The thread about dogs had me thinking about my wife's Rotties and they did something peculiar tonight that they've done before, on numerous occaisions.
They do not howl at sirens, particular musical instruments, or other dogs.
There is one thing that they will howl at. And one thing only. They will make the most heart rending and mournful howl any time either of them hears Taps, performed by any instrument. While the Rottie we have had the longest did it from the time we got her (I first saw and heard her do it when Taps was played at the Coca Cola 600 on Memorial Day), so did the abused Rottie we rescued and adopted. She did it from the first time we saw her hear Taps played, and without the other dog. They do it without fail, they will most often look out the window, not at the television or home theater system where the sound comes from. They get this look of inconsolable grief, and will not stop howling until after Taps is finished. They will sit for a minute and stare out the window, or sometimes look at the tv with their heads cocked sideways. Then they'll come to either my wife or me, and very gently lay their head in our lap and look up at us with obviously wet eyes.
It is the damnedest thing to see. The sound and look of unbelievable anguish from those two dogs every time they hear Taps cannot be described adequately with words. It does not seem to cause physical pain in either of them (anyone who knows animals, and dogs in particular, can immediately tell if a noise causes a dog pain, and this does not), just a terrible emotional distress. And yet if you turn it down or turn it off once it has started, they will become very restless and agitated, and will not calm down if you don't let it finish playing. And when you do turn it back up or on, they go right back to howling.
