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!)
Dog Dreams by Jonatha Brooke! Video on YouTube.
I sing “You Are My Sunshine” to our golden retriever , Archie, every morning. I changed the words a little, instead of “Don’t take my sunshine away. ” I sing, “Stay with me and play, all day. Always.
I’m not a great singer but this is a special time for us. He’s nine now and I want him to stay …Always.
Governor Jimmie Davis of Louisiana helped to make this song popular. He sang it to his horse, Sunshine. It is now one of the two state songs of Louisiana.
This is a complete surprise! When I was in Viet Nam our camp would sing this song when one of our men was lost to eternity. Indeed, the tears flowed! Of course it was modified to fit our situation; more solemn and meaningful than Taps!
Two different types of songs.” We will rock you” – Queen, just refrain to get dogs moving together.
“Smile”-Uncle Kracker
A couple days after I’d lost my beloved old GSD Bubba I was driving back to my hometown and had to pull over because the song Sunny by Bobby Hebb came in the radio and I just started bawling my head off. The still can’t listen to it without crying. I used to sing to my horse all the time when we were out by ourselves, especially in times when he might be nervous. It was really soothing to him and the rhythm was easy for us to share. A couple of our favorites were Yellow Submarine and the old 16 Tons song, made famous by Tennessee Earnie Ford.
How Much is That Doggie In The Window
By Doris Day
Cindy Yurek
Las Vegas, Nv
My favorite dog song by far is God Dog by the Incredible String Band. It’s a beautiful, magical song.
I forgot to include in the post that I often sing on the trail to my brown dog Boone that he’s
“Bad, bad, Leroy Brown
Baddest dog in the whole darn town
Badder than old King Kong,
Badder than a junkyard dog”
I posted yesterday but I don’t see it now so trying again. I sing to my dog friends all the time. Various songs. Sometimes just singing to the car radio and randomly inserting dogs’ names, or replacing the lyrics entirely with dog names.
My favorite dog songs:
Howl at the Moon by Cheryl Wheeler
Everything Reminds Me of My Dog by Jane Soimberry
The Dog Song by Nellie McKay
Dog by Bottle Rockets
I Want My Dog to Live Longer by Curtis Salgado & Alan Hager
When we go for a walk in the rain (which our yellow Lab Remy loves) my go to is the famous Gene Kelly performance of “Singin’ in the Rain”, lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown but I
alter the lyric to “We’re walking in the rain”