camera when we are gone. We talked about it because we thought it might be funny to see what she does.
The first time we set up a camera, Haley stared at it for about 20 minutes after we left. I guess she was looking at the little red light or maybe it was making a slight noise. You’ll have to let me know what Cocoa does if you set up a camera.
Great post! My mom says I do enough barking that I don’t need another hobby! 🙂
Haha, I can understand that Spencer! ?
That video is SO cute! I’ve never heard Rita howl. When I howl, she just runs over and looks concerned, so I’m not sure I’ll ever hear her. Our last dog didn’t howl either, but our beagle used to. It was adorable.
I hear once that only male dogs howl at sirens, but wasn’t sure if that was a myth?? I’ve only ever had female dogs and none of them have howled at sirens.
I wonder if that’s true, that only males dogs howl at sirens. Hmm, maybe someone will leave a comment and answer that question. I had to laugh at the thought of Rita coming over to see if you’re okay, lol! ?
Cole has a sort of scream… he only does it for one neighborhood dog that he seems to hate.
Oh and once when we went in to a restaurant and left him in the car with the moonroof open. It was cool.
He stuck his mouth out the opening and screamed for us to return so loudly the staff said, noone’s here, bring him in!
Aw, I bet that was a site to see with Cole calling for you from the moonroof. It was so nice of the staff to let him come in and join you. Nice people! ?
Mr. N doesn’t seem to howl either. He whines and barks and makes little dissatisfaction noises but no howling!
Yep, I know what you mean about the dissatisfaction noises, lol.
Awe she was sad everyone left. Chessies sometime roo. Freighter roos. Storm will howl on occasion. Thunder is silent.
I would love to hear the Chessie “rooo” that you and JoAnn mentioned. How ironic that Thunder is silent, haha!
I’ve never heard my border collies howl, but I’ve never tried to teach them to howl either. When I played your video of Haley howling they both gathered around my computer and looked very interested, but neither did any type of vocalization in response.
Aw, I wonder if they would respond to the Law and Order theme song.
My dog only howls in her sleep. She will do 3-5 of them getting louder with each one. Sometimes she wakes herself up and it is funny to see her looking around to see who was howling.
I believe singing must be close to howling. My dog sings to Happy Birthday to You. To get her started, I use a high “wooooo” sounds. She is usually singing by the second line.
I think you’re right, Melody. Singing must be really similar to howling and I would love to see the Happy Birthday song. That would make birthdays extra special! ?
What a unique, cool video of Haley howling!! Missy & Buzz are definitely not howlers, although Buzz will let out a howl-like sound every now & then when he’s outside in the yard and hears/sees someone close to our property. I will try and record him when he does it.
Two of my pet sitting clients are Huskies, and both definitely howl. Milo, the boy, tries to howl-manipulate me into giving him extra treats 😉 Haley, the girl, howls softly for more belly rubs.
I’d love to hear Buzz’s howl-like sound! It’s hard to catch them in the act, isn’t it? I never have my camera or cell phone at the ready when Haley does interesting things. The huskies sound adorable, especially Haley with her soft belly-rub howl. ?
That was amazing. It sounds like Haley gave a little sniff in between her howls.
How lucky you were to capture that.
My first two dogs always howled at sirens. And when we left the house.
But Honey shows no interest in howling. She didn’t even look up when I played the Haley video.
Maybe I’ll howl for her sometime and see how she responds.
I think she was blowing out air or something, lol! I would have loved to have captured her visually on tape though to see what she was doing. If Honey doesn’t react to your howling, maybe she’ll hear a foghorn one day and howl. ?
The only time I’m aware of my dogs howling is when I take one for a walk and leave the other two behind. I can hear the other two howling as I walk down the street. Now I know why they do that….thanks for that interesting information!
Aw, they all want to be together for a pack walk. I bet it’s nice having some one-on-one time with each of them sometimes too.
Hahaha
I love how when you left Haley howled-like she wanted you to come home!
Do you know if it is possible for a border collie to howl? (As they are sheepdogs and not breed with any wolf-ish species)
Yes! I have to admit, I couldn’t really picture a border collie howling either, but I found these on YouTube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK_Dga20zwg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKsw_wAy7pk
Maybe one of these two methods would work (using a siren or howling at your dog). There are lots of howling border collies on YouTube, so your pup will be in good company if you’re successful. Good luck! ?
Yes,she wanted her pack.
Look it it up on YouTube. I’m trying to get mine to howl ^^ he has a lovely bark and he’s very quiet ‘–‘ I rarely hear him bark, whine a lot but ehhhhh… howls are soooooo much cooler
The YouTube howling dogs are so cool, aren’t they? I sure wish I could teach Haley to do it on command, but I’ve spent countless hours howling at her and making a fool out of myself, haha! ?
i never howl, but i am very loud! 😀
Lol! I think you may be crazy like a fox, Fox! ?
My 2 Basset Hounds only Howl when their pack is gone….such as I’m walking Fritz but when I get back Florlinda is howling like CRAZY I can hear her two blocks down the street!oml this dog ? same thing with Fritz he’s a major howler too!i bet the dogs sing “when I’m gone” when me and my family are out somewhere other then home!??BTW I think this is a pretty good website I like to train the younger dog Florlinda you can’t train a old dog new tricks right? I want her to howl too,when I AM home the super bowl is currently on haha ?? bye.im also not giving out my full name…
Haha! I think you should video Fritz and Florlinda to see if they actually do sing “When I’m Gone” after you leave the house. Thanks so much for visiting and don’t give up on training Fritz. You really can teach old dogs new tricks, lol! ?
My dog refuses to howl, I have tried everything you suggested but still nothing, what should I do?
I have a dog just like the one in the picture. What breed is it?
Tried all of these steps with my Border Collie, Sebby. None of them have worked on him. I want to be able to train him to “sing” but I’m about to lose hope since you won’t howl at all.
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I also notice the one time I’ve gotten him to howl was there was someone getting out of there car or something and he got all wound up and I started howling and he sort of repeated after me. Ever sence I’ve been trying to get him all wound up Then I start howling and it hasent worked.. yet 🤞
I have a chihuahua mix and I can never get him to howl to sounds
Gunner is very quiet for a husky. He doesn’t bark or howl, but on very rare occasions, he’ll “talk” to the cat because he’s mad she won’t play with him. My mom and I are trying to get him to howl, but are having no luck so far.
Our schnauzer/cocker spaniel howls on command. Just the word will set him off,but will stop on command also. Works out great for me if the wife wants me to do something around the house.
My Jindo/golden retriever is very reserved and does not vocalize much. She will bark when startled and will growl when scared, that is it. I would love to teach her to howl/sing but when I howl she just looks at me like I’m crazy. How would I teach her to howl?
This post is incredibly interesting. Now I understand there are several reasons for dogs to howl.
The tips provided are not only engaging but also showcase the importance of spending quality time with our furry friends. It’s fantastic to see content that promotes interactive experiences, contributing to the overall well-being and happiness of our pets.
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I’ve always been curious about why some dogs are more vocal than others, and your tips on encouraging a howl are fantastic. I love the idea of using different sounds to prompt the howl—can’t wait to try it with my own pup!