Howling/Climbing into Lap

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oddbird
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Tell us about yourself: I recently adopted a rescue that we have been told is a shepherd of some sort. He has totally disrupted our lives and I am loving every minute of it!

Howling/Climbing into Lap

Post by oddbird »

So Henry has been doing something I have never experienced with another dog before. If I play a video of dogs howling, even if it is a video of the only time he has ever howled, he does a few head tilts while looking at me and then climbs into my lap! I tried googling why he would climb into my lap but didn’t find much.

Do you guys think he assumes I am upset? He is normally only a snuggler early in the morning. I’d love to get him to howl again, which is why I have been playing the videos, but I don’t want him to be stressed because of it.
Bird & Henry (Long-hair DS): Figuring out this working dog life together
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centrop67
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Re: Howling/Climbing into Lap

Post by centrop67 »

Some cursory Googling reveals some interesting ideas about why dogs howl.

The most common reason given is the connection to ancestry and how wolves use it for communication:

"Hey scouts, come back home."
"I am a scout, and I am here"
"This is my (our) space, and I (we) am (are) warning you to stay away"

Other reasons for howling: (Read More)
* Pain
* Anxiety
* Discovery

Interesting to note that it also may be a bonding exercise, and that might explain why Henry climbs into your lap.

None of the pages I read cited specific research, though they all stated that research was part of the content. This bothers me a little, because I like to see primary sources of information.

The Law and Order music makes Radar go nuts with howling, but I am not certain that I want to encourage the behavior. I don't know if it's good or bad for him, because obviously it's stimulating chemical reactions in his brain. I don't give him the nickname "Boo-Boo Head" because he's entirely sane.

Anyway, there's an interesting article from Psychology Today that discusses dogs having a musical sense:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201204/do-dogs-have-musical-sense wrote:The kind of human music that most often induces a dog to howl is produced on wind instruments, particularly reed instruments, such as clarinets or saxophones. Sometimes dogs can be induced to howl by a long note on the violin or even by a human holding a long note while singing. Perhaps these sound like proper howls to the listening dog and he feels the need to answer and join the chorus.
Michael
Location - Cutler Bay, FL USA
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers
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borellar15
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Tell us about yourself: Living in Austin, Texas with our dogs Zoey(DS), Henry (DS) and Tripper(labX). In college, I worked as a Handler and Assistant Manager of a training and daycare facility for 3 years where I've handled many working dogs. For the past 2 years I have been training Zoey and Henry and we have made some tremendous progress together.
Location: Austin, Texas

Re: Howling/Climbing into Lap

Post by borellar15 »

That’s funny. My friends dog (not a DS) will howl if he hears two songs... 1 is the JG Wentworth jingle. He hates it... or loves it?? But I like to think he hates it. And the second song is “Today was a good day” by Ice Cube. Hahahaha. Idk the reason why. If he hears either of these two songs he loses his shit.
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Alex - Zoey(DS), Henry (DS), Tripper Lab mix. Austin, Texas
oddbird
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Tell us about yourself: I recently adopted a rescue that we have been told is a shepherd of some sort. He has totally disrupted our lives and I am loving every minute of it!

Re: Howling/Climbing into Lap

Post by oddbird »

Thank you, Michael! I could totally see Henry thinking I am looking for him and he just bounds right into my lap to be like “Hey lady! I am right here!” I wish I could video it but kind of hard with 70 pounds of fur barreling at you lol!
Bird & Henry (Long-hair DS): Figuring out this working dog life together
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