Who knows more about calming stressed dogs and cats than those devoted people who work in animal shelters. Lately, some of these folks are helping researchers develop a soundtrack to reduce the stress of this living situation for their charges.
Emily Weiss, Ph.D, CAAB, Senior Director, Shelter Research & Development for the ASPCA reported the results of a recent study from Hartpury College in the United Kingdom. “They examined dogs’ behavior with regular kennel sounds (control condition), classical music, pop music, the psychoacoustically designed dog music and audiobooks. And what they found was pretty cool: Dogs spent more time resting and less time in vigilant behaviors when listening to audiobooks vs. any other condition!” Pop music brought on the most barking in this study.
A Colorado State study, reported, “Results suggest that classical music leads to kenneled dogs spending more time sleeping and less time vocalizing than when exposed to other music types or no music.” The loser is this study was heavy metal music which increased body shaking, a behavior suggestive of nervousness.
Our Westie Poppy has her own calming music collection, loaded onto an old iPod, that keeps her company when she’s home alone.
Taking It Home
We have used music with all three of our dogs and some fosters. Our first Westie Sassy had a seizure disorder. We found that playing soft classical music seemed to help her during the recovery phase of her seizures.
We used the same CD of piano concertos when we fostered a wild boy Westie named Cooper. He was less excitable when we played the music. We even made a gift of that CD to his adoptive family, but soon found ourselves buying another copy for our Maggie Mae as she aged.
Maggie had very specific taste in music. She adored March of the Toreadors from the Opera Carmen. And whistling was always her thing. Any whistler could win her heart. When we left her behind at home or in a strange place, we would always leave music for her. Not only does familiar music soothe a dog, but it also helps to mask outside sounds that might cause the pup to bark.
Poppy, our third Westie, loves anyone who speaks with an accent. She is especially fond of Scandinavian and British-accented English. She’ll sit totally transfixed if we watch TV’s New Scandinavian Cooking. And, in a nod to the first study mentioned, audiobooks with British accents are among Poppy’s favorites.
Your Soundtrack
With this information at hand, you might want to see what sounds, music, voices, or genres calm your dog or cat. Are there times when you should don your headphones rather than expose your companion to your favorite heavy metal band or a violent movie filled with explosions and gunshots?
Can you prepare a mix of music or download an audiobook that will run on a loop and keep your animal company when you are away? There are recordings that are designed for calming dogs, but they did not test as better than classical music or audiobooks.
In addition to music, you might take a look at other parts of the soundtrack of your home. Dogs react to loud voices, fans, vacuum cleaners, banging doors, and so on. There may be other ways you can lessen stress for your animals by addressing some of these issues.
We know that sound causes stress for people, too. Examining and adapting the soundscape of your life may not only mean a happier dog or cat, but also a less stressed you.
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: Hism master's voice from Google images licensed for reuse. Poppy sleeping ©2017 Penny Cherubino
(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our City Paws newspaper columns.)