9 Reasons Australian Shepherds Howl + 4 Tips To Reduce It

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When australian shepherds howl a lot it can become quite irritating not only for you and your family, but your surrounding neighbors as well. Is it normal for aussies to howl so much or is something wrong?

Why Do Australian Shepherds Howl:

Australian shepherds will howl because they think it’s their job to scare off any unwanted bypassers. Their herding instincts make them naturally want to be watch dogs and warn their family of potential trespassers. They may also howl for attention, if they’re feeling anxious, or to communicate.

In this post you’ll discover:

9 real reasons why australian shepherds howl
What howls in various situations mean
3 tips to help reduce, or completely stop, your australian shepherds howling (Tip #2 can help the fastest!)
And much more

Let’s jump right in.

Table of Contents

Top 9 Reasons Why Australian Shepherds Howl

1) Making It Known Where They Are

There’s two situations where your australian shepherd is likely howling to make it known where they are.

First is when you’re pulling into your driveway at the end of the day, getting out of your car and walking toward your door.

This behavior is given to your aussie from their wolf ancestors.

When a wolf pack would go out searching for food, one or a couple of wolves would stay behind to help the others find their way back to their den.

How they would do this is by howling every once and a while to give the other wolves an idea of which way they needed to go to get back home.

Which means your aussie might think you’re venturing off to get food when you leave in the morning.

And when they see you on the right path, they howl to help you know exactly where to go to make it back home.

How considerate of them!

Another possible situation your pup is making it known where they are by howling is when they’re going into an unfamiliar area.

Wolves would do this when going into another wolf den to let other wolves know they’re close by and that they aren’t trying to be sneaky.

If they didn’t make their whereabouts known it would be seen as a form of aggression and that they’re sneaking around.

So when your australian shepherd howls in unfamiliar places it’s their way of letting others know they’re about to enter and they aren’t a threat.

This could happen when visiting another dog’s home or when they’re about to go into a dog park, for example.

2) To Scare Off Intruders

One of the most understood reasons for australian shepherds to howl is to make sure no intruders trespass.

This is quite the opposite from the first reason.

This type of howl is attempting to let other people or dogs know that this space is claimed as your aussies territory, and they don’t want any guests.

It’s used by wolves to warn potential predators not to come any closer.

A group of wolves would all howl to make themselves loud and intimidating to make sure any threats wouldn’t come closer.

Your pup might do this more often than you’d like because of their herding background.

They’re used to being watch dogs and defending their family’s land by scaring off potential threats which means they might instinctually take on this job for your home.

Since your aussie likely doesn’t need to do this when you live in a safe neighborhood, the best way to prevent them from doing this is to limit what they can see.

Which can be done by remembering to close your blinds when you leave or moving a piece of furniture away from a window that allows them to look outside.

3) To Let Others Know They’re Ready

If your pup hears another dog howl, it’s common for them to start howling themselves.

What this means is your aussie is letting the other dog know they’ve heard them and they’re ready for action, whatever that action may be.

You may also notice them howl when they hear sirens or high pitched/loud music.

Which can be for the same purpose as if another dog were howling.

To them, it’s an odd sounding dog trying to communicate with them so they’re communicating back.

4) Feeling Anxious

If you notice that your australian shepherd only really howls after you’ve left the house, they might have some degree of separation anxiety.

When your aussie is emotionally dependent on you, being away from you makes them feel incredibly upset.

Other signs that your pup’s howling is from separation anxiety is if they’re doing anything else to an excessive extent.

Such as whining, barking, licking themselves, pacing, or drooling, to name a few.

What many people don’t know is that separation anxiety can happen at any time during your aussies life.

And can happen when they go through big life changes.

Things like moving to a new home, a family member recently passing away, or even a change in their schedule.

A common change in schedule that could be affecting your pup is when you have to be at the office for work more or if you got a job after a while of being between jobs.

Your aussie would be used to having you home all the time and available to them, but now that that’s changed they’re having trouble adapting.

5) Wanting Attention

If your pup feels like you haven’t been paying enough attention to them recently they may howl to bring you over to them.

