My Border Terriers howl. Bossy never howled until Bark came along. But a true emphath she is, she’ll join in. And almost every morning after the sun rises, they’ll face each other and start. Bark starts it and Bossy joins in. The morning chorus I’m trying to put “on command”. We should all enjoy singing together like this.
By Claudia Bensimoun
First published 2012 · Updated 2025
Why do dingoes, wolves and dogs howl? Learn how Australian dingoes, North American wolves and pet dogs worldwide use howling to communicate, from the outback to city apartments.
Domestication has not only changed how dogs look and live with humans; it has also reshaped the way they communicate.
As one recent 2023 study notes, “Domestication impacts vocal behaviour significantly: disintegrating howling, a central, species-specific communication form of canids, and gradually eradicating it from dogs’ repertoire.”
The howl is one of the oldest and most recognizable vocal expressions in the animal kingdom, a haunting thread that connects wolves, ancient wild dogs, and modern domestic breeds across thousands of years.
Long before humans domesticated dogs and long before the first agricultural settlements appeared, canids communicated via long-distance vocal signals that underpinned pack structure, territorial stability, and social bonding.
Today, the howl persists in…
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Terrier Logic 