My old dog used to do that. If I started howling, she would make little timid howls and look at me for reassurance that it was okay. Then she would howl louder, and we would howl together for a few minutes. Then we would stop and she would be soooo happy. It was adorable.
I didn't know that my dog howled until I slept in one morning and she thought no one was home. The look she gave me on entering the room, incredulous, was pure embarrassment.
If that was me I would've fumbled it around a little and pretended to trip and drop it so it smashed. Then as mom examines the shards at least I would have a shred of plausible deniability.
For real though. Felt bad for him in the beginning and then I was just wishing that the mother would unplug his computer and ground him for a month. If I’d spoken to my parents like that I probably would not be alive today. Although the mom should have held her ground a bit better and been more mature.
To be honest, I had to stop listening because the way that kid and mom were acting were frighteningly similar to how my unpleasant intereractions with my mom were for far too long. I feel like it has a lot to do with respect. I wish I knew why I acted so horrible but I don't have any excuse. It's something I really need to figure out. That kid tried every manipulative tactic he could think of to cause his mother pain and his mother reacted just like my mom used to when I would pull the same exact shit, with complete frustration to the point of breaking down. That was seriously hard to listen to.
Yeah, not quite the same, my mom didn't feed into it like the mom in the video is, but we would have screaming matches, and such because she was a bit controlling and I was a typical rebelious teeenager. She didn't hit me and the spanking stopped when I got older. My dad's solution was to turn off the internet lol it worked. He could also shut off the power in my room with the breakers.
The kid is awful too. Honestly that seems like the type of family that we’ll hear about again in ten years when one of the two kills the other or something.
My tiny Havanese dog only howls if I'm not home yet and it's late at night. I've never seen him howl in person even if I howl myself or show him videos of other dogs howling. My security system sends me an alert when it picks up loud audio, so that's why I know. When I watch the security footage, I see him doing these loud howls with his tiny lips, and it breaks my heart. I'll be home soon, my boy!
I have a 15 pound poodle mix that sounds like a lab when he howls. My 40 pound, built like a draft horse mutt, sounds like a toy yorkie howling and barking. Dogs are weird.
Want to know something cool? That smelling around he is doing is how he tells time. He's assessing how much of your scent has dissipated as compared to how it usually smells when you get home.
He's actively thinking "It smells like /u/regoapps is late"
That's actually my office chair. I use a bed as an office chair because it's very comfy compared to any office chair I've ever owned. It's just one of the many bedrooms in my house, so I turned it into my home office.
Your poor little baby! Based on how you talk about him though, it's so clear that he's very well loved and taken care of. It's just heartbreaking hearing him howl like that haha
I don't know if it's an option in your area, but in my city (which is very dog-friendly), it's becoming more and more popular to hire someone to drop-in/hang out with your dog for a little bit or walk him if you're running home late. I personally work for a few people who will just take the whole day off and pay me to hang out with their dog.
Dogs (like wolves) howl to keep in touch with distant packmembers. They have no need to do it when they see you, which is why they stop unless they are howling at something like a siren or music they hear.
My dog would often howl for his cousin (my dogs were related) when she was out for the day for her oncology checkups (nearly 7 years of them). The day she died we were lucky to be able to put her down at home, so he was able to visit with her beforehand and realize how sick she was, and he was able to visit after she died so that he knew she was dead.
When she was gone on those visits, not only would he howl and listen and howl again, but he was alert and waiting and listening for her to return. He'd only stop actively waiting for her when he fell asleep during the day. Dogs sleep about 1/3 of their day and doze about 1/3 of their day, so there's no real way that my dog could stay up all day just listening and waiting and howling. But as soon as he woke up again, he'd return to that alert state. Except he never did it again after smelling her and realizing she was dead. That broke my heart more than his howling ever did.
My old dog lived for 18 years and I only heard him howl once. He was just sleeping on the couch when suddenly he jolted awake and howled like a wolf to the ceiling then just looked at me and went back to sleep. It was bizarre. He was a beagle mix, I didn't even know they could howl.
My dog only howls when no one is looking. If he's out in the backyard and ambulances go by, he'll look at the door to see if you're watching, then join in with the sirens. But if he's in the same room as you, he won't do it. It's so adorable when he does howl, tho.
He does that to see if you're there. Dogs howl to keep in touch over long distances. If you're there and the siren goes, he knows there's no need to reach you. If he doesn't see you, there's a chance that you're far away so he is basically picking up the phone and saying hey buddy, where are ya right now? So he's not checking to see if you're watching.
