Is Your Dog “Mutts” for Mozart?

Is Your Dog "Mutts" for Mozart? 

As I was brushing my Corgi the other day, I started to mindlessly hum a silly little tune.  Just something that was sort of a combination of two songs that my dad used to sing to me when I was a little kid.  I never even knew most of the words anyway, and my dad was certainly not a great singer, but I definitely remembered the tunes.

At any rate, I hummed along while I was sitting on the floor with Indy, and he seemed to relax even more than he usually does during a brushing session.  That set me to wondering about the connection between music and dogs. 

Of course that sent me directly to the internet where upon I discovered that there are several CDs specifically for calming dogs!  And, I also remembered having read something long ago about the effects of the music of Mozart on babies still in the womb and newborns.

There was a study done in the department of psychology in Belfast, Ireland using four kinds of music.  The study said that classical music encouraged relaxation.  Dogs barked far less and rested for greater lengths of time.  They were also better behaved and more relaxed with the choice of classical music rather than heavy metal or music with voice.  Listening to heavy metal music, in fact, resulted in highly agitated dogs that spent large amounts of time standing and not resting.

Specific beat sequences have an effect on brain waves and so, the emotions.  The sonatas of Mozart seem to have a strong calming effect.  There have been several recently released compact discs that are specifically designed for dogs and their guardians.

Maybe if you play some classical music for your dogs, it will soothe them…they say that music soothes the savage beast.  Just a thought.