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Howling!!

Zippy

Well-known member
Mary Alice is a howler.

Has anyone ever had a Cavalier that howls??

I know she kept the rescue person awake....so we tire her out with walkies and she now sleeps through the night.

She does it when I leave the room or the house.

I can be in the next room but she sits on the arm of a chair and throws her head right back, like a wolf!!

We were told that she was abused and that her last owner didn't understand the "needs" of a Cavalier.

Any ideas of how to get her to stop?? tx.
 
Monty howls , but only in his sleep.

If Joly and Monty were playing 'bark at eachother' Izzy would go to the top of the stairs and howl. He hasn't done this for ages because Joly and Monty haven't.

Sometimes Teddy would join Izzy if he happened to be upstairs at the time, otherwise, he'd join Joly and Monty in the bark off.
 
Our Charley howled twice....in 14 years! lol

Mary Alice is sooo loud.

I can hear her when I pull into the drive.

When I shower, she howls the whole time.

Any ideas how to stop this behaviour??

I don't mind if she barks but this howling sounds like she's in terrible distress.
 
I've no idea how to stop it, because Izzy and Teddy stopped as soon as Mum went downstairs and quieted the barkers, which they were objecting to.

One of my springers, Sally, used to howl on cue, every night, when the News at ten music satrted on tv. It was the sound of a gong which probably caused the howl. The instant the music stopped so did Sally's howls.
 
It isn't the howling itself here that is an issue but what is causing the howling, which is her anxiety at being left alone. So it's not really a problem like excessive barking but a problem of separation anxiety that she expresses through howling. Work with her on separation anxiety so that she starts with being alone for small bits of time and is rewarded for good behaviour and you increase her time alone.

Leaving her with something that keeps her busy, like a stuffed Kong, will also help this process.

Here are some good articles on separation anxiety and training your dog to be comfortable on its own:

http://siriuspup.com/pdfs/07HomeAlone.pdf
http://deesdogs.com/documents/separationanxiety.pdf
http://deesdogs.com/documents/teachingyourdogtostayhomealone.pdf
http://www.animalbehaviorassociates.com/pdf/RMN_dogs_separation_anxiety.pdf
http://www.animalbehaviorassociates.com/pdf/RMN_separation_anxiety.pdf

Have you taken her for a basic training class, or if you have, have you thought about doing something that will continue to help build her trust and bond with you while also building her confidence, like agility, clicker training, etc? Basic obedience can work wonders because it helps a dog to gradually gain self confidence and learn self control that extends into all areas of life, not just the moment when you say 'sit'. Thus such a class is especially helpful for rescues.
 
Not to get off subject, but I just love her name. It sounds like the name of several classmates going through 12 years of Catholic school.
 
Karlin,

Thanks for posting those links. I've read them and will use the ideas asap.

Mary Alice was quite unsure about life when she came to us.

This week, she's much calmer, aside from the howling.

I've responded to the howling by rushing into the room to see if she's alright. Apparently that's the wrong thing, must assume she's fine.

Mary Alice is a wonderful pet .... we just need to work on the howling.

Thanks again for posting those helpful links. :)
 
Yep she is successfully training you to respond to her 'come' command, which is a howl. :)

I am moving this thread over to the training forum. (y)
 
Thanks Shay .... I love it too!

It suits her to a T .... she's very feminine, delicate and lady-like. :)
 
We don't have pic of Mary Alice yet. I still use a film camera but if I can get one on my cell and find someone to email it, I'll post one.

I'm still stuck in the last century! ;D

Wish I had a baby photo of her....she's adorable!
 
Barbara Nixon said:
One of my springers, Sally, used to howl on cue, every night, when the News at ten music satrted on tv. It was the sound of a gong which probably caused the howl. The instant the music stopped so did Sally's howls.


:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
 
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