Most dogs do like music, but just like most humans, they like some, but not all kinds of music. What dog owners tend to appreciate most is when dogs find music to have a calming or relaxing effect on their dogs.
Understandably, dog owners would be interested in using music to facilitate calmness; it’s a zero-cost intervention that helps their dogs become the well-behaved companions they would like them to be! And there is evidence that some music does indeed help dogs relax. A study found that dogs appeared significantly less agitated after listening to selections of classical music. Their breathing slowed and they were less likely to pace around or remain standing. Researchers found that reggae and soft rock selections also had a calming effect on dogs.
In contrast, short, quick notes tended to increase a dog’s rapid motor movements. Even worse, heavy metal resulted in tremors and shaking –not calming! Some variety is also important; dogs tune out music that they hear all the time, even calming classical music; it loses its relaxing effect if it is too repetitious.
Find Your Dog’s Calming Music
So where can you find this magic calming music? Here are a few sources for relaxing dog music:
- iCalmPet claims that its calming music downloads are “psychoacoustically designed to support your dog’s nervous system function.” We know, at the very least, they are relaxing for us to listen to!
- Spotify has a tool that allows you to create a pet playlist for your dog.
- YouTube has several sites that provide long hours of calming music.
