A dog howls: what to do and how to stop a dog from howling when it is left alone - what to do to prevent a dog from howling in the absence of its owners

Are your neighbors tired of looking for why a dog howls at night on the Internet and knocking on the wall to call both the dog and its owner to order, and you are tired of sticking earplugs in your ears and shouting at an animal that doesn’t listen to you? This problem is familiar to all residents of apartment buildings, whose neighbors have got themselves a pet and do not know how to wean him from the bad habit of vocalizing in the dark or during the day - when no one is around. Extreme measures are to transfer the animal to a shelter or find new owners for it. Should I part with my pet or try to change its behavior – on my own or with a zoopsychologist? We invite you to read our article on how to stop a dog from howling and find out why plaintive and annoying sounds are heard from the apartment in the absence of the owners.

Voice behind the wall

Dog howling is a problem that is difficult to ignore when talking about correcting the behavior of four-legged friends. Because of this, as well as because of barking and whining every day, the animal can be given “into good hands” (often without specifying why, and transferring the work of eradicating the bad habit to the new owner). Less kind-hearted owners prefer to leave the noise source outside.

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Both the first and second options will not suit us - we need to find a solution to the problem that does not boil down to getting rid of the pet. Let us warn you right away: most often you cannot do without a trip to a specialist, which means you will have to prepare for expenses. But these are minor things for those who want to correct the situation without harming the animal.

If you are sure that your pet could not behave in this way, we advise you to install a hidden camera in the house so that you can later see how things are going while you are not at home. If your neighbors' complaints are not unfounded, it's time to take action. If your dog sleeps around the clock, and heartbreaking sounds come from the apartment on the floor above, show the video to the residents who decide to find the culprit to prove that your animal has nothing to do with the daily “concerts”.

But what should those who constantly listen to plaintive “trills” do – during the day and even at night? First, let’s look at how a typical “howling” dog behaves.

Method of creating a comfortable environment

It also consists of several points.

Keep your dog quiet. Place the dog bed (basket, crate, kennel) in a quiet part of the house or apartment so that the pet feels safe and isolated from outside noise.
Apply pheromone therapy. Connect a DAP (dog pheromone) diffuser near your chosen location. This device emits sedatives.
Close the curtains. Dimming will also calm your whiner, including reducing the penetration of street noise.
Do not turn off the radio or TV at low volume (see above).
Leave your pet a tasty, long-lasting treat (see above).

And finally, one more way.

Fear of loneliness as the root cause of howling

Most often, this pet behavior indicates that he does not want to let you go when you leave for work (if no one else lives at home). How does an owner dog behave or just a coward who is afraid to while away the hours alone?

Tries to run out into the stairwell with you when you step outside the threshold.

He grabs your sleeve, tries to attract attention to himself, even growls and barks to detain you.

As soon as the door closes, it begins to howl, runs around the rooms in excitement, and often looks out the window to see if the owner is coming.

In this case, the howl is an expression of fear experienced by the animal, which does not understand that the person has left to be waited for. In an excited state, it rushes around the apartment, raises its voice and disturbs the peace of the neighbors.

The main thing you must do is show the dog that you are leaving it on purpose, so that it will patiently wait for you and guard the house. In addition, in this situation it is especially important to instill in the pet calmness and confidence that the return will take place.

"Vociferous" breeds

Any dog can vocalize, regardless of breed. But there are dogs that are especially prone to this behavior. For example, Alaskan Malamute and Siberian Husky are very fond of this activity. And there are breeds, for example, Basenjis, that do not bark at all, but can howl.

If you need a quiet animal, pay attention to the “Japanese” - Akita Inu and Shiba Inu do not make any sounds unless absolutely necessary.

Quiet breeds include the Irish Setter, Cane Corso, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Why does a dog howl at night: we look at the reasons and find out what to do

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Some are afraid of howling at night, believing that this is a bad sign - a premonition of imminent death. However, this is just a sign. In fact, it is impossible to solve the problem based only on beliefs.

Why does your pet not let you or your neighbors sleep?

Melancholy and fear - when a dog is lonely, it tries to talk about it as best it can.

Search for relatives - for wolves in the forest, howling is a way of communication over long distances. Their domesticated counterparts also use their voice as a means of communication and this calms them down - especially if a mongrel answers them from the street.

Another reason is cold and hunger. If you don’t change the water in the bowl, don’t add dry food to your pet in a timely manner, or place a bed right in front of an open window, be prepared for plaintive whining and howling.

Your dog may complain about the pain he is experiencing. Do not forget to monitor the health of the one you have tamed: carry out deworming and vaccination on time, and visit a veterinarian from time to time.

How to stop a dog from howling at night at home? Check what condition it is in - show it to a specialist. You may need to consult a zoopsychologist. Walk more with your pet, don’t forget about games and communication. The dog is a social creature. If the owners leave him without attention, he begins to feel sad, which is expressed in barking, howling, and whining. Feed the animal plenty and always leave fresh water in the bowl.

