Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 12 Jan 17 - 06:42 PM

I don't know/can't place that sound keberoxu.

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 12 Jan 17 - 06:58 PM

No, I do not sing to my dog. I find the idea that my singing is far less interesting to her than a dog biscuit, a chew toy, or a pile of deer guts to be a bit disheartening.

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST,Sol
Date: 12 Jan 17 - 08:00 PM

<"Doesn't anybody sing to their goldfish?">
I do - in sopiranha.

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Helen
Date: 13 Jan 17 - 01:30 PM

So Sol,

Do the goldfish make little goldfish faces at you when you threaten them with the sopiranha's? :0

Helen

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST,Sol
Date: 13 Jan 17 - 02:34 PM

It wasn't really a goldfish. It was a Bass. ;-)

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Helen
Date: 13 Jan 17 - 03:15 PM

Funny!

Notice in a musical pet shop window:

Gone SharPei-ing. Bark in a miaow-nuet.

(In case you don't know or don't remember the old joke. Notice in a music shop window: Gone Chopin. Bach in a minuet.)

Helen

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Jan 17 - 06:16 PM

My dog is named Beba (pronounced BAYbah). There are a variety of songs she enjoys when I sing them, or at any rate she looks fascinated by what is going on. I really can't sing in tune very well, so I'm grateful that she's such a polite, and sometimes even enthusiastic, audience.

Me and Beba McGee
Beba I'm Amazed
Beba's in Black and I'm Feeling Blue
Beba, Beba, Can't You Hear My Heart Beating

John P

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST,Sol
Date: 13 Jan 17 - 07:09 PM

Give this a try, guest .....

"Be-ba-ba-loo-ba she's my Beba."

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Helen
Date: 14 Jan 17 - 04:00 PM

I also sing this to the tune of

["Old MacDonald Had a Farm"]
miaow miaow-miaow-miaow miaow miaow miaow,

[Ee-I-ee-I-O]
miaow miaow miaow miaow miaow

Which I just did a few minutes ago.

Cat: Miaow? (translation: "Is there any food?")

Me: (Line 1) miaow miaow-miaow-miaow etc

Cat: Miaow (translation: "Perhaps you didn't hear the question. Is there any food?")

Me: (Line 2) miaow miaow miaow miaow

Cat: Miaow? (translation: "We appear to have a communication issue here. Let me repeat the question. Is there any food?")

Me: (Line 1) miaow miaow-miaow-miaow etc

Sometimes we even get to the "with a miaow-miaow here, and a miaow-miaow there, here a miaow, there a miaow, everywhere a miaow-miaow, and back to the beginning.

Repeated until the cat gives up, or until I stop finding it funny.

In case you think I am starving the poor little wraith, he would eat 24/7 if I provided the continuous sustenance. He also loves corn, pumpkin and green beans. What a weird little sucker!

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Elmore
Date: 15 Jan 17 - 11:01 AM

Scares the cat. Irritates the dog.

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Jan 17 - 06:35 PM

When a good friend used to come regularly to visit and have"a bit sing"the cat would sit adoringly at her feet.However Her Ladyship would depart suddenly if our singing was out of tune and only reappear if the tunefulness improved. The discord I hasten to add was mainly my fault not my friend's.

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Jan 17 - 01:29 AM

After my brain aneurysm, and several months of rehab, I couldn't teach ballroom dancing anymore(could barely walk and my speech was barely intelligible)so I moved back to Kentucky to stay with my brother and his family. They had a couple of dogs, with which I became fast friends. One song I sang to Cholla pup was to the tune of "Tra La La Boom De Aay:") "She is the Cholla pup, she likes to lick 'em up. The little Cholla dog, eats like a little hog. She is the Cholla one, she likes to have some fun; the little Cholla girl; she'll put you in a whirl!"
Later, I moved to Somerset (Kentucky) to live with my mom and sister. Mom didn't want pets, but a couple of years after she passed, I got a rescued ShiTsu and a Chiuaua.
Casper's song is to one from "Peter and the Wolf:" "Casper's a goofy pup; he really likes to lick-em-up; he's silly, he's goofy; we love him! Casper's the one for me and he'll go down in history as the silliest, goofiest puppy!"
Isabella's song is to the tune of "That's Amore!:" "You should take off your hats to a pretty girl that's Isabella! She's a puppy, you see, but she's sweet as can be, Isabella! Likes to run in the sun, have some fun, she's the one - Isabella! Pardon me, but you see, she's the puppy for me - Isabella! My Isabella!" The pups seem to recognize their songs and act upset if I sing to one and not the other!

