This is Soka, a friend's 8 pound toy poodle. I'd love to know what people see about her. She is intensely spirited. Moves like a rocket. Will leap into your arms in one bound. And here she is howling at ambulances in the city. Can anyone get a sense of how this dog sees herself and her people? Is is normal for a dog to howl with ambulances?
Here's a 4 second clip. Click on it to see it.
She thinks there is a very loud wolfy dog inside the ambulance howling and so she is responding with her family pack.
@jeanne-mayell Yes... many dogs howl along with sirens... and other sounds can trigger as well. I have a friend whose German Shephard howls along when she plays certain music genres such as opera.
https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/behavior/why-do-dogs-howl-at-sirens/
Highly intelligent and active that little girl is and very bonded with her people. Are there other behavior issues going on such as separation anxiety? Or is it just the howling with sirens?
@anya, I love what you wrote and I’m gonna share it with Soka’s parents. We’re visiting right now. I love that she thinks there might be a dog inside the ambulance. A few years ago when we had huge snowstorm in Boston and we got 100 inches over a few days, we could hear the coyotes howling at night. I think they were trying to find each other in the snow.
@journeywithme2 yes, she is very bonded with her parents and they are away at the moment for couple days. Fortunately, they have a housesitter She likes. But you are astute in getting how attached she is to her mom and dad. She is after all their only child. They do have friends with dogs and she’s bonded with them. But her mom tells me that when they walk down the streets of the city, she can be terrified of other dogs she doesn’t know. She It’s a very lovable and intense little girl.
thank you for posting that article, I look forward to reading it and sharing it with her.
@journeywithme2 I read the article about howling, and I can tell from Soka’s body language that she’s just passing along the message. I think she realizes the siren means that people should pay attention; that there’s something people need to know. So she’s passing it along, helping To communicate the signal.
@journeywithme2 It is lovely to see how much you know about fur babies. Thank you and @anya again For the insights.
@jeanne-mayell It is my chosen profession and life calling ... and my pleasure to help where I can.
@journeywithme2 I think Soka is very attached to her humans, but aren't all dogs? I also notice that when her mother is away, her mother goes through separation anxiety for Soka, so it's a mutual affliction.
@jeanne-mayell Yes... "family members " share Energies and amplify them between them.
I am living under an insane amount of stress right now. Family stuff, moving, ect. Long story. On top of everything else, this past weekend a stray dog showed up at our house, dying of heat and hungry and scared. We took her in, got her medical care, vaccinations. We are still getting to know her and so far she is the sweetest thing. No aggression at all. Young, about a year. Healthy and gorgeous. She was dumped.
Would it be possible for someone to do a reading on her? Our local shelter is filled to capacity and adding another furry friend right now would be stressful, to say the least, even though she is my dream dog. I need to know if we're meant to keep her, or should we continue to find her a good home. She's already got my heart.