Fighting unspent energy

It's not the dog's fault that the owner has no desire or time to play with him - the energy still needs to be put somewhere. Before getting a pet, think about whether you need it at all? If you don’t have time for long walks and games, then don’t get a dog at all or give preference to a heavy, calm breed that will want to rest more. The ideal option is a bullmastiff - a big and kind giant, a family dog, very lazy, and does not require long walks. A pug, poodle, or Pekingese are also suitable.

To keep your dog occupied, buy him toys. In order not to walk your dog for a long time, buy a treadmill; the dog needs to walk more to maintain physical fitness and waste energy.

Hanging toys, balls, specialized bones and much more will help you stop your dog from howling in the absence of people in the house. Leave the dog alone with such toys, and, occupied with them, he is unlikely to bother the neighbors with his howling.

What to do to prevent the dog from howling: we carry out preparatory work

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First you need to improve the animal’s life in your absence. And for this you need:

Provide access to clean water and food

Don't forget that your dog should eat well and drink plenty while you are at work. Provide her with access to clean water 24 hours a day and make sure there is always food in her bowl. If you often stay late and come home late, you can purchase a special automatic bowl with several trays that signals whenever it is time for breakfast, lunch or dinner - there will always be fresh food for your pet.

Animal psychologists and veterinarians have found that dogs that howl frequently often have digestive problems, are exhausted, and find it especially difficult to gain weight. Make sure that the animal eats several times a day and little by little - the portions should not be large.

Check your pet's health

In some cases, howling is a signal of pain being experienced. Do not forget about the mandatory procedures - vaccinations, deworming, strengthening the animal’s immunity with vitamin and mineral complexes, visits to the veterinarian if alarming symptoms appear.

Make your pet as comfortable as possible

Let the dog have his own place to relax - a comfortable lounger or house (for representatives of decorative breeds). Be sure to check if the lounger is soft enough - sit on it and spend some time in this position - about an hour. If you experience discomfort, change the litter or find a new place.

Give your pet the freedom to be himself

Don't forget that a healthy animal needs to be walked for several hours every day. During a walk, the dog should communicate with its relatives - visit special areas or go out to where avid dog lovers spend time with their pets. If your animal shows aggression or, conversely, is afraid to approach its own kind, you need to start correcting its behavior. Fulfilling all these requirements will help you restore calm to the animal by suppressing fears and eliminating the source of excitement and anxiety.

Why do animals whine?

When faced with a problem, you should not scold, much less apply physical violence to the animal. There are humane ways to stop whining, but first you need to determine the cause:

To attract attention. Often the pet becomes bored and begins to demand a walk, a tasty treat, a toy, or the affection of the owner. Even if you shout or hit, the dog will still achieve what he wants (he got attention). Small breeds often use this technique.
Disease. Whining is accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea, passivity, lack of appetite, lacrimation, constipation - a serious reason to consult a veterinarian.
Physical trauma. Howling is a natural reaction to fractures, bruises, serious abrasions, cuts, and any manifestations of pain. In this case, you should immediately contact a veterinarian.
Loneliness. The owner is rarely at home, devotes little time to the pet, leaving him alone in the apartment, yard, enclosure or on a chain, and there is also no frequent communication with his own kind. Perhaps your four-legged friend has nothing to do, so he whines alone.
Need for toilet. We didn’t take the dog for a walk, she urgently needs to go outside to relieve herself, because being patient is already becoming problematic.
Fright, fear. The reason may be the aggressive behavior of another animal, a visit to the veterinarian, a trip in transport (car, train, plane, etc.), a change in the environment, or the animal’s individual phobias.
Apology for wrongdoing. If it is not yet clear what the dog tore or broke, whining is accompanied by a guilty look and ears pressed to the head. Similar behavior occurs, but not in all individuals.
Delight. Showing joy from meeting the owner after a long separation, whining before a walk, eating, or other things. Can be combined with jumping, barking and running around objects and people.
High emotionality. This is how a dog expresses feelings.
Bitches may whine during pregnancy and childbirth.
Mental disorder. The above points do not apply, but the animal whines at any time of the day (mornings, afternoons, nights).

Unlike an adult dog, a puppy has several additional reasons for this behavior:

Separation from family. From birth, the baby communicated with his mother, sisters, brothers, and other people. A sudden change of environment, loneliness is a serious stress. You should not scold the puppy; this reaction does not last long.
The unknown. New conditions, feeding, owners and rules also cause discomfort to the baby; in the first days, howling is present - this is natural.

What to do if your dog howls and what does it mean?

Let's not forget about the psychological side of the problem. Our pets always monitor our mood, pay attention if we take a long time to get ready for work or are unnecessarily worried before going out. Fear and uncertainty in front of the huge world around is transmitted from owner to pet.

