Almost every morning I wake up to howling. It begins with Bill, our smooth coat chihuahua who sleeps downstairs with his brother Ted, who does not howl. Bill will start softly and build volume until Yoshi and Jack answer from the upstairs bedroom. Finally Carl will chime in. Yoshi, the Japanese chin is the most musical, Jack is tone deaf and Carl, the older chihuahua, is a baritone.
Hear the Newcomb pack howling
What I find interesting is that the other dogs in the house never howl. They don’t even wake up to see what’s going on. When Gypsy was a puppy and we kept her downstairs, she would howl in the middle of the night. It was the most pathetic sound you have ever heard. She wailed like a tiny, lost wolf pup. Of course this prompted my husband to bring her upstairs and tuck her in bed with us. She never howled again.
While researchers still don’t know the exact reason for this strange behavior, they attribute it to their ancestry. According to Elizabeth Palermo in her article at LiveScience.com, “Your pooch shares his penchant for howling with his distant relation, the wolf. Much like barking or growling, howling is a deeply ingrained behavior that helps wolves communicate with one another.” she goes on to explain “In the wild, a howl usually relays one of two messages: either to tell a rival pack that they’re encroaching on forbidden territory or to guide a wayward wolf back to his pack.”
“In the wild, a howl usually relays one of two messages: either to tell a rival pack that they’re encroaching on forbidden territory or to guide a wayward wolf back to his pack.”
Yoshi also howls to music and singing, the other dogs have never done that. When our daughter who is an opera singer comes home, she often will practice and Yoshi will sing along. [See “Opera Singing Dog.”]
I’ve heard that the reason dogs howl to music is that they are responding to what they perceive to be another howl. When I was a child our chihuahua, Piccolo used to howl when my father played the according. I just think it hurt his ears.
When the howling starts in the early morning, probably the most upset pack member is Jack, he will run downstairs to greet his buddy, Bill, who is happy to see him. However, Ted could care less. As soon as all the dogs are together, the howling stops.
I have always been curious as to why some dogs howl and some don’t, I have yet to find an answer. It seems no one really knows. I guess some dogs have more “wolf” in them than others!
So let me know. Does your dog howl?