Lab howling when she hears sirens?

I'm wondering if anyone knows why our lab howls when she hears a siren. (We live pretty close to a hospital.) Our Shetland sheep dog never did. My hubby says it might be because the noise hurts her ears. Anybody have other thoughts about it?

Payne, I've had dogs who howled when they heard sirens. I've heard two theories why they howl. The first is what your husband said, the sound hurts the dog's ears. Other one is that it sounds like a howl to the dog so the dog howls back at the "other dog."

I agree with lizardlady. It's one of those reasons. I didn't used to have dogs that howled at sirens, then I got my first dog that did, and it taught my other dogs to do it, and those dogs taught my other dogs, and son and so forth... So, ever since then, my dogs have howled at sirens, even ones I can't hear, but they can.

They're so funny: I have 3 dogs right now, and all of them do it.

The funniest one is Sophie; she's a terrier/chihuahua mix, and when she hears a siren her howl is SO hilarious: it's this really low-pitched, h-rOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo.......... Like a really mournful wolf.
My other small dog, Patches, she just does this really annoying, high-pitched yelp/bark/howl thing. I really don't know what to call it.
And my other dog, a beautiful sandy colored (hence the name) German Shepherd, Sandy, she howls once, and only once, even if the siren is still loud.

I love dogs.

I can understand the sensitivity issue considering the decibels of the sirens but can also see where they can relate to it being like a howl.

Like TashaAnne63, the ones (Labs) did not used to howl and was sort of oblivious to the sirens until I moved next door to one who did, then they would join in with the neighbor's dogs. So in their case, I don't think it was a matter of being sensitive to it but more sensitive to the pack of other dogs. Unlike the Beagle, or Basset who would instantly howl at the sign of even a blip of police or fire siren, could be a sensitivity but in how they howled at so many other things, baying/howling at the moon and talking back howls, hmmm, could be they do relate to it as another howl(?).

The younger ones I have now have never howled either until the wolves began to howl one day in response to the sirens and then joined in as well. This somewhat surprised me because usually their response to the wolves is high alert, hackles up, and silence, listening to them. Instead they run around like nuts when it happens now and join the wolves, as if they were looking for the fire themselves, howling too and sounding just like that mournful wolf.

Either way, it always makes me chuckle. It is a such a different howl, even than the one that is used to, say, bay at the moon or when talking back. Cracks me up but SO hoping it is NOT hurting their ears.