Owners are often ashamed to walk away and abandon their dog for the whole day. In this case, even working with a specialist will not bring the desired result until those who tamed the animal are convinced that the pet’s fear can be eliminated by tying themselves to the house. Afterwards, such owners will not be able to leave their pet alone, even if its behavior improves, which can lead to regression and new “concerts”.

How to deal with a dog's howling? First, deal with those restraining forces that prevent you from “letting go” of your pet. You cannot constantly treat him like a small child who cannot be left alone for a minute. Get ready for a new life, change your own attitude towards long absences - only after this, following the owner, the animal will accept any new rules and begin to follow them. So the first step is yours.

What should you stock up on?

The following items will help you achieve success.

Container with treats. You leave your dog food that he particularly likes and that he can eat for a long time. This should keep her busy, distracting her from your care.
Radio or TV. By leaving any of these devices at a low volume, you give your dog the illusion that someone other than himself is present at home.
An entertaining toy. You give it to your dog when you leave and take it away when you return home. By doing this, you let your pet know that the toy connects your arrival with your departure.

Next, we will consider several methods to help wean a dog from howling in the absence of the owner.

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What to do to stop your dog from howling

We offer you several exercises that will help you break the habit.

The passage is closed

For this lesson, you will need to take a position near the door - it’s better to start with the interior door, so that you can then move on to training at the entrance. First, go into the room, leading the dog. Then stop at the door and carefully open it, indicating that you want to leave.

A dog that is afraid to be alone will try to get in front of you. Don't let her get behind the threshold: as soon as she rushes after you, stop moving, turn towards her and push her away. If she turns her face and looks at you at this moment, praise her and pet her. At the same time, you can say: “You can’t!”

You cannot act aggressively - the dog will understand this and begin to respond to rudeness with rudeness. To practice with an angry animal, it is better to purchase a muzzle and keep the animal on a leash, and move the animal to the side not with your feet or hands - with a folder, a tennis racket or any other object suitable for these purposes.

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Most often, 10-15 approaches are enough for the dog to take a position at the door and not move away when you leave.

Now for real

We have already found out what to do if the dog constantly howls in the apartment and does not allow you to cross the threshold. Do you work with an interior door without any problems? Then it's time to move on to the entrance. Your task is to exit and then enter (several times). Does your animal not move or make a sound when you turn the key in the lock? We can assume that the lesson was a success.

This exercise will help train a dog that tries to squeeze into the apartment first when you go for a walk or return from it. Gently push or push your pet away if he tries to interfere with you. The required number of repetitions is from 5 to 10.

With timer

Another simple way to show an animal how not to behave. It is better to practice at the interior door - at the entrance door only if you live in a private house. Set a timer for a certain period of time - for example, 2 minutes.

Then start the lesson. Exit, leaving the door open so you can see what is happening in the room where the dog remains. If your pet approaches you, return it to its place - push it beyond the threshold. Then take a step back and continue to follow. As soon as the signal sounds, return to the room and praise the animal. You can give your favorite treat as a reward.

Spend 10 minutes on this exercise and do it several times every day. Increase the intervals - from two minutes to 10, 30 or more.

Simulated care

The last option is without a timer. Dress as you normally would when leaving, step across the threshold, close the door behind you and wait. If after a certain time (for example, a minute and a half) you hear the dog scratching the door, barking and howling, you need to return and scold the careless student. Afterwards we repeat the same steps. Is the dog silent? We return and praise him - vigorously and with the obligatory encouragement.

We have already found out why a dog constantly howls when he is left at home alone, and what to do to get rid of the annoying call signs coming from the apartment. All that remains is to tell you how to scold an animal that does not follow your commands, and give some tips.

Correction

You can stop a dog from howling alone only through consistent, correct actions. It is easier to teach her to be independent from puppyhood. But if the moment is missed, it is possible to correct the behavior of an adult dog of any age. The main thing is patience.

Since dogs howl most often due to improper training, methods for correcting this problem are discussed below. Other causes - diseases, psychological disorders - require the intervention of a veterinarian or dog handler.

Accustoming a puppy to loneliness

A well-mannered dog will not howl, whine or bark for no reason under any circumstances. It’s easier not to retrain an adult dog, but to instruct a puppy, immediately show him what is right and what is wrong.

Therefore, dogs are raised from the first seconds of their life together. So that she does not even have thoughts of howling when her owner leaves the house, she is taught to remain alone from puppyhood.

They do it like this:

send the puppy to the bed with the command “Place”;
To prevent the baby from getting bored, toys are left on the bedding;
leave the room - all people and pets leave it;
if the baby follows the owner, they come up and return him to his place;
if the kitten begins to whine, he is scolded.