Sometimes your australian shepherd’s howl is for no other reason than they want your attention.

And in the past when they’ve howled, it brought you over to them.

Which means they’ve learned that howling can work to get your attention.

6) Singing Along With You

Have you ever been singing along to a song at home and randomly your aussie started howling?

What’s happening here is your pup likely thinks this was your human version of howling and made them want to howl along with you.

Just like if one dog starts howling when around other dogs, the others will join in as well.

It can be a form of bonding just like how some people enjoy sing-along songs when with their friends.

7) Unintentionally Trained

Excessive howling can be something that you’ve accidentally trained your australian shepherd to do.

Which might sound like crazy talk, but hear me out.

Often when a dog acts out, their owners best attempt to get them to stop is to go over and console them or engage with them.

When this happens it’s giving them a reward for their behavior.

As opposed to correcting it.

Which unfortunately teaches them to do it whenever they want to bring you to them.

8) They Hear Something You Can’t

If your australian shepherd is howling at seemingly nothing, it could be that they hear something you’re not quite able to.

Your pup can hear sounds at a 2-3 times higher frequency than you which means they might hear squeaks from mice or other rodents.

And if your pup isn’t able to get to them, but can hear them, they might howl because they are warning the little critter or because they’re frustrated they can’t get to it.

9) Celebrating

Howling can be a form of cheering for your aussie.

Just like when people cheer for their kids when they do activities or when watching their favorite sports team.

Your aussie would instinctively do it because when wolves would corner prey they would howl, not only to let others know to come help them, but also as a mini celebration.

Now, your pup likely isn’t hunting or celebrating for that reason, but if they get super excited about something and are filled with happiness they may howl.

3 Tips To Reduce (Or Stop) Your Australian Shepherds Howling

1) Counter Condition

Something you can try is counter conditioning your pup.

For example, if your aussie is howling because of anxiety and not able to handle being alone you can change their meaning of being alone.

You can do this by giving them one of their most favorite, special treats right before you leave.

One that they typically only get on special occasions like their birthday or holidays.

This will help change the meaning of you leaving from “Oh no I’m about to be alone!”, to “Sweet, mom/dad’s leaving which means I get my yummy treat!”.

It may take some time, but you’re effectively changing how they feel about you leaving.

2) Teach Them a ‘Quiet’ Command

Teaching them a quiet command can be super helpful whenever they’re howling for unnecessary reasons.

Situations like scaring off bypassers, to get your attention or because they’ve unintentionally been trained to do it.

Below are a few simple steps to help train your australian shepherd to be quiet when they start howling:

Step 1: Do something that would cause them to howl (e.g. have someone ring the doorbell, sing a tune that always makes them howl, etc.).

Step 2: *Following the doorbell example* Look out the window of the door to acknowledge their howling then get their attention by holding out a treat or their favorite toy.

Step 3: Once they stop howling, give them their reward.

Step 4: Repeat steps 1-3 and increase how long you wait to give them their treat or toy after they’ve become quiet.

Step 5: Add in the que word ‘quiet’ when you get their attention and they stop or howling.

Step 6: Continue practicing getting them to be quiet after saying the command word until they’ve got it down pat.

3) Don’t Reward Their Howling

One of the more difficult things to do, but will eventually work, is to not reward their howling and ignore them when they do it.

Of course this isn’t for when they’re howling to let you know where they are or to scare off trespassers.

But whenever they do it for silly reasons like getting your attention or singing along with you, and you want it to stop, simply ignore them.

No pets, no kisses, no kneeling down to get them to stop.

If howling starts to get them the opposite of your attention they’ll become less interested in howling.

Other posts you might find interesting:

8 Best Dog Beds for Australian Shepherds | Beds That Last

5 Surprising Reasons Why Australian Shepherds Smile

Top 6 Reasons Why Australian Shepherds Sploot + Dangers

14 Real Reasons Why Australian Shepherds Wiggle

Sources:

Australian Shepherd

Why Do Dogs Howl?