Do You Know What the Best Music for Your Dog Is?

Just like with us humans, music has the ability to relax or stimulate our dog friends, with the difference that they can perceive frequencies imperceptible to our ears. If you want to calm your dog down after a hectic day with visitors at home or a vet visit, you'll want to know what the best music for dogs is.

This is a topic experts have researched extensively, and in fact, several studies conducted around the world offer scientific evidence about dogs' musical preferences. Stick with us to discover them. Let's begin!

Sound and Dogs

Dogs perceive sound in a way similar to us. They just need to perk up their ears to hear sounds at distances four times greater than what we can access. To give you an idea, humans reach up to 20,000 Hz, while dogs range around 10,000-50,000 Hz.

So, thanks to hearing being their second most developed sense after smell, they manage to calm down and fall asleep with slow, soothing music, even more so if they're in a familiar environment where the smells and belongings around them are theirs.

That said, the sound of firecrackers, fireworks, appliances, thunder, and gunshots stresses them out and causes anxiety, to the point of triggering nausea and/or a racing heart.

What Do Scientific Studies Say?

As we mentioned, several studies have been conducted in recent years on how music affects animals and what their preferences are. The most conclusive and well-known is the one carried out by Queen's University Belfast. Its goal was to find the type of sound that would boost dogs' wellbeing.

After dozens of tests, they concluded classical music is dogs' favorite genre. Listening to it, barking stopped, and their heart rate and breathing slowed down. Cats, elephants, and gorillas share this musical taste. In sick or recovering dogs, the resulting release of endorphins acts as a pain reliever.

A later study, conducted by the University of Colorado (USA), backs up these findings. A high percentage of the 100 dogs of different breeds sampled from various shelters stopped their nervous or fearful behavior when listening to slow music like classical, and became stressed with heavy metal or disco music.

The Best Music for Dogs, Other Evidence

Music therapy is an alternative therapy based on music's therapeutic properties. Just as it's yielded positive results in human patients with long hospital stays for heart conditions or cancer, exposing dogs to music achieves similar benefits.

Ethologists commonly use it for a wide range of situations — from correcting aggression and fear of firecrackers in dogs, to reversing hyperactivity in cats, helping both recover after surgery, or overcome separation anxiety.

Just 15 minutes a day is enough to start seeing improvement right away. Classical music, symphonic rock, jazz, and reggae are the most suitable for helping shift a negative mood into a more positive one. Not necessarily just to relax them — you can also try it during playtime.

Echoes of Nature

Besides the genres we just mentioned, sounds mimicking waves, waterfalls, or birdsong are equally beneficial, since they evoke nature. In an environment like that, it's easy to imagine running through a meadow or along the beach, don't you think?

The enveloping background sounds so characteristic of wellness centers or spas have a calming effect on dogs. In fact, we recommend that next time there's a storm or firecrackers going off in your area, try playing this kind of music to mask the outside noise. Your pet won't notice a thing.

Fun Facts

Although there can always be exceptions, dogs prefer calm sounds when it comes to relaxation, wellbeing, and entertainment. And they don't seem to be the only ones, since according to a study conducted by the University of Leicester (England), cows produce 3% more milk when listening to slow music.

They confirmed this by playing them Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony" and Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water." Did you know Richard Wagner's pet, Peps, played a role in creating several of his operas? This restless Cocker Spaniel got the composer to include an E major note in the opera "Tannhäuser" based on his barking.

In fact, his pet had his own corner in the studio and didn't hesitate to let him know his opinion on the pieces he composed. As you can see, it's undeniable that dogs' sensitivity goes beyond what many people believe, and they enjoy music just like we do. So, now you know — let your dog take part in this pleasure too.