Doggie Singing Lessons

“This dog has been an angel while he was in my room,” Dawn reported after finishing her homework. My assessment of Tiny-Chico after surgery had been correct. He was an extremely affectionate dog with a pleasant demeanor. By now the sedation had completely worn off, yet he only wanted to relax with her in a place that was cozy and comfortable.

            Before long, he was getting the same privileges as Hardy, and he was becoming a beloved member of our family. Nate had taken to him as well, often retreating into his room with our foster dog they were now calling Chico. The dog loved to please my children, and he loved relaxing with them whenever they were quietly in their rooms playing video games, watching television, reading, or doing their homework. They had begun teaching him tricks, and Dawn had been successful with the jump through the hula-hoop stunt.

She also taught him to “sing.”

Dawn said she was inspired by the fire truck sirens that we often heard – our home being situated a couple of blocks from the local fire station. One day she heard a slight howl coming from Chico as the fire truck went through the neighborhood. Out of curiosity, she did a little research to discover how she might be able to get Chico to do it after her cue. What she found was it was easy to get a dog to howl if the correct pitch was created, so she decided to discover if there was something in the house that might also be appropriate to elicit that howling response. 

She experimented with several different musical instruments but quickly discovered that the recorder and the harmonica worked best. After she discovered it was easy to bring out a little howl from Chico with a musical instrument, she began to provide a verbal cue before playing. She eventually shaped the howling to happen after she would tell him to sing. Imagine the cuteness when my teenage daughter stated the command sing, and her little white puppy dog began howling along with her as she sang her favorite tune.

One day she called me into her room, and to my delight she sang a song, working in the recorder during a musical interlude while Chico “sang” along. It was priceless, and it got me to thinking. Between Hardy and Chico, we had quite a talented pair of entertaining dogs. My original idea to share Hardy with others had now grown into an idea to share both dogs in a therapeutic way. I imagined us going to hospitals and entertaining people who needed a positive lift in their day. I had heard about these types of animals, and I wondered if our dogs would be right for this type of work.