There’s a classic image that appears in our minds when we think of howling: a canine silhouette howling atop a hill against the backdrop of a large full moon. There is a reason this picture became so synonymous with wolves: they are known for their long‚ strident howls. But what about dogs? Dog owners know that dogs howl for various reasons‚ especially noisy breeds like Huskies. While some dogs are noisier than others‚ howling at the moon is something we might think all dogs do. Neither dogs nor wolves howl at the moon. Dogs howl at night‚ and some may do it more often when the moon is brighter. Dogs and wolves communicate via howling over long distances‚ which is more easily heard when there’s less activity at night. While wolves do it to keep their pack together and coordinate hunts‚ dogs keep the instinctual urge to howl from their lupine ancestors. Why Do Dogs Howl? Dogs howl because of instinctual traits they inherited from their wolf ancestors. All domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are descended from wolves (Canis lupus). Some of the behaviors wolves use to survive and thrive in the wild were passed down to domestic dogs (such as howling) and are still expressed. Wolves howl to communicate with the rest of their pack over vast distances‚ including for hunting and locating purposes. Wolves often howl at night when the surroundings are generally quieter‚ and they might find higher ground to help the sound carry further. This led to the wolf’s silhouette on a hill against a moon! When dogs howl‚ it can also be for communicative reasons. However‚ most dogs howl for several reasons‚ including hearing nearby animals in the yard. While dogs can howl at night when the moon is out (and some may even do it more often)‚ it’s not the moon that prompts them to howl. Image Credit: Nicole Hollenstein‚ Shutterstock The 7 Other Reasons Dogs Howl Canines howl for many reasons‚ and some are more problematic than others. Your dog howling when the moon is out is more than likely a way of communication for them‚ so you need to determine what your dog is trying to say! 1. Loud Noises If your dog loves to howl along with a fire or police siren‚ they may be communicating to you that they hear it! Long‚ high-pitched sounds stimulate dogs‚ including music or other dogs’ howls. Your dog is telling you that they’re alert to the action and are ready to act if needed. Thankfully‚ this kind of howling usually ends as the noises end! Image Credit: Maria Tatic‚ Shutterstock 2. Locating Much like their wolf ancestors‚ dogs howl to signal where they are in relation to other dogs. This can be howling to let others know that another dog is approaching or to let another canine companion know where they are. This can also be true for dogs separated from their owners; some dogs howl to let their owners know where they are in the hope they’ll come to them. 3. Intruder Alarm Dogs also make lots of noise when defending their territory or alerting their owners to intruders‚ including howling. Dogs are naturally protective of their homes and families‚ so howling can act as a warning deterrent to other dogs or humans. Image Credit: Ryan T Thomas‚ Shutterstock 4. Attention Some dogs howl for attention‚ which is when it can become repetitive and troublesome. This behavior is often learned and unknowingly reinforced by owners. If your dog is howling for attention and you’ve established it’s not for another reason (such as pain)‚ completely ignoring them and resisting the urge to interact is the key to remedying the behavior. While this can be very difficult‚ rewarding them with attention once they’re quiet is the only way to help them learn how to ask for attention properly! 5. Pain When dogs are in pain‚ they may howl or cry out. This is the same as people screaming or crying out when something hurts us; if you think your dog is howling in pain‚ they should never be ignored. Taking them to the veterinarian is necessary. The Glasgow Composite Pain Scale is used in veterinary practices to quickly evaluate the level of pain a dog is in; screaming is used to denote severe pain. Image Credit: Bogdan Sonjachnyj‚ Shutterstock 6. Fear or Anxiety Dogs that are less confident in their surroundings or away from their owners may howl when they’re feeling anxious or afraid. Separation anxiety is a big problem for some owners‚ and their dogs can howl continuously when they’re away. If your dog’s howling stops as soon as you come home‚ separation anxiety could be to blame. 7. Alerting When Working Some dogs are trained to alert their owners or handlers by howling when they’re at work. Detection dogs working for the police force can be trained to howl when they smell contraband such as drugs or cadavers. Likewise‚ dogs that retrieve or hunt can be trained to howl as an alert when they find downed game. Image Credit: Images by Dr. Alan Lipkin‚ Shutterstock Are Some Dogs More Likely to Howl Than Others? Some dogs are naturally more vocal than others. Hunting dogs like Beagles or hounds are more likely to howl to alert when hunting since that’s what they’ve been historically bred for. Other breeds‚ like Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Huskies‚ are also notoriously noisy. They communicate with the pack by howling‚ and it’s an essential part of the work traditionally carried out by the dogs. Final Thoughts While we might imagine a dog or wolf throwing their head back and howling at a full moon‚ it’s not true that dogs howl specifically at it. Dogs howl because of instincts inherited from wolves‚ and wolves howl to communicate. Dogs also communicate by howling for a broad number of reasons. Dogs can howl to alert‚ deter trespassers‚ and even to get attention. Some dogs are more genetically likely to howl‚ such as Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Huskies. Sources https://www.webmd.com/pets/dogs/howling-dogs https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/why-do-dogs-howl https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/news/why-do-wolves-howl-and-other-top-wolf-questions-answered https://wolf.org/wolf-info/basic-wolf-info/biology-and-behavior/communication/ https://www.petmd.com/dog/behavior/why-do-dogs-howl Featured Image Credit: Linas T‚ Shutterstock The post Why Do Dogs Howl at The Moon? Dog Behavior Explained appeared first on Pet Keen.

