Gun Dog Forum

Hey everyone just wondering if their GSP's howl? My girl woke me up at 2:30 this morning howling from her crate. My girlfriend heard it once before but I needed to hear it to believe it for myself. Sure as $hit I thought their was a werewolf in my living room this morning I almost think she does it in her sleep while dreaming, any testimonials to this kind of behavior?
This has happened twice in a years time she is only 11 months old. I know GSP's can be vocal I even think they recorded them for the voice of Chewbacca in the star wars films, but that's just my opinion.

Lacey howls. Straight up nose in the air howl but she only does it when she is lonely. Gets everybody going when she does but hers is the best hoooowwwwllll always.

Ive got a lab that does the banshee howl in his sleep.....Dreams.

Lets hope she is asleep. Sometimes it is being separated from you . You know being lonely.

Ruby Sounds off like a bear hound when she hears something or smells something in the woods. She goes right from the tip of her tail up on her hind legs. First heard her doe this at 10 weeks old at a horse.

My sister had a GSP that was quite a howler. He howled on command. I can get my V to howl now too, after her dog showed him how.

RoostersMom wrote: He howled on command. I can get my V to howl now too, .

Why?

My Munsterlander does it in his sleep, runs and howls away. The setter does it whenever he hears "Shipping out to Boston".

I have a GSP that never barked but would howl from time to time. A few years ago, I got rid of a female puppy that he had apparently became fond of. From the time I took the pup to my nephew's truck, he howled almost non stop day and night. He would stop when I yelled at him but after awhile would start up again. I finally put a bark collar on him and took it off after about a week. He has never made a sound since.

Charlie

I dropped off my then one year old male with the trainer at a field trial. No problem hooking him up to the chain gang. He was used to it. He knew the trainer & some of his fellow members of the chain gang. Apparently after I left he howled somethin' fierce, so I was told. Now he howls when he hears the car in the driveway when I first get home. He quits once I get in the house.

I believe every dog I have ever owned howls at the sound of a police, fire or ambulance siren. Will not quit until they can't hear it anymore. Really great at 3 am.

Like Birddogger said, barkcollar. They have the cheap petsafe ones at my local walmart.for 37.00 i don't care.for petsafe or sportdog products but i can get three of these cheapies for a little more than one quality one. After loosing two units I put a real collar on the unit to replace the cheap nylon and plastic junk they come with.

My boys don't howl; they sleep with me!

Mine howl when they hear a siren or a distant train whistle.

mountaindogs wrote:Lacey howls. Straight up nose in the air howl but she only does it when she is lonely. Gets everybody going when she does but hers is the best hoooowwwwllll always.

Man can my Britt howl... nose straight up in the air howling.... I just let it go until he eventually figures out it doesn't change anything.

BigShooter wrote:I dropped off my then one year old male with the trainer at a field trial. No problem hooking him up to the chain gang. He was used to it. He knew the trainer & some of his fellow members of the chain gang. Apparently after I left he howled somethin' fierce, so I was told. Now he howls when he hears the car in the driveway when I first get home. He quits once I get in the house.

I think he loves you.

Is this normal for GSP's? Are they the more vocal breed of the versatile breeds, or is it something that can be fixed with a bark collar? The reason why I ask is because I am planning on getting one this spring/summer but I have two concerns... One is that they are too vocal, and the other is that I have heard they are great escape artist. Are these things true?

my friends 2 GSP bark a lot in kettle creek in kennel when i go to bobs camp.
i would not like that at all.

birddogger wrote:I have a GSP that never barked but would howl from time to time. A few years ago, I got rid of a female puppy that he had apparently became fond of. From the time I took the pup to my nephew's truck, he howled almost non stop day and night. He would stop when I yelled at him but after awhile would start up again. I finally put a bark collar on him and took it off after about a week. He has never made a sound since.

Charlie

Interesting! My dad had two setters a few years ago who were very close. The older dog was an escape artist. One day he escaped the fence and was unfortunately hit by a car. Once the younger setter realized his friend was gone he started howling at night. It's been 3 years now and he still does it. He also howls at sirens and fire whistles.

Mine will chop bark then start to moo like a cow when I put her bark collar on. Sometimes she cries like a baby... It's pretty funny.

trasmuson3 wrote:Is this normal for GSP's? Are they the more vocal breed of the versatile breeds, or is it something that can be fixed with a bark collar? The reason why I ask is because I am planning on getting one this spring/summer but I have two concerns... One is that they are too vocal, and the other is that I have heard they are great escape artist. Are these things true?

Nope, GSPs are not really any more vocal than other bird dogs. My oldest female GSP has never howled nor barked. It's an individual thing with dogs. I cannot prove it but it seems dogs raised alone haven't spent as much time "learning" obnoxious vocal behaviors from other dogs. The other thing is that most bird dogs are athletes. They need exercise. The more exercise they get, the more pooped out they are. The more pooped out they are, the more mellow their behaviors.

Of the six GSPs I have, the lone male is an escape artist. The others don't tunnel underneath nor attempt to climb or jump over a four foot fence. It really depends upon whats going on. Put a female in heat in a kennel next to a male of any breed & look out! Where there's a will ... they'll try everything they can to find a way.

The worst barker I had was a Setter. The second worst a Brittany.

Was at a trial yesterday. There was a GSP that was laying on the ground on a string with his nose straight up 12 and howling. It sounded like the tornado alarm. It caught me off guard at first. Thought it was a true alarm, until I saw him looking up. I have heard a few noise makers but that one was pretty good.

As for the new pup coming this spring. You want to know how vocal a dog can get? Go and check out a trial. You will get a real good picture of what kind of noises you will hear. Some of them are pretty cool. Good luck with your new pup.

Joe

jcbuttry8 wrote:Was at a trial yesterday. There was a GSP that was laying on the ground on a string with his nose straight up 12 and howling. It sounded like the tornado alarm. It caught me off guard at first. Thought it was a true alarm, until I saw him looking up. I have heard a few noise makers but that one was pretty good.

As for the new pup coming this spring. You want to know how vocal a dog can get? Go and check out a trial. You will get a real good picture of what kind of noises you will hear. Some of them are pretty cool. Good luck with your new pup.

Joe

I think you just made my point for me again. If you want to have a dog learn to vocalize a lot .... hook them to a chain gang at a trial .... or place them in a kennel with noisy dogs ... or put them in a neighborhood with lots of other vocal neighborhood dogs ... etc. All of these methods seem to work pretty well for dogs to learn undesired behaviors. It's a lot like sending young kids to school on a school bus. Pretty unbelievable what they learn at extremely young ages, things they were never taught at home!