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!)