Itunes, Your Tunes … and now Dog Tunes??
Have you ever caught your dog watching TV or cocking his/her head at a speaker while your Ipod is playing? Ever thought that maybe your dog and you may have the same choice in music?
We all have our favorite tunes, and today’s music technology has made it easier than ever to obtain, organize, categorize, and play our tune of choice in multiple mediums whenever and wherever we want: cruising down the road, working around the house, working-out at the gym, running to our next meeting, or even on that hike in the woods! We are so connected to our music these days, but have you ever wondered about the impact our music choice, and the volume at which its played, has on our dogs? No? Well, here at Dogtopia of Dulles (http://dogdaycare.com/dulles), we have!!
Early on, we installed multi-media music players in our dog rooms for use by our daycare staff while they manage the dog rooms. Like you and me, each daycare staff member has his/her favorite kind of music: from rock, to country, to electronica, to trance, to oldies, to classical, to … and the list goes on. Over the course of a few weeks, we started to see a correlation between the type of music played and the dog energy level in each dog room. This prompted us to do some research in the area of Psychoacoustics (”the study of the perception of sound” in “dealing with hearing, the sensations produced by sound, and the problems of communication”) and animal Bioacoustics (”the study of sound in non-human animals”). This is not a new area of study. Scientists have been at this for quite some time and have concluded some really interesting results: “country music best brought cows home, classical music made cows produce more milk, dolphins swam in exuberant synchrony to Bach, classical music relaxed dogs”.
There is a great, quick-read book titled Through a Dog’s Ear, by Joshua Leeds (psychoacoustic expert) and Susan Wagner (veterinary neurologist), in which some of the best, most extensive research has been assembled on the impact of sound on dogs. The authors reveal that dogs are just as discerning as humans when it comes to sound, and that dogs are just as susceptible as humans to the impact of sound from the orienting response to sensory confusion to over-stimulation. This book is eye, or rather ear, opening and offers suggestions on how to use sound as a tool with/for your dog in stressful situations. The book also includes a 45 minute sample CD of calming music for your dog.
Does it work? Clinical trials revealed calming in 70% of dogs in kennels/shelters and 85% of dogs in households. Here at Dogtopia of Dulles, the proof is in our dog rooms: we have calmed rambunctious Gym dogs, stressed Lounge dogs, and even tireless Toybox puppies with the use of Through a Dog’s Ear psychoacoustically designed music CDs.
Check out the book and/or visit their website at http://www.throughadogsear.com/ … it may help benefit not only your dog, but you too!! Let us know about your results!
Tags: dog music, dog tunes, sound and dogs