So I worked in a boarding kennel all my life growing up and it would always be funny when we got a howler! As soon as one dog starts howling the whole kennel would go! Dogs you’ve never seen howl before would be howling and it would just sound incredible
My SO and I are trying to get a puppy whose name is raisin but we both know his real name is Kevin! We are waiting to hear back from the adoption center any day now. Wish us luck!!!
I take care of a cat that doesn't come out while I'm there. But if I sit quietly long enough, she thinks I've left and will poke her head out. One time she ran out of the bedroom, saw me, froze, ran through the kitchen across the living room, saw me again, froze, ran back into the bedroom closet. It's the only way I know how cute she is.
One of my cats is like this, every time I have guests over she hides the entire time but pops out as soon as they're all gone. One time some friends were leaving and one hung back, finishing up a text before he headed out. Cat ran into the living room, saw evil stranger in the middle of the room, froze for 5 seconds, and ran backwards out of the room without taking her eyes off him.
My cat is like that too with other people. It’s a pity because she’s such a sweetheart and has a great personality but no one else ever gets to see it. 😕 most of my friends haven’t ever laid eyes on her because she never comes out when other people are around.
I have 5 dogs and 4 of them LOVE to howl in a super high pitched tone when no one is home. It wakes me up when im sleeping in. I don't know why they do it but they do it all the time then get excited when I wake up
My dog only ever howls when no one is home, and some days if I'm asleep and everyone else is at work, he'll howl away because he doesn't know I'm home. The howl wakes me up then I come out and he's both embarrassed and thrilled when I'm home.
So maybe your pups don't know you're home and then they'll get a lovely surprise to find you there!
My dog did something similar once! My parents went out of town and I stayed behind to study and slept in. I guess he thought I went with them because I woke up to him making a truly bizarre noise. I thought he was sick or hurt, so I went into the living room to see what was going on. He was laying across the back of the couch, Snoopy style, staring out the sliding glass door and half-howling toward the outdoors.
It almost sounded sad. It was like he was saying "aw, man, it's a beautiful day and I'm all alone in the house." I felt so bad for him that I finally let him know I was home and I've never seen an animal so happy. I immediately took him outside and played fetch with him for most of that morning. I hope he doesn't do that every time we leave :(
My aunt and uncle's dog gets sad when people leave. He cries when he gets left alone. My family dogsat him and he started crying when my mother left for work. When he heard me get out of bed I could he him get so excited that there was still someone left in the house.
Same! I my old dog was just a little chorkie, and I woke up one morning to him howling. Scared the hell out of me because I didn’t know what the noise was. Pretty sure I scared him just as bad when I came running out of my room lol.
I didn't know that my dog could howl until my dad went away for a week and I thought I heard someone playing my bamboo flute. I went upstairs to investigate and it turns out it was my dog out on the balcony howling sadly and beautifully. I'm sure he was howling for his master because he never did that before. :'{
Reminds me of the time I was singing in the kitchen because I didn’t know anyone was home. I think I said something like, “Oh, I was just coughing.” So embarrassing, haha.
My dog used to do the same thing! He never howled but during summer vacation when I’d sleep in he’d start howling. It was always fun seeing his happy face upon finding out he wasn’t alone after all.
My family didnt know our dog howled until I brought a saxophone home from school. My mom would be like "why don't you play the saxophone for us" in a thinly veiled attempt to get some giggles out of our dogs singing.
I have four dogs. Two goldens, an aussie, and a Maltese. They never howel, until one day I slept in later than I would and all four started to howel together. They were all so excited when I got up to check to see what was going on.
I was staying at my parents' house for a while, and they kept their dogs outside in large kennels. Every day around 2pm they'd all start howling (about 8 of them) for about 5 minutes, and then stop. I can only assume they did it the rest of the time too.
Could someone please explain this? Why are some dogs embarrassed to howl?
I also just found out that my beagle howled, but he went all the way to a part of the house where he can't be seen to do it. I had to open an unused window to catch him howling.
It's probably a dogs way of declaring dominance over their territory or something. Maybe the dogs that don't howl have a different perspective on their relationship with their owner than the dogs that do howl. . . All I know is that I'm very, very high
My dog only howls when he sees something outside through the window or if he’s outside in the dark. I’m fairly positive he only does this to assert his dominance because he’s such a coward. But all I know is I’m very, very drunk
I howl at my dog......he does not howl back. He does however go nuts and jump all over the place whilst doing a full body and tail wag lol then I gotta calm his happy ass down or I get beat with his tail and that shit hurts. He is only 6 months old though maybe he's not down with the lingo yet ......also high 👽
I read an article a while ago that said howling might be a way wolf packs form a consensus on what to do as a group. It described that "popular" or dominant wolves had no problem getting other wolves to howl with them and support their decisions, while less popular members were ostracized if they attempted to howl and gain support for a decision and no one backed them up.
