Dog Songs and Singing to Your Dog

By
Nancy Kerns
-
Published:
34
Singing to a dog.
Photo credit Catherine Falls Commercial, Getty Images

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!)

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34 COMMENTS

  1. 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!

  2. 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!”

  3. 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!

  4. 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!!”

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. I had a song just for my very wooly and affectionate dog Mystery. It’s based on “Sweet Misery” by Hoyt Axton, more famously covered by John Denver: “Sweet Mystery, he’s such good company, he’ll be your friend when you feel all alone. He’ll be right there, cover you with his hair, he gives you hugs and kisses all day long.” I’ll have to look up some of these others for my current dog since nothing comes to mind.

  13. I sing to my dog all the time! That includes real songs, modified songs and ones I make up. Her official name is Molly Jones after The Beatles song Ob‐La‐Di, Ob‐La‐Da so that’s one, and also Paul McCartney’s sheepdog-inspired Martha My Dear. Even dog visitors go home with a song of their own. My family tolerates this but the dogs love it. lol

  14. ” GoD andDoG ” by Wendy J Francisco always brings tears to my eyes. The uncomplicated lyrics, tune and accompanying drawings in the video, perfectly sums up my relationship to the Almighty and to his wonderful creation. It remains one of my favorites.
    Thanks for the article and for the other music suggestions from readers.

  15. This is a great, fun post–looking forward to checking out new dog songs. My fav dog song is “Everything Reminds Me of My Dog” by Jane Siberry. You can find a video of it on Youtube, and the lyrics are worth checking out. We also pick “theme songs” for our dogs based on their personalities and activities. Examples: ” Put your lights on” by Santana for evening outings that require collar lights; “Slow” by Leonard Cohen for my late, very mellow, dog of my heart; Conga by Birds of a Feather for his very happy and busy dog sibling; “I’m too sexy” by Right Said Fred for–well it was just her attitude; and for all of them “My Best Friend” by Jefferson Airplane.

  18. Maggie’s Song by Chris Stapleton. Good chorus. Nice message about a good friend
    “Be as free as you are wild”
    I’ve never thought about singing to my dog. My Husky always sang to me. She knew all the words.

  19. Fred Eaglesmith’s He’s A Good Dog will get the tears going. I sang You Are My Sunshine to my Be’la girl, modifying the lyrics to you’ll always (never)know, dear, how much I love you, (please don’t take my sunshine away)to thank you dog for another day ☀️
    I make up silly rhymes/songs when my current girl Trilly whines alot, she responds better than if I scold her. Music soothes the savage beast, as they say!

    Fleck’s Ma 🤎

  20. I sing to my dog a lot, but usually make up songs. Some are so silly, I can’t even remember them now, or I modify songs and sing to my Sadie something like, “Someone’s in the kitchen with Say-dee. Someone’s in the kitchen, I know. Someone’s in the kitchen with Say-deee, strumming on the old banjo…” etc. I strum the “air banjo” and she sings along.

  21. 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”

  22. 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

  23. 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”

  26. 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.

  28. 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!

  29. 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.