ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — If you leave the radio on for your dog when you leave the house does it really help to battle their loneliness? Well, it depends on the music. Some studies have shown that heavy metal and hard rock music cause even more stress in dogs, but a new study shows us what kind of music does calm your canine.
Before you walk out the door what tunes do you leave on for your furry friend?
Dogs’ vocal ranges and heart rates are different from humans, so what pleases your ear may not please theirs. Researchers at the University of Glasgow studied dogs in a shelter for over five days. Each day they piped in music from a different genre: Classical, Soft Rock, Reggae, Motown and Pop. They then they monitored the dogs’ heart rates, cortisol levels, and movement. Scientists found that music of all types calmed down the shelter dogs, but…
Reggae and Soft Rock showed the highest positive changes in behavior. Researchers say these findings can help shelters because dogs that are calm are more likely to be adopted.
Unfortunately for cat lovers, cats just aren’t into human music. However, a composer at the University of Maryland developed music that contains frequencies and tempos similar to what cats use to communicate and it appears to be a hit with felines.
Contributors to this news report include: Jessica Sanchez, Producer; Roque Correa, Videographer and Editor; Gabriella Battistiol, News Assistant.
