When one thinks of howling, references are often made to wolves. Wolves howl to tell their pack where they are, and when another pack that isn’t their own howls back, it tells them to stay away from that particular area. And vice versa. Their domesticated partners that are living in your home, however, are probably howling for different reasons.
One of the most common reasons a dog might howl is separation anxiety. If that is the case, they need the proper training to be comfortable with being home alone. This takes time, effort, love and training. Please visit our other articles to read more on that topic.
Another reason a dog might howl is just to be part of the family. Are you singing Christmas carols with the family? Rover might just feel like he needs to join in. He might not be able to speak in human terms, but he wants to be part of the family just the same.
Sometimes it might seem like the cutest thing when your dog howls at you or others and maybe you howl first and he howls back. However, when he starts thinking that it’s okay to do that whenever he wants, you might have a problem. You might consider teaching your dog to howl on command – much like teaching him any other trick. To stop his howling at will, you can start giving him treats for being quiet.
If they are howling at sirens or other disturbances that they cannot control and have a hard time understanding, you can try to desensitize them to it by exposing them in small doses and again, rewarding him for being quiet. If your help is not working, you can always enlist the help of a professional.
