Dog Howling: 5 Easy Ways to Make Your Dog Howl
Do you know how to make your dog howl? Do certain noises that trigger howling in your dog? For me it’s as simple as howling myself — that always gets my dog going. She also has the habit of howling in her sleep — but that’s a story for another post.
But making all dogs howl isn’t quite that easy. Some seem to howl much easier than others. For those dogs you’ll probably need to try out a few different noises until you find out which ones get your dog going. Here’s 5 tips on how to make your dog howl. (Plus 7 videos at the end designed to get your dog howling)
Why Do Dogs Howl?
So why do dogs howl anyways? Howling is a normal behavior in dogs, and it’s one of the natural instincts leftover from their wolf ancestors. Howling in dogs is a form of communication just like barking and whining. Dogs howl to make contact with others, get attention, signal distress, and to announce their presence. The most common reasons for dogs to howl are:
- To make contact with others
- To attract attention
- In response to high pitch noises
- To sound an alert to others
Like barking and whining, howling is just another form of communication for dogs. It can mean they’re looking for some extra attention, or it might mean they’re on high alert. It’s one of the many ways in which they communicate with one another. In some cases your dog howling may indicate an injury or illness.
Some dogs howl much more than others. There are certain breeds of dogs that are more prone to howling than others. Huskies, German Shepherds & many hound breeds tend to howl more than others.
A lot of dogs will howl to the high pitched sounds of harmonicas, ambulances, dogs in the distance, or their owners singing. Some dogs, like Huskies, are known to be more vocal than others, so getting your Husky to howl may be a lot easier than getting your Chihuahua to start howling.
More vocal breeds—like huskies and most hounds—are more prone to howling in general, and thus would be likelier to wail along to music than say, a bichon frise. – Why Do Dogs Sing Along to Music?
Want to get your dog howling? Try these 4 methods.
5 Ways to Make Your Dog to Howl
If you want to make your dog howl the first step will be determining what noises they respond to. Some dogs will howl to high pitched sounds such as alarms and sirens. Sometimes the sound of another dog howling in a video is more than enough to get them going. For my dog I just have to start whistling to get her to howl.
Here’s 5 ways you can make your dog howl:
- Sing/Howl yourself
- Play a musical instrument like the harmonica
- Play siren or alarm sounds
- Whistle for your dog
- Play videos of dogs howling (see examples below)
After you find which method gets your dog howling you can promote the behavior further. Give him a treat when he howls and tell him he’s a good boy, just as you would with any form of trick training.
With enough practice and encouragement you’ll be able to get your dog to howl on command, just as you can get him to sit or lie down.
Getting Your Dog to Stop Howling
Now if your dog howls too much and you’d like him to stop the first step is finding out what’s triggering the howling to begin with.
If your dog is howling for your attention while you’re at home you’re going to learn to start ignoring the behavior and reward him when he’s quiet. We often spend too much time focusing on correcting bad behaviors that we forget to praise the good. When you consistently praise your dog for doing something (in this case being quiet) they’ll know that they’re doing the right thing, and with proper encouragement they’ll be more likely to continue that behavior.
If your dog is howling when he’s alone it could be from separation anxiety or being lonely. Does your dog also pace around and act nervous when you leave the home? If so it might be separation anxiety. If you’re unable to manage your dog’s anxiety on your own reach out to a trainer in your area for help.
If you suspect your dog is howling because he’s lonely try spending some extra time with him. Create some simple boredom busters for him, give him more mental stimulation, and give him plenty of games to play inside.
Pain and discomfort can cause changes in your dog’s behavior, so if your dog is barking or howling more than usual it might be a good idea to make an appointment with your veterinarian.
Dog Howling: 7 Videos to Make Your Dog Howl
If you want to teach your dog to howl check out the following videos. Here’s 7 videos that are guaranteed to make your dog howl.
Dogs reaction to “guaranteed to make your dog howl” video.
This one comes with a “guaranteed to make your dog howl.”
Boxer howling at siren noises.
German Shepherd howling.
Dueling Huskies – I don’t know if I’d love to have two Huskies or instantly regret it.
Another video guaranteed to make your dog howl.
My personal favorite.
Photo via Matt Elsberry
What Noises Make Your Dog Howl?
What noises work to get your dog howling? Is it sirens, videos of wolves howling, or your own beautiful singing voice? Let me know in the comments below.
Please share with your friends 🙂
Can you please help me get my 2 yr old Border Collie to sing like a
Timber Wolf? When I ask him to howl, or repeat after me, he thinks that just speaking and gently woofing and sort of speaking is all I want him to do. That was all find and dandy when I was trying to teach him to simply speak for treats / rewards etc. But know I really want that spooky sounding call of the wild.
To get my dog started I’ll howl just like them – with my head titled up – I don’t know why but it seems to get her going more than usual. But she also howls along to all of these videos so she might just be more of a “natural.” I wish I knew why certain dogs howl so much and others never do.. I had an Aussie mix growing up and he never howled, not once.
This was a fun post. My Scout is a coonhound and Lab mix so he howls at everything! We live across from a fire station and he constantly helps them out. He will also howl at singing. us howling, animals, the tv, and when lonely. He howls several times a day and even in his sleep. I love it, he has this beautiful, wild bay. Thanks for this interesting post, it really made me smile!
I love making my dog howl by playing the piano, it’s the cutest thing ever. Like he’s my little canine back up singer. We should start a proper band!
My germanshepherd mix dog is most responsive to Wolf Howling it seems, but a few of those “guaranteed to make your dog howl” videos on YouTube work as well.
My dog just surprised me when i, in a sing song high voice, asked him to give me a hug and a kiss. I got a short howl with his head back. We repeated that about 4 times as he enjoyed the attention. Got him to do it later when hubby home. Very cute but I didn’t get my hug or kiss! He’s a rescue border terrier mixed with something and very intuitive and smart. We’ve had him for 2years at age 1 and we’ve never heard this!
My dog dosent howl. Its like he dosent know how to? I think he tries but he just starts gently growling and whining. Hes a Husky pitbull and im kinda dissapointed :/
I have the same dog with the same outcome. Wow I thought my dog was the only 1. Funny……
For 5 years, my dog would howl like a wolf out of the blue, to mark his territory, call other animals, and then he would howl to sirens or even opera music. From the day he got fixed it stopped completely. He still barks, but never howls. So sad. It was beautiful to hear and watch.
my red merle border collie doesn’t howl at all. not any of those videos worked. any tips?
I have a long cardboard tube left over after wrapping Christmas presents and when I started talking to my yellow Lab, Luna, through the tube she immediately started howling in several different tones. She’s almost three years old and we’d never heard her do this before, not even when she hears the coyotes in the woods behind our house. It was great fun; my husband, me and Luna all howling in the kitchen like a bunch of crazed wolves! Needeless to say, I’m keeping the cardboard tube 😊
My dog hasn’t howled it’s as if she has a defective howler, not sure what kind of car she is cus she isn’t a dog if she won’t howl
Well there is one thing for sure my Shiba Inu’s how a lot from very young age but as they later grew it stopped or you can say decreased although this article helped me understand a better about dog behaviour so a big Thanks!