Tears of the Black Tiger Bazookas in a Western? You're darn right. Explosions of every kind. Slowed down like a cartoon. And melodrama. Histrionics to the sky. But also flowers‚ gorgeous color springing to life‚ sweeping‚ powerful beauty. Director Wisit Sasanatieng told journalists: "I wanted the audience to feel like they're reading a novel with moving illustrations. It's pure imagination and completely unrealistic. I wanted to try and go back to our roots. I wanted to make a link between the traditional and the contemporary in our own style." A first-time Thai director makes the kind of truly artistic B movie America hasn't seen in years. "Tears of the Black Tiger" was the first movie I ordered from Netflix‚ back when it was a DVD mail service. I remember the powerful confusion I felt‚ the enjoyment of witnessing something utterly weird. The blatantly fake mustaches‚ the unapologetically sentimental ballads‚ the squadrons of outlaws‚ the "Casablanca" stage lighting‚ noir in radioactive color. “Tears of the Black Tiger” marks the first Western on this list that is radically different from the first generations of Western films‚ from all previous generations‚ really. Sasanatieng's directorial debut‚ "Tears of the Black Tiger" was the first Thai movie to appear at the Cannes Film Festival. Since then‚ the filmmaker's eye for explosive‚ beautiful‚ and dramatic imagery‚ along with his knack for combining tragedy with strange humor‚ has earned him a spot at the forefront of the Thai New Wave movement — and two releases on Netflix in the past three years. For all the film's Old West American influences‚ there are just as many that are distinctly Thai‚ most of which I admittedly know little about. One source of inspiration I do recognize is the films of Sergio Leone‚ right down to the soundtrack. While Leone famously made "spaghetti Westerns‚" Sasanatieng says his flicks concern “tom yum goong cowboys‚” referencing a noodle soup unique to Thailand. It all adds up to a truly artistic B movie the likes of which America has not seen in many years. Sasanatieng also cites moody Thai pop ballads‚ some of which led him to the vision of “a beautiful frame of two guys shooting each other in the rain.” The boss outlaw is played by legendary Thai actor Sombat Metanee‚ whose over 600 movie roles once landed him the Guinness World Record for most film appearances. It’s a remarkably playful movie‚ with tons of zany experimentation. Characters behave strangely‚ often without anyone ever explaining why‚ carried forward by the manic sweep of the scene change. The images have the uncanny quality of being "off" somehow‚ like an AI video 25 years before AI. An unabashed love story mingles with cartoonish violence. Melodramatic emotions flare‚ while heads and bodies explode like catapulted pumpkins. Severed arms go flying through the air as bandits kill soldiers. The Winchesters have been replaced by LMGs and grenades and leftover Mauser rifles. There are six-shooters‚ but their bullets are capable of unprecedented damage. Anything can happen at any moment. The rules of our universe don’t apply. It’s a mash-up of so many styles‚ techniques‚ devices‚ and influences‚ all rushing at a gasping pace‚ that it’s impossible to tell what’s homage and what’s new-fangled‚ which results in an entirety that’s brand new. Sasanatieng cultivates this disorientation by running digital video through 35mm film stock‚ a combination of futurism and classicalism that permeates the entire movie. "Tears of the Black Tiger" takes the kind of breathtaking landscapes Westerns have always captured and blends them with obvious fabrications. A boat drifts through a lake of perfect flowers‚ giant lily pads‚ and dense thickets of tall grass‚ transporting characters from one ornamental pavilion to the next‚ where they discuss rain and love‚ only to reveal an internally bare backdrop with a pastel rendering of the sun. Best of all‚ this ultraviolet spectacle plays out with an unmistakable conviction‚ even in its more garish‚ tongue-in-cheek moments‚ all with a stylistic prowess that even Wes Anderson would envy. No disrespect to Mr. Anderson‚ but his cerebral schtick would get in the way of this mesmerizing slop show. It’s a Western refracted through so many translations that everything is only halfway familiar to the genre‚ like an absurdist dream full of over-serious characters. It feels low-budget yet decorative and artful at the same time. This Thai film elevates the revisionist Western to unimaginably new heights. The dialogue can be so poetic at times. Others‚ it’s belligerent and unreasonable. There’s no way to predict which the next line will be. Our heroes — one of whom is a dwarf in cowboy garb‚ another Leone homage‚ perhaps — are only heroic in relation to the storm-cloud menace of villains who live to kill innocents. In turn‚ the heroes kill innocents. Before long‚ there are no real heroes‚ but everyone is so dramatic that it’s hard to dismiss any of them. The harmonica-playing Sua Dum (Black Tiger)‚ dressed in all black‚ was not always so broken and vengeful. We jump around through time in an effort to understand his rage. But the pace is too fast to attach emotional depth to the storyline‚ which cycles through more betrayal and death than ten Westerns. This actually adds to the narrative power of the story. There’s something admirable about its refusal to go easy on the plot twists. It’s over before you know it‚ leaving you with the vertigo of enjoyment‚ whiplash from the nonstop action‚ too much beauty to keep track of‚ unfolding into a series of fight scenes that would be implausible in even the most satirically violent and excessive video game.

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