by Meet Maximus, a German Shepherd who likes to howl whenever he hears people singing. In this particular video, you’ll see that he is howling along while his owner is singing in the shower. So cute!
I’d like to think that Maximus can sing but in reality, he can’t. He’s just being a dog and part of being a dog involves howling as a reaction not only to music but also to other noises. Howling for dogs is a form of communication that can be traced back to their ancestors; the wolves. Wolves in the wild communicate with other members of their pack by howling. Even if a dog has been living indoors with humans since it was a pup, there’s is no getting rid of the wild instincts it got from its ancestors. Check out this German Shepherd training page.
So when dogs hear music, a siren or someone singing, they mistakenly think that they are hearing another dog somewhere off in the distance calling out to them and they are attempting to acknowledge the communication by answering back loudly.
A dog’s howl is a sonorous, mournful sound to the human ear and some owners fear that the music is somehow hurting their dog but this is very unlikely. If the dog finds the music annoying, it will bury its head, cover its ears with its paws or run from one room to another. Howling isn’t a sign of pain. It’s just another form of dog talk.
image © http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgL20rGwqRM
Do you want the easiest, fastest way to an obedient dog? Watch this video:
