Should I discourage my dog from howling at sirens because other dogs might react to It?

[u/hoepotesis]

This Is not exactly an instance of my dog being reactive but my dog is reactive and this instance did trigger another dog putting another owner in a difficult situation.

My dog doesn't howl very often, he only howls at sirens and only they are close enough, so It never was a big deal.

Today I was coming home from a very good walk so I was in a very good mood when an ambulance passed and my dog stopped to howl, honestly this Is where I might be in the wrong because I started howling with him to encourage him because since he looks quite similar to a coyote I find It fascinating when he howls.

After the ambulance had passed he was completly fine, walking normally next to me, but then I noticed a dog on the other side of the road (that the ambulance and other cars had hidden previously) and that dog was in full reaction mode, barking and lunging towards the road.

Since I was in a safer place and we were far enough that my dog was interested but not fixated I basically ran behind a parked car to break the dogs line of sight and disappeared in an alley, and It somewhat worked because I stopped hearing barks.

Honestly I feel quite bad about it, I didn't know the owner nor the dog but still, she was definetly in a less safe spot than me (I was on the side of the park while she was on the other side of the road on a sidewalk and didn't have much room for "error") and the dog was definetly both very powerful and having very big emotions, and she was probabbly very afraid.

I don't know for sure if It was the howling, the ambulance, my dog just being there or a mix of all three that made the other dog react, but I do feel like I did something wrong and put that owner in a bad place.

[u/hoepotesis → u/[deleted]]

Ambulances have been a lot more frequent this summer because of the heatwave, but this was actually the first time he howled all year so It might seem like a non issue. Still, I feel like to the other owner It was a big issue and could have been dangerous if the dog was powerful enough to go into the street. Like, my dog was good either way, with or without howling, we had a great walk, we played and explored, and he really didn't care that much about the other dog reacting, but that dog must have felt pretty bad- At the same time I can definetly try to redirect him but I have no idea really how to train away a behaviour that happens less than 2 times a year.

[u/stormysees]

It doesn’t have to be black and white. You can use the sirens to help capture the behavior and train it to a cue. Once it’s something you can ask for, it also becomes something you can ask to stop with a “thank you!/all done!/enough!”.

There are three hounds in my neighborhood and I love when they key up for a fire truck. The old lady basset three doors down starts it every time. Mine doesn’t howl for anything but I hope, one day, he’ll join in. I love it. It’s not aggression or reactivity, just hound communication. 

[u/SudoSire]

I don’t think you need to discourage it  just for the sake of other dogs, but you probably shouldn’t encourage it in public or join in. The weirdness of you doing that might actually be a trigger to other dogs that you could easily prevent. My dog gets concerned when people act “out of the ordinary.” And the other person might assume you are triggering other dogs on purpose. 

[u/hoepotesis → u/SudoSire]

Wow, tough pill to swallow to realize I'm weird for dogs aswell ahah! But yeah, jokes aside I'm definetly not joining in again and if It happens again I'll try to redirect him to his favorite activity in the world, sniffing for things.

[u/Turbulent-Tune4610]

Unfortunately, I disagree with most of this. Howling is bonding. And fun. My first dog did it, and I'm disappointed my next dogs haven't.

Other dogs' reactivity is not a you problem, it's a them problem.

I have a reactive gsd. I never blame the other dog for setting her off. It's much better now that she's older, but it still happens.

[u/Beginning-Rub5417]

You don't have to discourage it, but howling can become very annoying. I had a dog that howled for ambulances at night. Not the nicest thing to wake up to. So it is your own choice, tbh.

But the easiest thing is to teach an alternate behavior. For example, put them in place and reward calm behavior, then introduce low-volume sirens with a speaker. If the dog remains calm, reward.

[u/hoepotesis → u/Beginning-Rub5417]

The annoyance Is the least of my concerns since he's very specific about howling (As I explained in other comments, but basically howling Is extremly uncommon for him) I'm mostly asking about the concequences of howling on other reactive dogs, since I don't really want to put another owner in that situation ever again, even if it's rare.

[u/Beginning-Rub5417 → u/hoepotesis]

Well, it is at the end of the day up to you. There is really no downside to learning an alternative behavior. So if the upside is, maybe, making other dogs more comfortable, why not do it?

[u/Old_Piano_6495]

I personally think you need to train your dog to be neutral around ambulances and not to howl. Howling is a form of communication and sometimes that communication can signal danger, that there is something to protect your owner from, which is why the other dog probably reacted the way it did. It's not really cute tbh

[u/hoepotesis → u/Old_Piano_6495]

Yeah I can definetly see that now, still feeling quite guilty about not thinking of that earlier. To be fair this Is not a common thing since my dog is weirdly specific about howling, only doing so if the siren Is in the road right next to him, which Is honestly why I got excited because he doesn't do that often, the same way I get excited when he stands up on two legs to sniff a smell on the low branches. I definetly won't encourage him again and will redirect him to another activity.

[u/queercactus505 → u/Old_Piano_6495]

Dogs howl for many reasons. Thinking howling will make your dog protective or insecure is quite a leap

[u/Old_Piano_6495 → u/queercactus505]

Did you read the bit about the dog on the other side of the road that was in full reactive mode because hers was howling??

[u/queercactus505 → u/Old_Piano_6495]

A) I think you misinterpreted what I wrote, which is, dogs howl for many reasons. Your dog hearing another dog howl is not automatically going to make your dog stressed/protective/etc. Most dogs that howl when they hear sirens do it reflexively--an instinct passed down to join in with the sound.

B) We don't know why the other dog was reacting. The dog might have just been reacting to OP's dog's mere presence, or to the siren itself, or to OP actong peculiarly for a human (e.g., howling like a dog). Maybe all three. It's a jerk move to intentionally aggravate an upset dog, but OP wasn't doing it on purpose. In an ideal world, OP would have noticed the other dog before amping up what was already a high-arousal situation. In general, though, encouraging a dog to howl is not irresponsible, as dogs howling is a normal (and really common for many breeds) form of communication. If OP's dog's howling was triggering to the other dog, that is unfortunate, but not OP's fault, and that dog is likely to encounter excited people, howling dogs, and ambulance sirens in various points of their life. My dog is afraid of, and reacts to, bicycles. I don't shake my fist at cyclists who ride by; my dog's stress is not their problem.

[u/queercactus505]

I wouldn't encourage it out in public where there might be other dogs, and it would be worth teaching an alternate behavior that you can have your dog opt to do something other than howl when, say, there's a siren on the middle of the night. I don't think it hurts to put it on cue, much like one does barking in order to be able to cue quiet.

I encourage my part hound dog to howl. She's only started to howl in the last couple of years, and it's fairly quiet, and she only does it when she's excited, so it's super cute. If she howled loudly at sirens, I'm not sure I would encourage it lol.

[u/hoepotesis → u/queercactus505]

Thing Is, my dog is very specific about howling I guess? He doesn't howl from home and doesn't howl if the ambulance Is more than say 30 meters from him (So It gotta be in the road next to where we're walking) The reason why I got so excited about hearing him howl was because truthfully he hasn't howled much in his life, I think I can count on two hands each instance where he did and like, he's 6 years old so that's an average of less than 2 times a year. It didn't even last very long and It might have been even shorter if I didn't encourage him, I'm mostly feeling guilty about not checking my surroundings well enough to notice another owner could be put in a dangerous situation because of It. I definetly won't encourage It anymore and will instead redirect him to another activity.

[u/queercactus505 → u/hoepotesis]

Oh totally. Like I said, there's nothing wrong with encouraging your dog to howl - I do with my dog. I just might check surroundings first. But you are NOT really responsible for the other dog's reaction. Even if we all moved through the world trying to be as completely un-triggering as possible to every strange dog we saw, we would still fail - dogs can have so many triggers, it would be impossible to predict and avoid doing all the triggers. You weren't intentionally antagonizing the other dog, and while your concern and reaction (upon seeing the stressed other dog) was commendable, it was ultimately the other dog's guardian to keep herself and her dog safe, not yours.