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Helen
Date: 24 Jan 17 - 05:55 PM

That's funny, Guest!

You're cleverer than me, making up those songs. I just sing "miaow", or "do-dee-do" nonsense words.

Ta-ra-ra boom-de-ay is a bit of a trap. When I get it in my head, it's stuck there for days.

Helen

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: keberoxu
Date: 24 Jan 17 - 06:00 PM

I LOVE the Peter and the Wolf tune.

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Helen
Date: 25 Jan 17 - 03:25 PM

Another tune I sing to the cats is Mozart "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" I. Allegro

The first couple of phrases, not the whole piece using the standard "miaow" lyrics.

Helen

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST,LynnH
Date: 26 Jan 17 - 01:33 PM

As a musician I have to practise and so my cat gets sung to whether she likes it or not!

15 years ago I collected two cats -Alexa(f) & Mambo(m)- from a sanctuary and, after a month or so of merely singing and playing guitar, I decided that the time had come to intoduce them to......the concertina! So I sat down and started playing. Their first reaction was to dive for cover in the bedroom. However, after a few bars, Alexa came very out cautiously and eyed me up. ANother couple of bars passed and Mambo ventured out....whereupon Alexa turned on him and made it very clear that she was going to deal with the situation herself and that his presence was unwanted! Exit Mambo. Alexa then sat in front of me and studied what I was doing. Then, having made a decision, she propped herself with one front paw on my knee and with the other hit the bellows! I carried on playing so she sat down again, observed me a bit more and then walked round to the side of me, propped herself once again with a paw on my knee.....and with the other hit my fingers! So I stopped playing......Cats aren't daft!

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Helen
Date: 26 Jan 17 - 02:27 PM

That's so funny, LynnH. Were you ever permitted to play concertina again?

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST,Trina
Date: 26 Jan 17 - 11:07 PM

I had a bunny for 11 1/2 years who love to listen to classical music and meditate, she was a yogi bunny. Sometimes I would sing to her, the song "my Bonnie lies over the ocean " and I would change the word Bonnie to bunny, she definitely would react to it.

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST,LynnH
Date: 27 Jan 17 - 01:36 PM

@Helen - It wasn't that bad. I'm not a very regular concertina player and I suspect Alexa's position was "I've registerd my complaint and made my point."

My current 'feline in residence' seems to be of the opinion that turning me into a couch potato will sort out the noise/music!

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 Apr 17 - 07:40 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Murpholly
Date: 14 Apr 17 - 06:02 AM

We had a cat, Macavity or more commonly Plum the Bum who loved music and whenever we had a party would curl up in the corner and listen all night no matter how loud we were. Also had a retired European Eagle Owl and whenever I entered his enclosure I used to recite the Owl and he Pussycat and he would fly on to my arm for his daily feed.

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 14 Apr 17 - 07:05 AM

Not sure how it works, but if you run your thumb over the teeth of a comb in the vicinity of your cat, it has the effect of making it stick its tongue out
Ours would go into ecstasies when it was done
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 14 Apr 17 - 07:08 AM

When I sing 'Talking 'bout Molly, Molly, Molly' from Simply Red's 'to tight to mention', our Molly cat looks confused and runs away! Guess she may be a Mick Hucknall fan and doesn't like my rendition?

:D tG

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: leeneia
Date: 14 Apr 17 - 10:59 AM

Jim, will any comb do, or does it have to be high pitched?

When Peridot came to our house as an adult cat, she was terrified and hid in the basement. We couldn't find her. For two weeks I put food and water down there for her, and every time I did, I sang softly. Finally one day I looked down, and she was leaning against my legs. I picked her up, very gently, sat on the basement stairs and sang to her.

