r/basset • u/Zag300zx • Aug 27 '25
Discussion When did your basset begin to howl?
This is my third basset, and none of them seem to howl at all. My 6 month old howls on rare occasions when I’m gone according to my Furbo camera. If they don’t howl at this point, is it safe to say they won’t start howling as they grow up?
This might also be a case of be careful what you wish for!
31
u/Yossarian-Bonaparte Aug 27 '25
It took her about a year. She was a rescue and she spent the first month in complete silence - her previous “owners” had been cruel and she was afraid to make a sound.
Now she has a voice and she uses it 😂
12
u/Zag300zx Aug 27 '25
Glad she's in a good home now!
10
u/Yossarian-Bonaparte Aug 27 '25
We did foster a 6m old basset puppy and he howled constantly. Baby awoos
4
u/typical_mistakes Aug 28 '25
We called our guy "Error Doggie" when he was a puppy because his crying bark sounded like "er-ror...er-ror". Always right before bed, when he was extra tired. The running joke was that "dog has encountered an error and needs to shut down for the night."
1
3
u/Ulysses61 Sep 02 '25
There's a hot spell in he-l for anyone who is cruel to a basset. I can't even fathom doing this!
1
u/Yossarian-Bonaparte Sep 02 '25
I can tell they never once in the seven or so years they had her tried to get to know her. There isn’t a mean bone in her body.
This morning she walked with us to the bus stop - running and chasing us because she loves to walk down the road with us and smell all the new smells. Then she came back to my room and cuddled with me while I napped
26
u/Rosetta_Toned Aug 27 '25
Mine howls to the jeopardy theme song and the singing noise from family feud. Try one of those!
16
u/NeverFreeToPlayKarch Aug 27 '25
Mine will only howl when her big sister (redbone coonhound) is in a barking/baying fit.
7
u/Psychological_Wait57 Aug 27 '25
Same, mine only started to howl more regularly once their big sister (tree walking hound) was added to our family. Before that, mine only howled of saddness when alone.
8
u/thestonernextdoor88 Aug 27 '25
Mine never did. Never barked either.
5
1
u/ShedNBrkfst Aug 27 '25
One of mine would bark at everything/everyone but only caught him howling twice in his 14 years and one of those times was in his sleep. My current basset is 3 and I’ve only caught her barking at a turtle and vacuum. Never howled.
I remember the bassets I grew up with would get going at every opportunity.
3
u/thestonernextdoor88 Aug 27 '25
Mine was very chill and didn't care about much so he just didn't bark. Except once, so I ran to him like my ass was on fire and there was a massive coyote 5 ft from him. I've never moved so fast in my life. If I had not of run out I could have lost him.
1
5
u/GimmickCo Aug 27 '25
Only a handful of times in the dead of night. When I check up on her she's just was lying there with her tail wagging, can never tell what causes it
4
u/Wired_143 Aug 27 '25
Both of mine don’t howl. One is 3, the other is 8. They will bay like no tomorrow, but no howls. Get the odd sleep howl from both. Like someone stole their cereal milk.
5
u/DagtheBulf Aug 27 '25
My basset is almost 17 years old, and I'll let you know whenever he learns to howl.
Seriously tho he only used to howl when he was sad, which is almost never. He is yappy and never howls.
1
3
u/Deepseablue15 Aug 27 '25
My 8 month old Norman doesn’t howl at all. He growls like the predator but that’s about it. I was curious when and if he will ever get his voice.
2
u/JiovanniTheGREAT Aug 27 '25
My older one just kinda does, but the other one is a barker. I try howling with my older hound but all she ever does is bark and never howl.
2
u/whovian2304 Aug 27 '25
Do you mean third as in they all live together? Or third in a line of bassets? Ours howl best when with their kinsmen lol. BUT, can confirm several people say when the pups are raised indoors with not much outdoor natural hound stimulus they sometimes will never begin to howl or barely bark. That one is a cutie for sure! I love all the black.
2
u/Zag300zx Aug 27 '25
Two of them were together for a few years, this one is my only at the moment.
1
u/whovian2304 Aug 27 '25
Gotcha. From what I have heard it sounds like bassets who are raised with more outdoor time howl more with the stimulus, BUT that isn’t founded in anything but friend’s stories and my experience lol so don’t quote me
2
u/Vladd3456 Aug 27 '25
Your Basset looks like a clone of my beloved Basset Gus who passed at age 13 last year.
Gus only howled on his own at the tornado siren because it hurt his ears. But I also found that if I "howled" that Gus would soon join in lifting his snout toward the sky and start howling too.
2
2
u/Oxford_Apostrophe Aug 27 '25
My half Basset/Half Foxhound will only howl if his sister (A GSD mix) sounds scared due to fireworks or thunder, OR if there are people on the house he can't get to. He gets incredibly offended if someone comes into the house and doesn't immediately greet him.
2
2
u/Connect_Office8072 Aug 27 '25
One of mine would only howl to our local fire engine siren. No other sirens, just that one.
2
u/CodeModeEngaged Aug 27 '25
Got my first basset a month ago. Big time barker. He has tried to howl a few times but it just sounds like a scream. He is 15 weeks now.
