RSSHow to Stop Dog Howling
Jul 19
Dog Information animals, dog anxiety symptoms, dog behaviour, dog howling, Dog Information, dog problems, Dog Training, dogs, dogs howl, family, pets, positive dog training, separation anxiety in dogs, stop dogs howling, why dogs howl No Comments
What Makes Dogs Howl
Dog howling is just one of the forms of communication that dogs use alongside barking, whining and growling. Although it is probably now the least useful method of communication for dogs living in a human world.
Some owners are concerned that they have never heard their dog howl, but there is nothing wrong with your dog if they don’t as they simply have no need to howl.
Certainly judging by the number of YouTube hits videos of dog howling gets, people generally find it amusing when they do. That is until they live close to a dog that howls at night or is suffering from dog separation anxiety…
When Dogs Use Howling
In nature, the sound of a dog howling will carry over long distances and was therefore used to locate other members of the pack and call them together for hunting (as wolves still do).
It also acts as a warning to rival packs to keep away because dog howls are individually recognisable, and therefore if they don’t recognise the howl, another pack would know to keep off the territory if they wanted to remain safe.
How to Stop a Howling Dog
If your dog howls in response to high pitched sounds (like a siren), it should stop as the other noise dies away. There’s not much you can do to stop it and it shouldn’t last too long. If your dog is outside, you can try calling them to you, or taking them inside, and using a positive reward system for them when they quieten down.
Never shout at the dog as this can be counter productive in a number of different ways, the least being that they might decide that you are howling too and keep it up for a little while more.
Other triggers for dog howling can be responding to another dog they can hear howling (their hearing is better than ours so you may not be able to hear it yourself), but it shouldn’t last for long. Alternatively, dogs are known to have a howl-along with music, singing, or TV tunes and this will be caused by their natural instinct to howl with the rest of the pack when they get together.
Separation Anxiety in Dogs Cause of Nuisance Howling
The sort of constant howling that upsets the neighbours and stops you sleeping at night is usually caused by other problems which you will need to identify and address.
Howling that is triggered by separation anxiety in dogs will start when the dog is left home alone and will be your dogs attempt at trying to find out where you are and let you know where you should come back to. Naturally they are going to continue to try and locate you if you don’t respond!
Separation anxiety in dogs is not always the easiest problem to deal with, but when it’s sorted out, the need to howl should disappear. A good behaviour modification program should help along with some desensitisation training to the triggers that set off the howling. In very difficult cases, a vet may be able to help by prescribing dog anxiety medication, but always try training first.
Look for other dog anxiety symptoms to help you confirm that anxiety is at the root of your dogs howling problems. Problems such as chewing, urinating on the carpets, or pooping in the house and many others. You can get our free report on the major symptoms of dog anxiety to help you.
Dog Howling for Attention
Attention is another reason your dog might be howling. It’s hard to ignore and if your react by reassuring your dog, talking to them, stroking them or even getting cross with them, its all attention and they are likely to continue using this technique.
To stop your dog howling for this reason, you need to show them consistently that it won’t get your attention. You could also reinforce it by praising quiet, calm behaviour and giving them treats.
Here’s how you do it. Completely ignore them when they howl. Don’t speak to them, stroke or touch them, or even catch their eye. This way they will soon learn that it doesn’t work and dogs rarely carry on doing things that don’t get them what they want. If just ignoring them doesn’t work, try leaving them on their own in another room when they howl. Either take them by the collar, again without speaking or looking directly at them and put them in there until they quieten down, or walk out of the room they are in and close the door. Your dog doesn’t like to be separated from the rest of his pack, so it can be very effective.
Reinforce this by using positive training techniques, (ignore the slip ups, but praise them when they get it right) to encourage calm or quiet behaviour. You could consider trying to teach them to respond to a ‘keep calm’ or ‘quiet’ command to back it up.
If you’d like to know more about Dog Anxiety we’ve created a useful, free report to help you spot the symptoms of anxiety in your dog, because a dog howling could just be the start of anxiety problems, so catch it and stop it quickly.
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