When returning, you cannot punish the dog, shout or, conversely, talk and lisp. The puppy is returned to the bed or scolded calmly, using only gestures, commands “Place”, “Ugh”, “No”.

At first, the baby is left alone for 3-5 minutes. Every day the interval increases. When the puppy has sat quietly for half an hour, he will survive for several hours.

It is important to exhaust the puppy before the exercise, otherwise he will spend unspent energy on resistance.

How to stop an adult dog from howling

It is more difficult to wean an adult dog from whining, barking, and howling than a puppy. Use special exercises. They are repeated every day 2-3 times. The training will take 14-20 days.

A simple behavior correction for your dog is to ignore him when he whines. But this works if the pet attracts attention, demands a treat, or asks to play with it. When a dog whines out of fear of loneliness, the method is useless.

The correct ways to solve endless howling in the absence of owners are aimed at calming the dog. They explain to the dog that he is left at home on purpose, he must behave calmly, and separation is normal.

To ensure that an adult dog remains calmly alone in an apartment, a series of lessons are conducted. They are arranged from simple to difficult. Each next lesson is a complicated variation of the previous one:

First lesson

The dog is taught to sit quietly in a separate room at home. They bring the pet into the room, leave and close the interior door. They stand not far from her - as soon as the dog whines, they express dissatisfaction with a cry. They scream immediately when they hear whining - if even a few seconds pass, the pet will not understand why he is being scolded.

Lesson two

When the dog sits calmly behind closed doors, they train self-control with free space. The doors are opened, but the animal is not allowed out of the room. If he crosses the border, whines or howls, they cry out in displeasure and push him away from the threshold with a gesture.

Lesson three

They practice with the front door. They dress as they would before going out and leave the house. They stay next to the door and wait 1.5 minutes. If the dog starts barking, whining in front of the threshold or scratching it, howling in the absence of people, it is scolded and left alone again. If she behaved calmly, they praise her and treat her with a treat.

The last lesson is the most difficult. You need to get out and in 10-15 times per exercise.

If a pet howls, do not stay with it - otherwise bad behavior will become entrenched. It is also forbidden to calm a whining dog.

Before you leave

It will not be possible to stop a dog from howling while its owners are away if it is wrong to leave the dog alone and not prepare it for lessons. So:

before class, play and walk with your pet on the street, it would not be superfluous to practice commands;
after a walk, feed the animal - left alone at home, a tired and well-fed dog will go to bed;
leave toys for the dog - so he will have something to do;
gather calmly, do not pay attention to the pet;
if an animal follows people, it is calmly, preferably silently, returned to its place;
when leaving, they do not express emotions: you cannot talk to the dog, lisp it, or pet it - otherwise the owner will leave the pet in an excited state.

Returns are also correct. They come in calmly and ignore the joyful fidget for the first 10 minutes. Only after they have changed clothes and washed up do they communicate with their pet.

What kind of entertainment can you leave for your pet?

The main rule is diversity. In addition to balls, ropes, rubber chickens and chewing bones, be sure to purchase interactive toys. Most of them are based on independent extraction of hidden treats. Games not only develop thinking, but also successfully shift attention. For more active games, devices with a laser beam are suitable.

Make sure any toys you buy are safe. They must not contain small parts or hazardous filler. Otherwise, the animal will choke or develop indigestion. If your dog loves soft toys, give them only under supervision.

Actionable tips

Nuances to consider when choosing a four-legged friend:

mixed breeds tend to be unpredictable;
Huskies love to howl (it is much more difficult to wean them off);
pugs grunt and snore in their sleep;
Ridgebacks, Sherpeis, Greyhounds and Deerhounds are silent.

For the process to be successful, perform a number of necessary actions:

Walks should be active and last at least 1-2 hours, filled with training, learning commands and communicating with others like you. This will exhaust your four-legged friend and, instead of howling or unwanted actions, he will go to sleep and rest.
Leave toys at any age of your pet. They will protect slippers and wires from danger, strengthen your gums and allow you to calm down. Also buy a scratching post, it will keep him occupied for a long period of time.
The use of a shock collar is strictly prohibited. It sends out a light shock when the animal barks, growls, whines or howls. But the accessory sometimes does not work correctly: when eating, yawning, swallowing, or being active (running, rapid breathing). Pain for unknown reasons will lead to nervous disorders.
Cutting the vocal cords is a bad idea and solves the howling problem for neighbors, but the abnormal behavior will remain. The dog may begin to express them differently, but it is not known exactly how. The operation is expensive, dangerous, and deaths have been observed. Failure to communicate your needs to a person will lead to serious psychological distress.

It is also advisable to abandon physical punishment, which will not give the desired effect. The dog will not understand the cruel treatment, will become angry at people, and will stop letting them near him. Many people say that the pet matches the owner: in response to a person’s aggressive behavior, the dog will return aggression as a defense.