Hi all, So most of you may know I have a Labrador named Lucius, he will be turning 4 in April. For the past month or so he's been sleeping upstairs in my room as downstairs has damp (we're getting it fixed soon) so it is quite cold downstairs for the dogs to sleep, so naturally he's in my room. He has a large memory foam bed with a soft fleece cover which he loves to sleep in, I brought it upstairs and now he sleeps in it instead of on my bed. He had to wear the dreaded cone of shame at night times as he likes to lick and chew his feet and legs due to some ongoing health issues , nothing out of the ordinary for him, he doesn't really mind the cone. However last night, around 1am, I was startled awake by some loud howling coming from Lucius' bed. I've never heard anything like it - he's howled before but its always been quiet and low but this I can only describe as a wailing noise of a sad lonely dog, and I sat up in bed, calling his name. He didnt seem to hear me but continued to howl. As soon as I got out of bed he stopped and bolted from his bed, I went to touch him and he jumped away, sniffed my hand and immediatly went back to his normal wiggly butt self when he realised it was me. To save any further howling episodes he slept on my bed for the remainder of the night. I've never heard him howl like that and it was very disturbing, I thought there might be something wrong with him but he's back to his normal self this morning, as if nothing happened. Is there any reason why he might have done this? Any tips would be greatly recieved! Also as a side not he does have undiagnosed PRA (the specialists havent 100% agreed but just told us to keep an eye on him).
I don't why but our Airedale Terrier used to to howl in the middle of the night. The first time he did it it scared the crap out of me. Sounded like a Wolf in the bedroom. It didn't bother him he kept on sleeping.
You don't think he was dreaming? Dogs do dream, from what I read. My dog has howled before too, albeit only once, and I'm pretty sure he was asleep when he was doing it. My dog pretty regularly also makes little barking noises when he sleeps as well. I'm guessing Lucius didn't hear you call him because he was still asleep. But that's just what I think. Maybe others will have a better explanation.
He was definatley not asleep, thats the first thought that came to mind when I heard it, after he didnt respond to me I sat up in bed and he was sat up too, howling like his life depended on it. For the record my beagle, who was asleep on the other side of the room, didnt even look up to see if his older brother was ok he just grunted and went back to sleep, what a lazy pup!
Yes, still baffles me but will definitely keep an eye on him the next few nights, it might just be a one off (I hope!)
Perhaps a bad dream. I remember our Lab, Scooby, doing this once. He slept in the spare bedroom and we were awoke one night by the most monstrous howl from the other room. Only happened the once, so we put it down to him dreaming. Belle was a frequent "barker" in her sleep, those little squeaky noises, they'd go on for quite a while while she looked as if she was running. Coco is mostly silent. He occasionally does a couple of squeaks. So far, Meg has done a few little squeaks in he sleep, with the twitchy feet. More than Coco. But that solitary, eerie howl from Scooby will remain with me.
How do you know another dog was not howling in the far distance? And since your dog can hear better than you, he was simply answering the call of the wild.
Maybe he did have a bad dream and woke up a little disorientated, he didnt do it again last night so I would assume its a one off.
Like the idea of this one but he doesnt really ever respond to other dogs, not even if ones yapping right outside our door, that would be more like my beagle to do that, however he's not much of a howler and has only howled once before but that was when the fire alarm went off, think he was howling to drown out the noise maybe he did hear something but it would be a little unlike him to howl like that. Didnt howl last night so would assume its a one of, hopefully! He's currently taking his tiny teddy bear to bed now, he seems to like teddy bears as they're comforting to him.
Just thought I'd update you all, last night he started howling again, I was awake five minutes before it started and then he began howling , luckily I called him over and he seemed to snap out of it before climbing onto my bed for a cuddle. I've noticed every time he howls and gets on my bed he cuddles as close to me as he can , he's not a very cuddly dog and tends to sleep on the end of the bed but for whatever reason he needs some cuddles . Will continue to update so I can keep track of his howling, I still think it might be to do with the fact he's losing his eyesight.