If I moved a muscle, she would leap off my lap and hide under the workbench. But she was scared, cold, dirty and lonely so after a while, she would come back to me. After holding her and singing four or five songs, I carried her upstairs, and she lived upstairs with us the rest of her life. She turned into a real cuddlebug who liked piano music.

Years later, as she was dying, I sang 'Since I Met You Baby, My Whole Life has Changed'.

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Apr 17 - 11:39 AM

leeneia, that made me cry. How fortunate that she found a home with you, and that you had the patience and love to help her.

Our cats would absolutely freak out if either of us tried to sing to them. But they often sing to us, particularly if we say the magic word. ("Chicken!")

Siamese cats are very vocal, and use their voices in all sorts of ways. When Smokey wants to come into the sitting room, he begins politely with a tiny, "Woo?", but if we don't open the door immediately his shouts get louder and louder, until it's a low-note bass bellowing sort of "AAAOOOO- WAAOOOO-RRRRRRRWAAAAAOOOO!!" It's easy to interpret this as, "Oi, you blasted pair of nitwits! Open the bloody door for me!!"

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST,IanA
Date: 14 Apr 17 - 02:12 PM

Dogs? Cats? Horses? GOLDFISH???? Pah!! Try singing to seals. They love it - they will follow you round the coast. That is, if they are grey seals. Common seals aren't interested: that is why they are called 'common'. Seriously!!

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: MikeL2
Date: 14 Apr 17 - 02:50 PM

Hi

I had two black Labradors - a dog and a bitch.

When I used to play my guitar and learn songs to add to my repertoire

the male ( Simba) would howl whilst the lady ( Molly) would hide under the chair. Never worked out if it was my singing or Simba's howling that made her do this.

My friends have now gone but I have a male blackbird in the trees of my garden. I have tried to copy his singing and now when I go out in the evening I whistle and he often sounds off and we " talk " to each other.

Cheers

Mike

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: leeneia
Date: 15 Apr 17 - 09:50 AM

Thanks, Senoufou
=============
MikeL2, that's nice about the blackbird. Once I sat on my front porch, picking patterns on my guitar, and an American robin sang along the entire home. The American robin and the blackbird are cousins.

The robin's song was so complex that no matter what kind of chord I played -- major, minor or 7th, the bird's song seemed to harmonize with it.

Interesting story about the dogs - I guess we will never know if Simba was singing along or protesting.

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Helen
Date: 15 Apr 17 - 04:54 PM

About a year ago I saw this on Oz TV.

The Secret Life of the Cat

I learned some interesting things but most interesting to me was the part about what cats say. A study of a large group of related cats on a farm showed that they relate to and talk (make their various sounds) to each other, but unrelated cats in a household are less likely to talk to or interact much with each other.

I have too many cats - six - but they are all related. A grandmother and her sister, a daughter and son, and a granddaughter and grandson. They relate to each other a bit, nudge each other, or argue sometimes. The daughter and granddaughter are the closest. They groom each other sometimes and sleep curled up together sometimes, until they have a spat. They relate more to us than each other.

The most interesting thing I learned is that cats miaow and talk with humans more than other cats. The "hello" miaow, the "is there any food?" miaow etc. When I walk into the room where one of the cats is sitting I often say, "Hello, what are you up to?" and the miaow I get back is similar in syllables and pitch to hello. If I go to the door and say "do you want to go out?" with the emphasis on "out" with the upward inflection that you make with a question, the answer I get is a sound which sounds like an elongated "out". If I get a "hello" or and "out" I often repeat it and they repeat it back to me.

I taught them all from a very young age that when I want them to come for their dinner or to round them up to keep them inside for the night, I do a whistle phrase which I guess sounds a bit like singing, "come and get your dinner" starting low and rising up to the end. I have a different more repetitive, more urgent version which starts high and goes down at the end. They, being cats, come when they are ready, but usually fairly quickly when measured in cat-time, depending on how hungry they are.

When I see some of those cat videos - which I don't go searching for mainly because it worries me that some people mistreat animals to make some videos and think it's funny - and I see cats saying hello back and forth with their owners, I think that it's not the humans mimicking a cat sound, but the cats mimicking the human sound.

