Do you remember that scene in Lady and the Tramp when they bring Lady home as a puppy, and she howls all night that first night, until the husband lets her come into their room to sleep? He says, “It’s only for one night!” and then the next scene shows Lady, all grown up, still sleeping in her masters’ room.
Well, my son went with my husband on his elk hunting trip. So I offered to watch his dog for him while he was gone. The dog is out on our back porch as we speak, because while I am happy to watch his dog, there is no way said dog is going to actually live inside our house while said son is gone. I mean, it’s a big, hairy, smelly dog with few manners. The dog, however, does not want to be on the back porch. It wants to be in the house, with me.
So the dog has been howling, for two hours straight. It must have seen Lady and the Tramp at some point. This is why I am blogging at 10 pm when I am usually sound asleep at 9 almost every night. There is no way I am going to reward howling by actually going out there or letting the dog in. I was thinking, if the dog keeps me up all night, I could always sleep during the day tomorrow. It’s the Sabbath and I have nothing going on but rest. (I am so sorry, neighbors!) But if anyone knows what to do to stop howling in dogs, please, I need help. Let me know. And boy is my son going to owe me a huge favor when he gets home, LOL.
If you can get a dog cage or carrier, or even a crate, just large to enclose the dog in for him to sleep in at night, it should make him feel more secure (like wild dogs sleeping in a dugout cave) and the howling should stop. It worked with our dog.
Thank you so much, what a great suggestion! I am going to try that tonight!
Our neighbor's dog howls, out in the small homemade space it lives in in their backyard. What I mainly know is that dogs want to be a part of their family, right there in the middle of the family, receiving love and knowing what's going on with their family. I think if I'd been you, I would have brought the big smelly thing in and given it a bath, and found it a space in the laundry room or somewhere, and kept it in there by putting a gate in the doorway or something. I always feel so bad for my neighbor's dog, because she's so sweet, but she rarely gets any attention. Why have a dog, you know, if you don't want anything to do with it?
I didn't see the comment about getting a dog kennel for the dog, but wanted to add that we also use dog kennels to help our dogs feel more secure. They are small dogs, and when we leave the house, they stay in their kennels (in our living roon) and take a nap. Their kennels are their safe space, and they also go in there when we're eating, etc. When visitors come, we put the kennels in one of the bedrooms.