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Our miniature schnauzer used to raise his head, purse his lips and gently howl like a wolf. By observation, he seemed to do this whenever his was being held at a time when he wanted to be put down on the floor. He would stop when you put him down. Our other schnauzer does not do this - - he communicates that he wants to be put down by struggling and biting. This is slightly less endearing but more usual behavior.

Our howling schnauzer was later found to have ear infections and a neurological disease. We don't know if this contributed to the howling.

Howling in dogs is a throwback to wolf behavior. All domestic dogs are descended from wolves. Wolves howl for social reasons related to cohesiveness of the packs in which they live. Dogs consider their human families to be their pack.

Many dogs will howl when exposed to cacophonous noise such as a human signing off-key. This is an ingenious form of "noise cancelling" that a dog does in order to avoid what appears to be physical pain caused by the annoying noise. Because this may be a sign that the dog is suffering pain, pet owners are not supposed to encourage dogs to howl by signing or playing music to them.

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14y ago

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