Helen

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Senoufou
Date: 15 Apr 17 - 05:54 PM

That is all extremely fascinating Helen!
I find our cats over the years have quite a wide vocabulary, both in understanding our language and in replying/communicating with us.

I've always had three or four at once (sometimes more!) over many decades. And there has always emerged a 'senior cat', usually the oldest but not always. He has been the dominant one and the most intelligent. This has been Simon, Simpson-Sam, Smokey, in turn, and they have all 'talked' to the other, less dominant cats.

Smokey for example knows the phrase, "Did you want...?" as he realises this means goodies on offer. Also, "What's the matter?" and, "Open the door?" "Mind out!" "Mousies!"(which means anything chaseable, including insects, birds, toys or other invading cats) and sadly, "I'll smack that bottom!" (We never smack them of course, but they know that phrase!)
But the most common and anguished howl from me, which they well understand, is, "Who did that bloody wee wee?" because they're forever having a quick squirt here and there and I hate it. Siamese are terrible wee-ers; I've only ever had neutered males, but they all did it!

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Helen
Date: 16 Apr 17 - 06:15 AM

Senoufou, with our current bunch of cats we never have to ask who did that wee. We always know exactly which one it was. He's had urinary problems so we try to forgive and forget, but sometimes that's easier said than done. He spends a lot of time yowling at the back door to get out, but he is also an excellent bird catcher so then we do that cartoon routine of chasing him around the coffee table trying to catch him to put him in the laundry to do his business. Luckily for him we have a cat enclosure on a grand scale so he gets to sit out there in the sun, watching the birdies but not able to catch them.

Helen

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: MikeL2
Date: 17 Apr 17 - 09:11 AM

Hi Leenia

I didn't know that the blackbird is related to the American Robin.

We have two robins here but I haven't heard them sing or call.

Probably overshadowed by the blackbird who has been sounding off for the last hour and is still at it as I type.

Another strange think about my two black Labs is that one, like most Labs loved water and swam every time he went near water. The female would not go into water. On one occasion by the seaside I carried her out to sea - not too far - and released her. She swam perfectly back to shore. But still would not go in again.

Regards Mike

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: Helen
Date: 17 Apr 17 - 03:33 PM

Another bird with a complex melodic call is the Australian Butcherbird. There are a few videos if you do a search. They also mimic some sounds, and I recall seeing a video where the people commented that the bird had mimicked the sound of their phone ringing. They also commented that the calls changed over time as the birds incorporated new parts into their song.

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 17 Feb 20 - 10:47 AM

This seems especially relevant
to those of us in the hemisphere
where it is winter now:
when one is cooped up indoors, away from the chill,
with one's boon-companion pets.

Captive audiences, you might say.

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST,LynnH
Date: 17 Feb 20 - 01:37 PM

Trixiecat has to put up with it. I've got to practise sometime - and that includes playing the concertina - but she doesn't seem to object. I think she just mentally puts her paws over her ears!

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 17 Feb 20 - 01:51 PM

So, Lynn H,
Trixiecat is not like Alexa, making a big gesture thing out of it?
That was such a story, in your earlier post.

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 17 Feb 20 - 01:53 PM

My dog loves Cecelia Bartolli, when I sing along the dog barks, when cecelia sings solo the dog lies down and wags her tail....

Subject: RE: Do you sing to your dog (or cat, or...)?
From: leeneia
Date: 18 Feb 20 - 11:07 AM

When we brought our rescue cat home, she was terrified - hid in the cold gritty basement for two weeks. Every time we fed her, we talked softly and set the food and water down.

One day I was doing that, and I felt her come and lean against my shins. She was so cold, lonesome and dirty! Very slowly and carefully I picked her and sat on the steps with her in my lap. I sang some songs very gently, but if I moved at all, she jumped off my lap and hid under the workbench. All I could see was the little triangle of her nose as she watched me. I continued to sing, and finally she came to me again. After two or three times of this, I picked her up, climbed the stairs, and she was our pet cat from then on.