Your dog’s behaviour can be strange sometimes, such as eating his litter. Now consider this; you are spending a good time with your family at home with your dog sitting next to you, and suddenly a fire brigade passes by, or any vehicle that has loud-pitch sirens and your dog starts to howl. If you have never seen it do this before you might be clueless and get worried.

It is a part of their behaviour to howl at the sound of a fire alarm or sirens. Some say the old way of communication can be the reason, but we know it can be scary at a first few times.

The primary reason for a dog howling is their ancestry.

We all know that dogs are descendants of the wolves. They were not always the pets they are now. They are cute, playful, and human-friendly, but there was a time when their species were known as wild animals. The line that dogs come from was not as tamed as they are now. This connection is easy to understand when from their howling.

Howling is a form of communication that wolves use as they have far more better hearing than humans. Their hearing capabilities are exceptional, which makes it possible for them to hear loud-pitched noises even from a long distance. Wolves live in packs, and if one of them gets separated, they howl to communicate with each other at trace their way back to their pack.

You might be thinking that your dog is a pet and it is domesticated then why does it howl when he’s already at home with what it thinks is its family? Well, the answer is clear. It is in their DNA.

When your pet dog hears a siren, it thinks as if another dog is howling from a distance and is communicating with it, so it howls as a reply to inform about its presence.

Apart from just trying to communicate, another reason for your dog’s howling can be related to its defensive behaviour. When dogs hear strange and unusual high pitched sounds, it feels as if it is threatened and in result, it howls to let you know that there might be a danger near.

Do High-pitched Sounds Hurt Your Dog’s Ears?

There is a constant debate about why dogs howl at the sound of sirens, and some people say they do it because high-pitched sounds hurt their ears. But the fact is that if your dog feels discomfort from a specific sound, it will run to hide under the bed or a place where it thinks it won’t hear the sound.

What Should You Do About It?

As now you know that it is a natural behaviour of dogs to howl if they hear a high-pitched sound, you do not have to worry any more. But if you feel that it howls more often, you can train it a little by teaching him to stay quieter.

It is better to ignore its howling and let them know that it won’t get any attention this way and when it gets quiet, treat him with its favourite biscuits. It can take some time, but your dog will eventually learn.

If you are a dog owner living in Finchley and looking for professional dog walkers to let your dog enjoy its everyday morning walk, get in touch with us today.