Unmotivated howling and whining will drive any owner to white heat. At first, the owner is touched when the puppy “cries” after him and becomes hysterical as soon as he is left alone for even a minute. They feel sorry for the baby and cooze with him. But soon this behavior begins to irritate the person, he takes it out on the pet and looks for ways to stop the dog from howling. Effective methods of correction are described in the article.
What kind of music do dogs prefer?
An interesting fact is that the musical preferences of pets have been well studied. Not a single dog has ever “sung” to music such as rock or rap. Dogs also ignore other jagged rhythms. They like drawn-out melodies containing long fragments and sounding on high notes. But they are also capable of responding to low ranges. The main thing is length and melody.
Classical works performed on wind instruments are especially popular among dogs. We are talking, for example, about the flute, oboe, saxophone. But there are also those who prefer the button accordion and piano. At the same time, indifference to electric instruments is noted.
This feature is explained by the maximum naturalness of symphonic music. Melodies that are not broken by rhythms are most consistent with natural sounds.
How can you not?
- Under no circumstances should you physically punish your dog! This will embitter the dog, or, on the contrary, scare him, and he will howl in fear.
- Some reasons for howling are due to physiological characteristics, and punishing a dog for its nature is pointless and stupid. The dog needs to be taught from childhood who is boss in the house and taught to obey commands.
- By nature, dogs are smart animals, and they understand perfectly well when they are dissatisfied. Even in Bulgakov’s story “The Heart of a Dog”, Professor Preobrazhensky stated: “You can influence a person and an animal only by suggestion.” A command and intonation will be enough for the animal to sense dissatisfaction and stop.
- Shock therapy in the form of water splashing or electric shock collars should be used only in extreme cases and in accordance with the recommendations of dog handlers and veterinarians
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.
In a dream
Small puppies often howl because they miss their mother
The howling of a sleeping dog is a reaction to dreams. As a rule, dogs' dreams are much more vivid than human dreams. You can often notice that a sleeping dog wags its tail, jerks its legs as if running, growls, and barks. This behavior is associated with the processing of daytime events in the dog’s mind.
Most often this is typical for puppies or young dogs who are very energetic and impressionable. As the dog gets older, his sleep becomes calmer and the howling stops.
If such restless sleep is typical for your pet all the time, you should consult a veterinarian. He may need sedatives.
Causes
- Howling was inherited by dogs from distant genetic ancestors - wolves. This is a method of communication that can be heard over a long distance and gives relatives information about the more or less exact location of the animal.
- Howling is also an expression of emotions and experiences - joy, sadness, feelings of fear, pain.
Some dogs howl from insomnia. Other breeds are quite musical by nature and can howl to tunes from the TV, telephone or musical instruments. For example, dogs tend to howl at the sound of a siren or alarm. These sounds irritate sensitive ears, and to express his indignation, the dog begins to bark or howl. - The sign in which a dog howls to death, while lowering its muzzle to the ground, is to a certain extent true and can be explained from a scientific point of view. Before death occurs, the metabolic processes in the body change, as a result of which the body at this stage begins to emit an odor that is imperceptible to humans, but unpleasant to the dog. To kill this smell, the dog lowers its muzzle to the ground. He howls from an expression of anxiety and dislike for this smell.
Why do huskies howl?
Dog howling is a phenomenon that people do not treat very well, to put it mildly. This is due to various prejudices, the darkest of which says that if a dog howls, it is not good. In addition, such a sound signal is associated in people’s minds with the howl of wild predators - wolves, so everyone becomes uneasy if this drawn-out sound is heard in the middle of the night.
Most people believe that a husky howls like a wolf because the dog looks like one. In fact, the reasons are somewhat different. All dogs can howl, regardless of breed; even a simple mongrel can howl no worse than any wolf. Dog breeders have another, more logical explanation for why dogs of this breed more often howl rather than bark.
It's all about their northern origin. During fast movement in the cold, when the huskies pulled a sled with a load behind them, all their energy was directed to running. Barking is an additional burden that tired dogs simply could not afford, especially since barking in 40 degree frost is not a pleasant activity.
Therefore, communication between husky dogs and their owners was reduced to howling. There is also a more artistic explanation for this phenomenon. According to Eskimo legend, the howl of the husky is a symbol of her despair because she did not fulfill the order of God, who sent her to earth to tell people that there is no death, but life is eternal.
Instead, the forgetful husky, on the contrary, told people about death, and what should be done if a person dies. We call this howl a song. Modern huskies that live in your home use howling as an attention-getting signal.
Perhaps your beloved husky is hungry, or wants to play or go for a walk.
There can be many reasons for her howling; in any case, it is a way of communicating with the outside world, sometimes the only one available for expressing the dog’s desires. Sometimes a husky howls not because she is sad, but on the contrary, because she is having fun, and she simply sings.
Do Huskies Really Bark?
Among dogs, purebred and mongrel, as well as among people, there are those who like to bark and those who are silent.
This is due to both individual character traits and qualities inherent to the entire breed. The dog vocalizes when it experiences strong emotions, such as joy, irritation or anger. The larynx and respiratory apparatus of a husky are no different from the organs of a dog of any other breed, so huskies undoubtedly know how to bark . They just do it much less often than others. Huskies are silent and bark without a command only if something really important has happened (in their opinion).
There are several explanations for this phenomenon. From the mystical, as in the Eskimo legend, to the amateurish scientific - for example, “ huskies are genetically close to wolves, and wolves do not bark , but only howl .”
The most consistent of the hypotheses seems to be the one that substantiates the tendency of northern sled dogs to taciturnity, adaptation to their lifestyle and the weather around them. When you drive a sleigh in a snowstorm for 6 hours across a snow-covered plain, you want to save as much energy as possible and not waste it. Barking requires effort, so dogs who ran in sleds for generations gradually weaned it off as a non-functional habit.
"The Coming and Going Master"
In order for the dog to understand that he is being abandoned for a short time, he will have to try, give his best. But it's worth it. Usually it takes a week to wean off howling if you practice every day.
Start getting dressed, sit at home watching TV in your clothes, and then just change into your home clothes. Let the dog understand that you will not necessarily leave, even if you get dressed, this way you will teach the dog to hug your feet and follow you while you are getting ready.
When the first stage is completed, move on to the next one: get dressed, go out the door, go down to the floor below. Wait five minutes and return home. If the animal howls, then calm it down; if not, praise it. Each time, increase the time of absence by a couple of minutes, and so on until the howling stops. The dog will quickly understand that if you leave, you will definitely come back.
Team "Voice!"
If huskies don’t like to talk just like that, then teaching them to voice on command is not difficult. The principle of training here is the same as when training any other breed - food (and then conditional) reinforcement of the required behavior.
Teaching a husky the command “Voice!” you need to start at a young age, but after mastering the basic commands (“Stand!”, “Sit!”, “Ugh!”). If you train a dog using the operant method, that is, reinforcing random desired behavior, training with a husky may take a long time: wait, While she barks , you can go on for a long time. Imitative training will help here - joint training with another dog that has already mastered the command. Canine animals have a developed desire to imitate their relatives. Your pet, having watched how his friend receives a treat for barking, is unlikely not to guess, what he should do in order to be rewarded.
husky to vocalize with encouragement, may start barking all the time in hopes of getting a treat.
