We are part of a Harvard-Tufts research team studying whether dogs are able to control their voice pitch when howling along to recorded sounds. This study is done remotely by your taking videos of your dog. Owners of all breeds of dogs are invited to fill out a simple survey about your dog’s howling behavior. Survey respondents who express interest in participating in a citizen science experiment may be asked to send us a small set of videos (each taken on a different day): 3 of your dog howling to her/his howl-triggering sound, 3 howling to this sound shifted up in pitch, and 3 howling to this sound shifted down in pitch. We will provide you with these different versions of the sound. Dogs that complete the study will get a diploma in canine musical studies, and (if you want) we will share videos of them howling on our lab’s social media.
To participate, please:
- Complete the consent form
- Fill out the howling survey