What Music will Relax Your Dog

Create The Ultimate Dog Song Playlist

Music has the power to excite, intrigue, and calm us, and studies are showing the benefits aren’t just for humans. When you see your puppy pal nodding off to a symphony track, it may not be because he’s bored.

Kilo gets pretty anxious sometimes so I wanted to find out what music might relax him.

Can Dogs really enjoy music?

You may have seen Baby Mozart tapes online and in stores, but what about Puppy Beethoven?

I knew a dog that howled along soulfully to exclusively Enya, seemingly having a preference for her low-toned voice. Perhaps Enya sounded like a long lost friend. Our wonderful Talent Hounds inspiration Louie loved “Oh Canada”, “Happy Birthday” and “Mary had a little lamb”, and frequently sang along with his Mom.

According to our friend Professor Stanley Coren in his article for Psychology Today, scientific analyses suggest that canines have a sense of pitch. Dogs and wolves howl as a form of communication. Upon hearing one animal howling other group members gather together and join in a song with their pack. Recordings of wolves have shown that each will change its tone when others join the chorus. The kind of human music that most often induces a dog to howl is produced on wind instruments, particularly reed instruments, such as clarinets or saxophones. Sometimes dogs can be induced to howl by a long note on the violin or even by a human holding a long note while singing like Louie.

My business partner’s rescue dog Rocky seems to relax to soft jazz and classical music.

Music Genres for Dogs

Dogs do appear to show preferences and reactions to genres of music. A study conducted by Deborah Wells of Queen’s University observed 50 shelter dogs while human conversation, pop, heavy metal music or classical music were played. The dogs were more active and agitated with the uptempo music and more relaxed when classical music was played. Wells stated that “it is now believed that dogs may be as discerning as humans when it comes to musical preference.”

There are plenty of musical choices available for pets. From Amazon‘s music CD’s and preloaded Bluetooth speakers to Spotify’s dedicated dog music channel.  But the question is, does a dog actually care about the music, or are these products simply meant to ease dog owners’ worries when they leave their dog alone at home?

Industry pioneer Lisa Spector of “Through a Dog’s Ear” has reportedly conducted extensive research to figure out if and why dogs like music.

Dogs can be difficult to compose for as their variety of shapes and sizes produces a variety of barks, yelps, and other vocalizations of different registers. A dog’s heartbeat can vary widely, with larger breeds like Great Danes having slower pulses than Pugs. The BPM (beats per minute) of a song is important to consider when playing music for dogs, as slower pulsed dogs will often prefer slower songs to relax to.

The pitch and volume of a song can be important too, as a certain note or loud music may hurt a dog’s sensitive ears.

Research on what music will relax your dog

Spector even teamed up with Joshua Leeds, a sound researcher, and a veterinary neurologist, Dr. Susan Wagner to conduct further research and has adapted her classical music based on the findings.

Wagner conducted a study based on research by Dr. Deborah Wells of Queens College in Belfast. The Belfast research measured the effects of five types of audio on 50 shelter dogs. These audio types included; human conversation, classical music, heavy metal, pop, and a control sound.

The results showed that dogs spent more time resting when exposed to classical and more time barking and vocalizing when exposed to heavy metal. These findings were later supported by Dr. Lori Kogan of Colorado State University who had similar results in her 2012 study.

What tunes will my puppy love?

Spector and her team created soothing classical music arrangements for anxious dogs. After considerable research, she and her team make quite a few changes to traditional classic pieces in order to make them even more relaxing to listen to for dogs. Some of the altered factors include;

• Complexity – The tracks are simplified to allow listeners to switch to passive hearing.
• Frequency  – The frequency is lowered as it is said to calm the canine nervous system.
• Speed – The tracks are slowed down to about 40-60 beats per minute to help slow down the heart rate.

Spector’s organization has donated their albums to over 1500 shelters where they have apparently seen some incredible results.

The tracks appear to help create a quiet, calming environment and dogs settle down. This has resulted in higher adoption rates as visitors tend to stay longer and feel btter and the dogs look more appealing.

In stressful environments, or for dogs who experience separation anxiety, a soothing mix of sounds may help prevent aggressive and antisocial behavior.

Specific dog-tracks can be found on Amazon and iTunes, though you might be able to find preferable music right in your own music library.

Making the Perfect Playlist

Animal Behaviourist Dr. Sands recently teamed up with the Deezer music streaming service to create puppy approved playlists for different moods. What were his suggestions?

For happy puppy play:

• Timbaland, Keri Hilson, D.O.E.,  The Way I Are
• OutKast, Hey Ya!
• Bee Gee’s, Stayin’ Alive
• Salt-N-Pepa,  Push It
• Avicii, Wake Me Up

For relaxing Doggie nerves:

• Bob Marley & The Wailers, Could You Be Loved
• Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody
• Justin Bieber, Love Yourself
• Adele,  Someone Like You
• Snoop Dogg, Charlie Wilson, Justin Timberlake, Signs

Our Classical Recommendations:

• Debussy – Clair de Lune
• Chopin – Étude in A-Flat Major, Op. 25, No. 1 “Aeolian Harp”
• Chopin – Nocturne op.9 No.2
• Debussy – Rêverie
• Saint-Saens, Camille – The Swan