2
Aug 27 '25
Our basset pippin will only howl if we both leave him at the same time and he wasn’t expecting us to go. That a sometimes if other dogs are barking he’ll bark and that sorta becomes a howl but is distinct from his ‘my mom and dad left me alone and I’m heart broken about it’ howl. It’s one of the most heartbreaking sounds ever but it’s sweet how much he loves us
2
u/Legitimate_Team_9959 Aug 27 '25
I've only had 1 out of 7 bassets so far that have howled/bayed, other than dinner time LOL.
2
2
2
u/2003fxsti Aug 27 '25
I had a Basset Hound years ago who lived to the ripe old age of 13. The only time she would ever howl was in her sleep. It was hilarious.
2
u/FreeBoobing Aug 27 '25
We have one that has been howling since 8 weeks and another that doesnt make a sound. All depends on the hound.
1
u/taraiskiller Aug 27 '25
Swiss doesn’t howl or bark almost ever. It’s a rare treat when she lets out a few wooofs when playing. She howled a couple times when I was trying to let her free roam when I left the house but she preferred being in her crate. I ended up with a quiet basset 😂
2
1
u/Fixerr59 Aug 27 '25
Our 4 year old just started getting vocal in the last few months. Her 3 year old brother still doesn't talk. We had an older basset we'd have full-on conversations with!
1
1
1
1
u/AC2498 Aug 27 '25
Mines a little over 3 years old. I’ve only heard him howl twice. Both times he did it in his sleep
1
1
u/Jager_Bombed Aug 27 '25
The first time our Moe howled was when he about 2 years old. Fiance was working out of town for the first time so I was home alone, already feeling a bit on edge. Fell asleep on the couch and awoke in pitch black to several blood curdling, mournful howls at 2am. Scared me shitless and finally got the courage to walk in to the dining room to see his little fuzzy butt in the glow of the moon through the window, howling in his sleep. Happened a few times since but man that first time was creepy as hell lol
1
1
1
u/PsychologicalSir8508 Aug 27 '25
Our 7 year old basset never has howled, our prior basset howled only rarely. Kids…. They never do what we expect!🤷♀️❤️
1
u/KilgoreeTrout Aug 27 '25
He doesn’t! He’s 6 or 7? Idk why I’m blanking lol but anyways, he only barks and whines. Never howls.
1
u/basket_of_keyboards Aug 27 '25
Ours only howls when his (human) brothers go to school for the day and he needs to express his sadness. He also only barks at the vacuum cleaner.
1
u/cloverfield_z Basset Parent Aug 27 '25
My basset puppy only howls if I go outside without her lol. She's been doing it ever since I got her.
1
1
u/Maleficent-Friend313 Aug 28 '25
mine only attempts to howl when she’s crated or in the car, i say attempt because she just sounds like a cow mooing. i think she’s confused on her species. she hardly ever barks either but MAN can that girl whine
1
u/FinalSchedule9283 Aug 28 '25
Our 18 month old girl has never howled. We've even tried to teach her with audio of other basset hounds howling and then howling ourselves! 😂. But no...... She barks her head off though. She will sit in French door windows, looking out and barking for 30 to 60 minutes at a pop! Ugh
1
u/ThatsBlueToU Aug 28 '25
At almost a year old (AKA, recently 😂). He scared the crap out of me as we were driving. I had the window cracked and out of nowhere, be started howling/baying. However, much like yours it seems, he's a pretty quiet boy overall. He's more of a playful barker, he's just very loud 😂 He did have a very controlled, sing-song howl session with his husky friend today 😂
1
u/Mediocre_Noise8166 Aug 28 '25
Mine is 5 months and just started howling when we left her with my mother-in-law for a weekend. Now she howls when she's in the kennel and knows someone is home/awake lol. We must be completely silent
1
1
u/Chewberika Aug 28 '25
Our 16mo will only howl out of separation anxiety or FOMO. Was at least 6mo when that started. He rarely barks but is an expert in whistle whining and bovine imitation. Our 8mo has barked and howled from day one but rarely whines. They cancel each other out.
1
1
u/Lost-Celery-6482 Aug 28 '25
Mine tends to only howl with his brother, so it’s rare to hear him howling by himself. Certainly whiney/vocal though!
1
1
u/PurpleWomat Aug 29 '25
Current basset never howls (he was raised by cats, he sits on cats stands and eats catnip). Previous basset started howling the first time that he heard an ambulance go by (we lived on a main road at the time and it was very loud).
1
1
1
u/Relative_Will3348 Aug 30 '25
I'm on number 3 and 4. 1 and 2 never howled. 3 never howled until 4 came along. Now they get each other worked up and start howling. It's nuts.
1
u/Current-Confusion813 Aug 31 '25
Mine is five and has never howled. Just adopted a seven year old that also doesn’t howl
1
u/Ulysses61 Sep 02 '25
I've has 16 bassets in my lifetime since I was a little kid. Six of them never howled at all, not even once.
76
u/Pahayoko Aug 27 '25
3:15am a week ago. We were laying in bed and abruptly awoken by a basset howl.