skyline1 Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Hi Guys i need your help we have an Siberian Husky had her about 13 Mths we had the normal probs jumping, chewing,running around the house we sorted all that out with soom training.but recently she has started howling when we are home between 5.30 AM and 7.00 AM every morning but only when the crows are squawking in the trees around our property we live in suburb so its not great for the neighbors we tried yelling at her,stroking her while she is howling no luck smacking her on the nose even squirting her with the hose but we can do nothing can anybody help we need to sleep especially on Sundays.please hellllp.. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunc Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 1st off welcome on board and sorry to here you got probs with the howling this lot gonna batter your head with advice I hope but not ever had this am not really sure what to say, hope it gets sorted for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Hi Guys i need your help we have an Siberian Husky had her about 13 Mths we had the normal probs jumping, chewing,running around the house we sorted all that out with soom training.but recently she has started howling when we are home between 5.30 AM and 7.00 AM every morning but only when the crows are squawking in the trees around our property we live in suburb so its not great for the neighbors we tried yelling at her,stroking her while she is howling no luck smacking her on the nose even squirting her with the hose but we can do nothing can anybody help we need to sleep especially on Sundays.please hellllp.. mike Whereabouts are you located Mike? I have a feeling you might be in Australia. Using corrections for barking or howling only work if the issue stems from over confidence. If it is a fear based issue, you can make the problem worse by correcting her behaviour. Smacking or hitting her is not an effective way to issue a correction - for many reasons but largely because it can make her become hand shy. If it is a behaviour that due to over confidence (and you would need someone to assess the dog in person to make sure this is the case) then you can certainly look at trying something like a correctional collar. This would only be recommended if the dog is not howling out of boredom - if she is under stimulated and being noisy because she is bored. If she is howling for other reasons i.e. howling at the crows, then a correctional collar is an avenue you might be able to explore. I never recommend the citronella collars as they aren't very effective (again, many reasons for this) but there are two other options - an AirJet collar that sprays a sharp burst of air on the dog's neck or an e-collar that gives them a quick correction, a sensation similar to a static shock or on a lower setting, a vibration. Again I would not recommend using any tool without seeing the dog first, and having someone guide you in the right direction. It is hard to give advice over the net because none of us can see the dog in person Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Firstly, Welcome to the site. Glad to have you on board. I am guessing you haven't been able to look around the whole forum yet. I recently added a thread on here about your huskies vocal and body language which explains about howling and some reasons why they may do this. Here is the part about howling (Quoted): Howling Howling in dogs is much more primitive to them than barking. This means that breeds of more ancient lineage, like the sibe, are more likely to howl than the more modern breed, like the Irish setter and toy breeds such as the Shih Tzu. These more original breeds like the Siberian, Malamutes and hound dogs are howlers of high order. It remains a great mystery as to the meaning of the dogs howl. It is known that sibes will howl through boredom but it is also suggested that siberians are just as likely to howl when other siberians are present, which is suspected to be a bonding strategy or this breed. A known purpose of the sibes howl is for long distance communication. Howling is low-pitched and the sound carries for a long duration. These factors together are what is required to carry the message for miles around. Although to us a dogs howl sounds very much the same, every howl is individual. This individual howl is what makes it easier for others to recognise whos calling which mainly comes from the sibes close relatives, the wolf. The wolf would listen for each howl to recognise each unique sound of every pack mate. When you have more than one dog howling or listen to wolves howling, a way to identify the alpha dog/wolf or pack leader is to listen out for the deepest howl as this is usually a sign of the dog/wolf being pack leader. Some Siberian owners often worry that theirs do not howl. In many cases it can be due to there being only one siberian in that household. Many siberian will learn to howl when around his/her fellow howling pack mates. However, if this is not the case, you as the owner can also teach your sibe to howl if you are willing to crawl around the floor like a dog! Many people say that Sibes, being closely related to the wolf, will howl at the moon. However, there is no hard evidence of this. Although, there is a theory which states that dogs may howl more during the full moon due to the sky being lighter and the dogs/wolves finding it easier to see. As a result of them finding it easier to see, they are therefore more active. What is so magic about the siberians howl? If youre lucky enough to own more than one siberian, you may indulge their community howl now again. This can be a very pleasant experience for you to hear, however annoyed your neighbours may become. When you listen very carefully, you will hear their eerie and wolf-like cry which can sound rather haunting and reminiscent. Many people, who have the lucky experience of this cry, will find themselves having a sensation of thrill rushing down their back which as unpleasant as it may sound can really amaze you as to how magic these animals really are. Due to the siberians community howl being of many different pitches and tones, which bounce off the walls and echo, their cry can sound like there are more siberians present than their really is. For example, if you have two sibes howling this cry the echo and different pitches can make it sound more like there are a dozen or so sibes in that room! This clever technique is often used by wolves to fool their opponents to thing and believe that their pack is much larger that it actually is. In most cases, it will take more than just one siberian to make up a large howl. However, you may find that one dog will usually start to howl and then the others will join in accordingly. When this happens, it is known as a chorus howl. A rather funny fact of the siberians howl is they will sometimes howl in tune with the sirens of emergency vehicles (such as fire engines) and also some sibes will howl along when the telephone rings as they will think it as another siberian calling. As mentioned, the Siberian Husky will often attempt to 'immitate' sounds. This could be the reason behind why your sibe is howling when the crows 'crow'. She probably is thinking another dog is approaching. One thing not to do is scream and shout at her, she will not understand what you are wanting from her and you are also making life more difficult for yourself as you need to show calm and dominance to her not excitement. If anything, you may be making the situation worse. You need to try and find the source to the howling. Instead of trying to get her to stop (as this may just end you up fighting a loosing battle) as howling is a natural vocalisation for this breed (much more natural than barking), try and stop the source. Have you got a room where she wouldnt see or hear the crows? If so try put her in here and see if this helps. If this doesnt work then it may be something as simple as she just needs to go out. hope this helps look forward to talking to you around the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 You need to try and find the source to the howling. Instead of trying to get her to stop (as this may just end you up fighting a loosing battle) as howling is a natural vocalisation for this breed (much more natural than barking), try and stop the source. Have you got a room where she wouldnt see or hear the crows? If so try put her in here and see if this helps. If this doesnt work then it may be something as simple as she just needs to go out. She could also be howling at the birds because she has a high prey drive, and is frustrated because she is unable to get to them. Barking and howling are natural for most dogs, and you can have nuisance howling just as you can have nuisance barking! My beagle can be a real barker, as baying is very natural for the breed (when they are on the hunt). I think the most important step is definitely to determine why she is howling, as this is the most important thing to learn if you want the behaviour it stop. If she is just howling because she enjoys it or because she is frustrated by the birds, there is not going to be much that you can do to stop the environmental noises around her. This is an instance where corrections are generally appropriate. If it is simply out of boredom, there are lots of avenues to explore and trying to get her to cease the behaviour will not help her be more stimulated. Certainly containing her when she is howling (if it is when you are home) is an immediate solution to the problem, although it won't teach her that the behaviour is undesirable. Is there any reason you can't bring her inside or crate her when the crows are noisiest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistyrayn Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 hi skyline welcome to the site... wish i could help on this one.. had similar prob with my eldest .. went out and bought one of the anti bark collars that vibrate... put it on her to let her get used to it ... hey presto never did it .. put it on cple of times after never had to activate it ... hasn't howled since.. WEIRD or CLEVER not sure which all i get know is the odd howl out of either of them but thats just talking to neighbour hood dogs.. think the things that Sib Wolf & Smeagle have said is good advice though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Hi, welcome to the site Some great advise already been given, will add my own 2 cents to it now if i may lol Have you tried leaving a radio on at night to see if this will disctract her from the noise? Or have a wildlife cd playing to get her used to the noise? One thing i've just thought of is that she may be learning that if she howles then you will come down and she will get attention?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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