Any thoughts and ideas welcome, our Border collie who is now 6 months old is doing really well but when we are out walking (on lead) she howls whilst she is walking to heel and you should see the looks we get in fact she sounds like she is in pain.  We have taken her out alone and with our Labrador but she is the same and it is driving us crackers.

Please save our ears.

Linda

In what circumstances did she first do it?  Was it reaction to a sound , like sirens?  Was it excitement at a particular sight or sound?  Reaction to going a specific way?

Tilly started to howl when she was about 4 months old as soon as we put her on the lead and started walking, it seams to be excitement but don't know how to stop it, she is so obedient and as soon as you take the lead off she goes quiet

This sounds like all Malinois I know -they sing with excitement. :) Mine do it until let off the lead, they just can't wait. They also do it when we first set off in the car, when we prepare their food -you name it. I had to laugh just over a week ago when we were in N. Ireland and heard my friend's Mali doing exactly the same. Pretty much everyone I have spoken to in the breed say their dogs are the same, so seems to be a breed thing for us. One way of stopping it is to simply stop when they start doing it, preferably make the dog do a stay as well. Not moving. Nothing exciting will happen at all unless they're quiet. Takes quite a bit of patience though, so personally I just put up with it.

Yep that is the only thing that will work, but it is so time consuming and would mean that the dog must never be rewarded (get to do what it is excited about) until it stops, which may be impractical.

I suppose you could train the dog to carry a toy and then it couldn't howl?

My dogs howl with excitement too at the icecream vanWe went away for a week came back to all dogs doing it. Mum had stayed for the week looking after the animals. I know she enjoys an icecream so when asked she admitted she had been sharing with the dogs! So now they expect an icecream whenever they hear the jingle of Mr Whippy. A quick shh and a treat when quiet works most of the time for us. At one stage other half was going to ask if he wouldn't play the jingle as he passed us but thought the neighbourhood kids would have lynched him!
Angela

hi,i dont mean to spoke you out or anything,but i have heard that dogs howl when ther are ghost's around?
u never no?
sorry if i have spoked you out!
mwah
x

Although dogs do seem to have a 6th sense I very much doubt this is the problem in this case.:rolleyes: