Nowadays, lots of dog owners are convinced that their pooches really enjoy listening to music, and they have made use of gentle relaxing sounds to help their dogs remain calm when they are at home alone.
Several animal shelters play soothing music to help calm their 4- legged residents down. This technique has been particularly effective for dogs in shelters during Fireworks night, because it aids the dogs coping with the deafening bangs and distress they often experience due to fireworks.
We as dog owners have a very human tendency to project onto our pets, and assume that they will like what we like…. assuming that if they like Mozart, their dog will like Mozart, and if they like Rock music, they say their dog prefers Rock.
But research has recently shown that although dogs do share our enjoyment of music, they actually prefer a different drum altogether!! They seem to enjoy whats known as ” species specific music”, tunes especially designed using the pitches, tones and tempos that are familiar to their particular species.
According to a Charles Snowdon…an animal psychologist, creating the right music ditties for you dog is more complicated because for the music to be 100% effective it all depends on the size, vocalisation sound and heart rate of your dog.
eg. An Irish Wolf Hound would need to listen to a different type of music than a West Highland Terrier.
But for the cat owners out there, it would seem things are not so complicated and there are 3 styles of music currently out there to be bought….
Kitty Ditties
Cat Ballads
And the most popular….”.Feline Airs”…..based on the pulses of a kitty’s purr.
So the answer is YES, our dogs do like music and it does have many advantages, but for maximum effect it would seem the music needs to be “Taylor Made” to your specific breed.