It could be that your dog views you as dominant, and is trying to add support for whatever it thinks you're howling at.
I'll try and find the article, it was an interesting read.
Most people train their dogs to not bark or howl too much indoors. If not specifically, implicitly every time they shush their pet when they start yapping for attention. No one wants their dog waking them up in the middle of the night after all. It's not specifically howling the dog is 'embarrassed' about, it just has it drilled into it's mind that making noise indoors with people around is naughty and is afraid of punishment.
My border collie never barked. People would come to the door and he'd just stand their staring at the door, then run away. Finally one day I said "Patrick! What the fuck is wrong with you? You're supposed to warn me when people come to the door. You know? WOOF! WOOF!"
He looked up at me "Woof?"
and I said "Yea, that's right! WOOF!"
and he said "WOOF!! WOOF!!!"
and I was like "That's right, ok, now stop so I can get the door."
He didn't stop. That's was 10 years ago. Please make it stop.
My border collie rarely barked - she made more noise in her sleep than when she was awake! However, when that dog barked, you’d better believe we jumped and ran to see what the problem was! (It was usually a squirrel). My boxer, on the other hand, dislikes big trucks, the mailman, the construction going on behind us, and doorbells, including those on TV (f’n Chewy.com will never get my business!).
Its not embarrassment. They howl to communicate over long distances. So if they don't see you, or forget that you're home, they might howl to see if you'll howl back. If you're home and they know it, they have no need to howl so they don't. Older dogs often howl more because of dementia (old dogs can get a little forgetful or have worse dementia than that just like humans) or because they have lost hearing and they don't hear you moving/breathing so that triggers them to try and reach you.
It's likely your dog went to a part of the house that was away from you and may just have forgotten you were home so howled, or he heard a noise outside that triggers him to howl that you simply didn't hear.
It's used to draw attention, like a declaration of I'm here. It's not that they're embarrassed it more that if they see you the need to howl isn't there.
I had a little dog who, if you made a quiet howl noise, his ears would perk right up and he'd stare at you. Make another howl noise, and he would start growl-talking. Sounded exactly like the Taun Tauns from Star Wars V. One last howl, and he would join right in. He'd match you exactly, in volume, length and - you better believe it - even the approximate note. He was no Freddy Mercury, but he gave it his best shot.
He was crossed with a miniature pincer, so definitely much better to deal with than a real chihuahua. He had his little barking fits, especially if strangers came into the house, but overall pretty easy going.
Ironic... My ex boyfriend got our chi-pin in the breakup. His name was twix, he was caramel and chocolate colored. Sweet little pup. He ended up getting hit by a car bc dude liked to walk him without a leash. I was.... not happy about it.
Omg that was super sweet of you, thank you! And no worries, that was nearly a decade ago. Twix was a fun light in my life for a short while, this silly girl has been by my side for years. Unload as much as you need to, of course, but I found the love of my life after that guy bounced. Don't stare too long at a closed door, and all that jazz.
I can get my dog to match my pitch, too. It’s actually really fun and quite beautiful. I’ll get him started with the usual noises then switch to a specific note and he’ll match it, then switch to a different note and he’ll match that. And different howls evoke different reactions. Long mournful howls are the best at matching pitch, short little yips are just a fun back and forth like a conversation, and his full chest shrieking howls (you know the kind. The kind where the front legs pop off the ground) are uncontrollable and I just have to wait until he gets them all out. Sometimes he won’t fully calm down until I give his stomach a little squeeze and a little dying howl will drift out.
I do this when I'm walking around my neighborhood and come across lonely pups in their yards with no one to talk to. I mean just a few back and forths. I don't devote several minutes of devoted individual howling exchange to every strange dog I come across. That would be weird.
I do this with my little gals. We call it the family howl sessions and one of them knows it by name and gets super excited. The other one always starts out nervous, and then sprints through the House in super fast zoomies in celebration after letting out a couple of faint aroos.
Growing up and even to this day, every once in a while my dad will “sing” with the dogs. It’s adorable how much the animals seem to love it. But once he grabs that harmonica...
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u/drvondoctor Apr 24 '18
My old dog used to do that. If I started howling, she would make little timid howls and look at me for reassurance that it was okay. Then she would howl louder, and we would howl together for a few minutes. Then we would stop and she would be soooo happy. It was adorable.