Who's got a shiny heinie?
May 22, 2015 8:41 AM   Subscribe

I make up songs about my dog and frequently serenade her with these masterpieces. My boyfriend does too. And so do, after doing a few quick office kitchen polls, lots of other people - all singing theme songs to their cats and pups... But what drives us to do it? Any ideas? Do people do this to their kids? Is it just a Western phenomena?
posted by teststrip to Pets & Animals (13 answers total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: I sympathize as a fellow pet-singer, but without a clearer framework for answering a concrete question this is pretty darned chatty for Ask. -- cortex

 
I do it because my dogs like it.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:52 AM on May 22, 2015


Conversely, I do this because my dog hates it. Possibly because I pick her up and dance her around while singing them at her...
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 8:54 AM on May 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


I do it because my dogs almost explode with joy when I sing to them. It's that positive feedback (wagging butts, pricked up ears, leaping) that makes me continue to do it.
posted by kimberussell at 8:56 AM on May 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


Oh man, Shepherd and I have entire songs and imaginary Off-Broadway shows about our cats. I have no idea why we do it but we will never stop.
posted by Kitteh at 9:00 AM on May 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


I do it because all dogs of my acquaintance love it. Also my personal anecdotal evidence of international urges to sing dumb little songs includes the 2 little old ladies in my cousin's old hutong in beijing who would sing little nonsense songs to his dog while holding her front paws up so she could dance with them.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:01 AM on May 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


Being social with a dumb (by which I mean non-speaking) animal means doing different things, and since you can't just talk to your dog about the Mad Max movie (which they would love, by the way, if they're the car-chasing type), and you can't always be in physical contact, you try things and see what they respond to.

You probably didn't consciously start singing for your dog, but you were singing once, and your dog gave you an edifying reaction (whether you're like If only I had a penguin... or Blue Jello Elf, above), and you stuck with it, and now you have a verbal ... rapport is not the right word, but a verbal thing with your dog that you can do when you can't do the other things with your dog.

Actually, Mad Max would be practically pornographic to the car-chasing kind of dog.
posted by Sunburnt at 9:02 AM on May 22, 2015


I do this with my dog and my cat! They love the attention. : )
posted by SisterHavana at 9:13 AM on May 22, 2015


One of my dogs gets super happy when he recognises his name in a song. My other dog has no idea what is happening, but his mum is happy & looking at him so he looks at me lovingly & humours me.

I had a silly made up song I used to sing to my last dog every day when I came home saying how much I loved her & how silly she was. When it was time for her to be put to sleep because of cancer, I sang it to her as she fell asleep for the last time, the last thing she did was one last tail wag as she went hearing her song. Each of my current dogs now has their own song as well as silly where's the ball, whats for dinner & Oh no a squirrel songs. They seem to understand context if not the words.
posted by wwax at 9:18 AM on May 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


I don't think I've ever made up a song about/for our cats, but I did have one cat in particular who clearly liked to be sung to. Her favorite song was Sinead O'Connor's "In This Heart" and I sang it to her as well as I could (while weeping sorely) when she died.

I'm a soprano and I've gotten the sense that cats enjoy higher pitches. My childhood cat liked to be whistled to. She was a bitch and a half but when I whistled (usually a peppy little "Alleluia" that I'd learned in Catholic school) she'd climb up on me and rub all against my face. It was very strange.

Re the kids--again, I never did, but oh lord did my mother do it to me. And she was a good mom and I love her, but damn, it bugged me. I don't quite know why. There was just something creepy somehow about being someone else's impromptu subject.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:19 AM on May 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


Oh, we also reword popular songs to involve our cats' idiocyncrasies (for example, Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" is now "Brush Me Maybe").
posted by Kitteh at 9:19 AM on May 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


Dlugoczaj my mother did that to. She'd suddenly sing & dance at me, some of my earliest memories are sitting there thinking what the hell? Love her dearly and now a days she does it to the grandkids & her dog so I'm safe.
posted by wwax at 9:25 AM on May 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


Yes, we do this all the time at our house with our dog. Remember that old Barry Manilow song, Copa Cabana?
Her name was Lily
She was a show dog
With yellow feathers in her hair
And a tail cut down to there


She seems amused by it.
posted by tuesdayschild at 9:28 AM on May 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


My cat Neko has a theme song. James Brown - Love Man! do do doo
posted by irisclara at 9:34 AM on May 22, 2015


« Older So, we're having a baby   |   Creative wedding word play - Show me what you've... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.