Bugs Bunny claimed that music calms the savage beast. Is it true? Does music affect mood and behavior?
Have you ever noticed while driving how music influences your mood and behavior? Okay, imagine that you are listening to your favorite song that particularly gets you pumped up. The intense beat of the music is capturing so you raise the volume and really get into it. All of a sudden you hear the faint sound. You look at your speedometer and you are going 75 mph in a 55 mph zone. There are a great number of studies that prove that sound and music have a direct effect on the brains and moods.
There are some interesting pet tech gadgets and a CD collection that apply these principles to animals (specific to species). Each piece of music is composed to address anxiety and fear in dogs. Each uses music to calm dogs down. Each has been tested and evaluated. They have all been successful in reducing restlessness, anxiety, and respiration during the testing sessions like shelters and during stressful situations like at the vet.
To read about other holistic methods to calm dogs you may check out my article, 4 Natural Remedies for Fireworks Anxiety in which I included Pet Acoustics.
Pet Acoustics is a Bluetooth device provides 5-10 hours of calming music with a built-in repeat mode. The music resembles the new-age genre combined with orchestral music. Research by Janet Marlow, M.A. Founder, composer, and CEO of Pet Acoustics. Her music is tailored to species-specific hearing ranges. The music targets the pleasing points within the range of a particular species which has a calming effect. The music is specifically geared toward the hearing and brain activity of dogs to induce calmness. It addresses several issues. Pet Acoustics comes pre-loaded with music. The device has appeared in the media – ABC News, and others. Pet acoustics puts animals at ease acoustically and scientifically.
Pet Pause consists of a series of 4 CDs of harp music to calm dogs. It was developed by Sue Raimond who is considered a pioneer of harp enrichment/therapy for pets and people, is among the world experts in the field of cyto-cymatics and vibroacoustics. She has been a lecturer at Tufts University veterinary school on acoustical nourishment and stress management for animals. In fact, Bio-Whitaker funded an album for use with their animals and the U.S. Army Medical Institute of Research for Infectious Diseases has expressed interest in using her skills with the harp to alleviate stress and suffering amongst the animals. Bio-Whitaker funded one of her albums for use with their animals and the U.S. Army Medical Institute of Research for Infectious Diseases has expressed interest in using her skills with the harp to alleviate stress and suffering amongst the animals. To find out more about the creator, check out Sue Raimond’s bio on the Pet Pause homepage.
*To see a video from CBS News showing how animals react as Sue Raimond plays the harp click on the harp image below:
iCalm Dog is another amazing pet tech gadget. It’s my favorite. Veterinary neurologist Susan Wagner, psychoacoustic expert Joshua Leeds, and Julliard concert pianist Lisa Spector teamed up to create this pet tech gadget. Psychoacoustics is the study of sound and how the brain reacts to it. They took the scientific principles and applied them to the unique auditory and brain characteristics of dogs. Susan Wagner wrote a book along with Joshua Leeds called, “Through a Dog’s Ear Using Sound to Improve the Health & Behavior of Your Canine Companion.” iCalm is also designed to de-sensitize dogs to thunderstorms and other scary sounds and several other issues. The device was also discussed in Whole Dog Journal (June 2014, Vol. 17 Issue 6, page 22). For a subscription to that fabulous journal, you can click on the image on the sidebar. The device is also endorsed by celebrity dog trainer Victoria Stilwell who wrote a quite a bit about the iCalm Dog. One her articles, A Great New Way to Play Music for Your Dogs, she describes how it works and praises its success to calm dogs and to desensitize them to events that lead dogs to become stressed and nervous. The video below shows an older model, but it is basically the same.
To see a video that describes the specifics of the iCalm Dog and its scientific research CLICK HERE. It is a long video, but it is quite fascinating.
Here’s a video of the device being used at a shelter:
To see more videos and to listen the device check out the iCalmDog Youtube page.
