Does your dog like to listen to music? What music is good for dogs? Music designed specifically for dogs can soothe, relax, provide mental stimulation, and even improve behavior. Learn more about the type of music that’s best for your four-legged friend!
So yes, music is not just for humans. Dogs can benefit from some music too. However, not all music is the same when it comes to calming down your dog. Our guide covers the types of music that are best for dogs and how to use them to reduce their anxiety levels and keep them happy.
Choose organic, relaxing music
When choosing music to soothe your dog, choose something organic and relaxing. That said, music from natural sources such as classical music, jazz, blues, folk, or nature sounds are all great candidates. Avoid heavy metal, hip-hop, and other synthetic songs that are dog-bitter. Choose songs with slow rhythms and instrumental tracks to help you relax and feel relaxed.
Adjust the volume for dogs with sensitive ears
It`s important to consider the volume of your music or audio when playing it for your dog – some dogs have sensitive ears and too loud a noise can cause them stress. Volume levels should remain at a low decibel, just enough to be heard while not overwhelming their senses. If your dog is trying to hide or barking during music plays, turn down the volume according to their comfort levels.
Include canine-friendly tunes in the mix
Incorporating songs that were specifically composed used tones and frequencies known to help with calming dogs can be immensely beneficial. Dog Music specializes in music designed for any breed of dog at any age. There are also a variety of collections produced specifically for canine relaxation which have classical music re-orchestrated into canine friendly soundscapes. (Check YouTube)
Create a music playlist with familiar sounds
When creating a music playlist for your dog, make sure to include familiar sounds that are part of their daily life. Incorporate world and environmental sounds like birds chirping, running water, and laughter which can create a calming and relaxing atmosphere. You can also add some classical music pieces or instrumental versions of popular songs that contain stable tempos, repeating patterns and simple chord changes. This type of music can be mentally stimulating and may even help improve your dog’s behavior.
Play music at a constant speed
To reduce your dog’s anxiety level, you should find music with a steady, predictable tempo. Playing music at a slow pace and steady beat can help your dog relax. Stick to classical music as it has proven to be the most beneficial type of calm music genre. Choose from well-known composers such as Mozart, with more subtle variations that are great for unwinding. Choose music that is calming and discreet, without loud sounds or jarring dynamics.
The goal is to create a calming and relaxing atmosphere, so when choosing music for your dog, look for songs or melodies with a steady tempo and gentle dynamics. Avoid sudden and strong changes in volume or tempo. These drastic changes can startle your dog. The soothing music should inspire your furry friends to be active or move while conveying a natural sense of calm that helps relieve tension and stress.
Consider the genres of heavy reggae and soft rock
Music for dogs should be in a calming, rhythmic format that will hold the animal’s attention without being too stimulating. For this reason, consider genres like heavy reggae or soft rock that offer a steady pace with minimal melodies. Other popular genres include classical, folk, ambient techno, and new age music, all characterized by a warm sound and low beats. Depending on your dog’s temperament, experiment with familiar songs, nursery rhymes or light movie soundtracks in your preferred genre.
Consider your dog’s age and breed when choosing music
When choosing music, it’s important to consider your dog’s age and breed type. Dogs of different ages and breeds respond differently to different types of music. For example, older dogs may prefer slower genres, while younger dogs may benefit from funky or hip-hop tunes. Likewise, larger breeds may be more sensitive to low tones, while smaller breeds may find it more soothing with softer, higher tones. Experiment and find the one that works best for your dog!
For example, German Shepherds often respond best to classical music because of the distinct, gradual changes in tempo. Terriers also generally prefer rock music as noise and louder beats ensure attention. Finally, some experts believe that dogs learn commands and tricks much more easily when a song with the appropriate rhyme is played around them. This allows the animal to focus on the current activity, allowing for more effective learning.
In conclusion
Before listening to music for an extended period of time, make sure your pet likes the music you have chosen. Before playing music for your dog, make sure he enjoys it. Listen to the song for a short period of time and observe your pet’s reaction. If they seem surprised or taken aback by your choice of music, immediately change it. Whatever music you choose, it’s important that your dog can handle it. In this way they can benefit from the positive vibrations!
Gain an interesting insight into what music sounds like to dogs, by watching this video: “What Does Music Sound Like to Dogs?”
