Does anyone have a dog that howls at fire engine sirens. If so do you know why?
Question by jamwat909: Does anyone have a dog that howls at fire engine sirens. If so do you know why?
When ever a fire engine drives bye my house with its sirens on my dog looks around them moves her head side to side as if she dosent know what it is. Then she starts to howl. Why is this.
I presume it has something to do with their descendance from wolfs/wild dogs. Any one have another view on this.
Best answer:
Answer by suzannet79
My dog howls at any sirens. I think it’s because they do not like the high pitch noise so the howl drowns it out for them.
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Their ears are sensitive. Just like the 12 noon siren goes off. All the dogs in town will howl at the same time. Just get used to it. lol
You are partly right. It does trigger a response, but also has to do with the fact that it is such an unnatural sound. You might get a dog to do the same thing with straight whistles, electronic keyboard, other warbling sounds. They resemble wolf or coyote calls, but are also unnatural, triggering the howling response.
each pet has its own idiosyncracies. my sister-in-law’ dog chases trash trucks, and drinks the juice from them; my in-laws’ dog barks back at his echo, etc. Perhaps the howling is in part communication to other dogs in the area that something is afoot. Who knows!?!
it hurts their ears…heard of dog whistles…humans cannot hear them
they don’t like the high pitched sound of the siren. the howl drowns it out
Dogs hear sirens through different frequencies than we do. In other words it isn’t necessarily a pleasant sound for them.