Some dog breeds are more vocal than others. Yet from the smallest of yappers, to the bellowing hounds who bay mournfully; many dog owners have noticed that their pups are more inclined to howl at night. What about the night inspires dogs to wail so sorrowfully?
Possible reasons why dogs are night-howlers
- Hereditary Instinct: Dogs originally descended from wolves. In a wolf pack, the pack leader would howl at night for several reasons. One was to display his presence, warning other animals to stay away from his territory. Another reasons wolves howl, is to work as a vocal guide to members of their pack that might have been trying to find their way back to the group.
- Territorial warning: Sometimes dogs howl at other dogs to let them know where they are, as just a “here I am, this is my house” kind of signal. When other dogs howl in response, they are doing the same thing and establishing themselves in the community. This is similar to the marking of territory that occurs when animals urinate on different poles or tree stubs. Dogs do this to make their presence known to the other dogs around them.
- Discomfort/Health Issues: When an older dog howls, he might be communicating some discomfort, such as digestive or joint pain, which may signal that a visit to the vet is necessary. Senior dogs have trouble with their eyesight, becoming afraid after dark, since their visual abilities decrease. An older dog may howl out of confusion, if he is not sure what is going on or where he is in relation to his owner or his food.
- Separation Anxiety: Most dogs like to be close to their masters, and do not appreciate being left alone. If your dog is sleeping outside, or made to go lay in his crate, he might be sadly howling out of loneliness. He might also just want your attention so that you will come back and stay nearby. Dogs are highly social creatures, and can behave as if they are bereaved or distraught when they are far from their pet-parents.
Folklore about howling dogs
The Norse Goddess Freya was worshipped as the deity of love, fertility and death. She was believed to have led a carriage drawn by cats through the sky on her way to carry off the souls of those near death. As dogs are the natural enemy of cats, people believed that a dog howling at night was sent as a warning of the cats on Freya’s carriage; and that death was nigh. This same superstition was found in America during the 18th and 19th century, when many people in the South believe if a dog howled at you at a certain time of night, then you would be sure to die soon. This belief was playfully satirized in Mark Twain’s beloved novel “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” in which the protagonist and his friends reference such superstitions on multiple occasions.
The belief that a dog howling at night would foretell of a coming death, was likely created from the logical flow of events when a person would become ill. In centuries past, when someone became sick in a home, the dog was often kept outside or made to stay with a neighbor while the invalid was being cared for. If separated from his master, a loyal dog would howl and cry into the night, hoping the owner would come back to him. If the sick person would die shortly thereafter, one could see how superstitious people would correlate the dog’s howling as a foreboding warning sign –even if it was nothing more than Rover’s loneliness!
