The
howl is the one sound wolves and dogs have in common.
Howls
are long, melodious sounds that sweep through many different pitches which are
more efficient and more audible over a long distance than a single pitch sound. Why? Because
sound that travels long distance must overcome obstacles such as trees and
their leaves or an uneven terrain.
Wolves
howl to communicate across large distances.
They will frequently howl when they are separated from the pack to keep
or re-establish contact with the pack but also to deter members from another
pack. Often they howl to raise the
alarm, to regroup as a pack, to reinforce
the cohesion of the pack.
Some
dogs howl. Others do not. Dogs will howl when the hear the sirene of an
ambulance or fire brigade or the ice cream van.
Howling in
dogs does not happen often. A dog gets
no reply when he howls so the behaviour is not reinforced and that’s
discouraging.
Ozzy howls
whenever an ambulance drives past the house.
I must
admit I find it a spine chilling sound.
A call from the wild.
4 comments:
Do you think he's responding to the pitch of the siren in sympathy or in pain? How is dear Ozzy? No more bites, I hope.
Who knows, WW?
Ozzy is being a model dog. We just have to be careful around food.
Sometimes I start howling so my dogs can join in. They seem to be tickled by a group howl, much tail wagging and kissing. Some will howl, others just do high pitched yipping, like the coyotes do. The dogs never participate when the coyotes sing at home, it's like they could care less.
Great blog post, informative list. Thanks so much. I’m enjoying devouring your site!!
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