Here is a summary of the video transcript:
First, let’s talk about how humans conceptualize music. We have a point of reference and when you think about what’s going on in our brain, when we listen to our favorite songs, it’s quite incredible. A lot of it is built on our ability to recognize and predict patterns. For example, if I play arbitrary notes at random time intervals on my guitar, it sounds a little something like this. Not overly pleasant. It sounds more like noise than music to me and the wise crackers might say it sounds like jazz.
Repetiton
There needs to be some sort of repetition. One of the places where repetition occurs is in the rhythm. If I play arbitrary notes with an underlying time field, it’s definitely closer to our concept of music. We’re getting close here and now when I implement some sort of repetition in my note choices.
Most would agree that fundamentally this is music, even if it’s not to their taste. Throughout my entire example, I only use three different notes, C, E, or G. Right across my entire guitar. Our ear picks up on this subconsciously and is able to recognize it.
Patterns
Of course this is rather rudimentary. We can expand on these ideas and get more complicated based on our tastes, but for the most part we are identifying some sort of pattern that is agreeable to our senses. Even if it’s not happening on a conscious level.
From a very young age, our expectations begin to develop. Nursery rhymes are incredibly simple and not packed full of complicated jazz harmony or tiny little baby brains wouldn’t be able to keep up. As we get older, our brains develop and our taste advances to our conceptualization of music is built on the ability to recognize more and more complex patterns and the ability to predict future ones as well.
Dogs and Patterns
Our enjoyment of music is very much determined by how the music subverts these expectations or plays into them. So how does this apply to dogs? Well, it seems they can’t recognize these patterns, so their experience listening to songs will be vastly different than ours. People have tried but no one’s been able to prove that dogs can recognize rhythm like we do, which isn’t true for all animals.
In 2009, an experiment was done with a dancing cockatoo named Snowball who seemingly moved his body to the music. To test this, the tempo was sped up and down and he was able to stay in time. Since then the University of California proved that a sea lion named Ronan was also able to keep rhythm.
But as of now, no other mammals have been confirmed to do so, including dogs, Even the highly intelligent Bonobo is unable to interact with the rhythm, though it does appear that they can recognize when one is present. Even if you have seen footage of a dog dancing or playing an instrument online, remember not everything is as it appears on the internet.
Musical Pitch
What about music pitch? Well, it turns out that canines are able to recognize how high or low a note is. I have a friend named Darren and whenever we play music together, his dog starts howling like crazy. I looked into why this is and apparently the pup thinks that we are fellow members of the pack howling away so he joins them. Interestingly, if you try to match the pitch of the dog’s howl, he’ll change notes.
This phenomenon has also been recognized in recordings of the distant cousin of the dog, the wolf. Maybe the distance created when a pack of wild wolves are all howling away at different pitches is scarier in the wild. I don’t know, but their ability to do so and decipher this means that they’re able to recognize pitch.
Conceptualize?
Now, are they able to conceptualize the patterns within pitch? Likely not. But even if we did try to train a dog to comprehend music, it’s likely that’s not even possible given their intellectual ability. The simplest songs to a dog probably sounds like what Ornette Coleman sounds like to us.
However, it has been confirmed by researchers that dogs will react differently to different genres. According to an article in Psychology Today, research confirms that dogs have musical preferences and react differently to particular types of music. Psychologist Deborah Wells at Queen’s University in Belfast exposed dogs in an animal shelter to different types of music, and the kind of music that the dogs listen to made a difference.
What Music is Good For Dogs? – Musical Genres
When the researchers played heavy metal music, the dogs became quite agitated and began barking. Listening to popular music or human conversation did not produce behaviors that were noticeably different from having no sound at all. Classical music, on the other hand, seemed to have a calming effect on the dogs while listening to their level of barking was significantly reduced and the dogs often laid down and settled in place. It’s yet to be determined what elements of music cause this reaction.
Pitches
Interestingly, a dog will hear recorded music differently than live music because of our technology. There are high and low pitches that humans don’t pick up. Of course these notes still exist and there are some animals like dogs that hear many of the higher ones, which explains why a dog will freak out when it hears a dog whistle, while you’ll hear nothing.
But recorded music doesn’t capture the full spectrum of sound. We don’t capture the notes that are too high or low for us to hear because there’s no point. A dog which can hear these higher pitches, would notice them lacking in recorded music. Let me do a demonstration: what you’re hearing now encompasses the full range of human hearing. Now, here it is with the upper bid cut out. This may be a decent representation of how a canine might hear recorded music.
If you are interested in the topic “What Music is Good for Dogs?”, be sure to read this page also:
How to Get a Dog to Calm Down
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