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.
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Howling/Climbing into Lap
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- Green Dog
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Howling/Climbing into Lap
Bird & Henry (Long-hair DS): Figuring out this working dog life together
- centrop67
- Site Admin
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- Location: Cutler Bay, FL, USA
Re: Howling/Climbing into Lap
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:
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
Location - Cutler Bay, FL USA
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- borellar15
- Training Dog
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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
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.
Alex - Zoey(DS), Henry (DS), Tripper Lab mix. Austin, Texas
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- Green Dog
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 10:18 pm
- 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
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