How many of you sing to your dogs when you’re alone together? I sure do. I sing to my dogs when we’re in the car, when we’re hiking together, and when I’m fixing their meals. The best songs are ones about dogs, or with dogs prominently mentioned in the lyrics.
One song from my childhood that I absolutely love to sing is “Blue” by Peter, Paul, and Mary, a folk trio that had a number of hits in the 1960s. They sang the song as a joke, where they’d change the tempo and words of the song. But the way they always started the song was pretty:
I’ve got a dog and his name is Blue
I’ve got a dog and his name is Blue
I’ve got a dog and his name is Blue,
I betcha five dollars he’s a good dog, too
Singing, ‘Here, old Blue, you’re a good dog, you.
Old Blue comes when I blow my horn
Old Blue comes when I blow my horn
Old Blue come a’running through the yellow corn,
Old Blue come a’running when I blow my horn
Singing, ‘Here, old Blue, you’re a good dog, you.
That song may or may not have been based on an old folk tune, recorded by Pete Seeger, Old Blue. If you have a dog who recently passed, or is close to the end of life, don’t try to listen to this song unless you are ready to cry buckets.
A recent favorite is Buck Up by Carsie Blanton, a song that’s not about a dog, but the wisdom imparted in the song’s lyrics comes from the artist’s dog, who responds to the artist’s world-weary angst with the advice to:
Buck up, baby, come on, sic ‘em
Make ‘em laugh if you can’t lick ‘em
Keep on shinin’, like you know you should
Keep on shining, that’s the way you’ll get ‘em good!
My other favorites for singing to the dogs include:
I Love My Dog, by Cat Stevens
I Wanna Be a Dawg, by Dawg Yawp
I Want My Dog to Live Longer, by Curtis Salgado & Alan Hager
My Dog & Me, by John Hiatt
And of course, no list of dog songs would be complete without the classic, Who Let the Dogs Out, by Baha Men.
Do you have a favorite dog song, or song you sing to you dog? Please share! (Our website doesn’t allow links in the comments, but list the artist name and song, so we can Google them!)
Yes I do sing and talk to my dogs/foster dogs all of the time! I make videos of my foster dogs and post them on the rescue group website….and of course they are set to music. The latest video is of a rambunctious lab mix named Harper….she is very active and the song is Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper.
The two I’ve sung , sometimes with fiddle, are
(1) the old version of “Old Blue” that starts, “Once had a dog and his name was Blue/ Betcha five dollars he’s a good dog too!/ Come on Blue, you good dog, you; C’mon Blue, you’re a good dog, Blue” and eventually gets to ‘”When I get to heaven, tell you what I’ll do, Get my horn and call for Blue; C’mon Blue you good dog you; C’mon Blue, I got here too!” , and
(2) parts of “Gotta quit kickin’ my dog around!” especially “Every night just about dark, my dog goes out, And he starts to bark; raises more ruckus than Noah’ Ark, he sure has fun when he starts to bark”
That last verse is apt, as we live in the country and he tells the coyotes to hush (& they do!)
and from his other Nicholas’s other “parent” I sing him low, slow lullabies Wind of the Western Seas, Speed Bonnie Boat, because he’s a Newfoundland and he likes to take a nap while I practice and maybe dream about swimming.. He would rather go outside when I play on the E string. I think it hurts his ears.
The Dog Song, by Nellie McKay. It is such a fun song!
“Lester’s Song” by Irene Kelley
Love this! One of my favorite dog songs is “Maggie’s Song” by Chris Stapleton. ❤️
Good Dog by Dave Stamey!
I sing to my dog all the time and dance with her too (I do have to pick her up to dance, she’s a tiny thing) Long story about her name, but we call her Ele (Ellie) so there are a ton of songs where her name will fit. She also is very blond and sunny looking, so You are my sunshine is a go-to. Another favorite is Mellow-Yellow and the line that is supposed to say “they call her mellow yellow, I add in “we call her Ele belly” Guess I’m (as Peter, Paul and Mary said in the song Blue “a modifier!!”
Well, I DO sing to the dogs, but not songs about dogs. I especially sing love songs but also lullaby songs, happy-go-lucky songs and silly rounds. Lately, I have been fostering retired breeder dogs who are adjusting to life in a home and softly singing these type of songs to them while sitting, squatting, knelling or laying on the floor nearby really seems to help the adjustment process. When we have to go to the vet ( a generally scary event for them!), I sit on the floor with them and sing their most familiar songs. They cuddle next to me, listening, and do so much better. The vet I use is a Fear Free Certified vet, so she is careful to come in and sit on the floor, too, and hum along at first with whatever I am singing. All this helps SO much!
When we lived near a park that was amazing to walk my dog around everyday but often got muddy, I used to put my pup in the tub to rinse off his paws when we got back- always singing “dirty paws” by Of Monsters and Men. I don’t think the song is about a dog, but it is definitely about a creature and is fun: “And that’s how the story goes, the story of the beast with those four dirty paws!”
Oh, I liked this post very much. I can already see this being helpful when I’m preparing my pups food. I have four dogs; one of them was born disabled and can’t walk. When he hears me preparing the meals, he starts whining really loud, and when I’m running late on schedule, and already stressed, his whines make me even more stressed and anxious. So singing, yeah, why not try that to bring calm to me and the situation? I’m gonna try it!