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Wolves use howling for long-distance communication with their conspecifics, but we know almost nothing about the usage of howling in dogs. We aimed to test whether howling appears in all breeds or is affected by genetic relatedness with wolves.
68 dogs from 28 breeds were tested with a series of wolf howl playbacks. We observed their vocal and other behaviours (attention, stress), and tested the effect of genetic distance to wolves (root distance), age, and other individual features on them.
We found that ancient breeds often replied to howls with howling and they also got more stressed. Modern breeds, in contrast, rather replied with barking.
This is the first study specifically investigating howling in domestic dogs. The findings support the hypothesis that domestication and selective breeding by humans fundamentally changed dogs’ vocal repertoire and both the perception and production of howling in dogs. This insight brings us closer to understanding the history and impact of the profoundly important relationship between humans and their “best friends” the domestic dog.
Lehoczki, F., Andics, A., Kershenbaum, A. et al. Genetic distance from wolves affects family dogs’ reactions towards howls. Communications Biologie 6, 129 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04450-9
