Music and Sound for Anxious Dogs
DON’T Use the RelaxoPet Pro!
When using sound to help a dog relax, always make sure the sound is not causing your dog more stress like the RelaxoPet Pro absolutely will. Lets go through my basic list of sound recommendations and over-the-counter calming aids. Then we will review why I trust some products while I openly discourage others.
When looking for calming sounds for an anxious pet make sure you aren’t taken in by the over-zealous promises. Some products say they cure separation anxiety or stop all nuisance barking or are proven to relax dogs and cats. The first 2 claims are either false or using something your dog doesn’t like (like high frequency tones) to suppress your dog’s behavior but not actually “relax” your dog or “cure” the root of your dog’s discomfort. The third claim - proven to relax dogs and/or cats - may be true of some products based on a number of studies, but that doesn’t inherently mean that the same sounds and music will work the same for ALL dogs.
My list of sound recommendations for pets:
Your favorite mellow music that your dog or pet has shown an ability to relax around
Generic sound and noise machines (white noise, brown noise, pink noise, or repeated sounds)
Like the Yogasleep brand found on Chewy
Double check that any pet-focused noise machine does not have “sonication,” “vibration,” or “high frequency” components
Mutt Muffs - train your dog to happily wear these if they are sensitive to high-frequency sounds like fire alarms, beeps, or metallic squeaks
iCalmPet - previously known as “Through a Dog’s Ear”
Music on its own on Amazon, Spotify, CD, Download
Speakers sold by their website shop at icalmpet.com
Pet Acoustics Pet Tunes speaker - on Chewy
My list of over-the-counter calming aids for dogs:
Dog Appeasing Pheromones (DAP) - Thunderease a.k.a Adaptil is an example. It comes in a 30-day diffuser (my personal preference), 30-day collars, and temporary sprays for travel events.
While it may not “solve” a dog’s noise aversion or anxiety about other things, DAP has been well-studied and my reading of the studies combined with my personal (very anecdotal) experience - it takes the edge off of fear, anxiety, and noise phobia/aversion. (Sheppard and Mills 2003; Denenberg and Landsberg 2008; Landsberg et al. 2015).
Thunder shirt - Not for every dog, but worth a try if your dog already likes clothing or snuggling in close when they are anxious. Not recommended for particularly skin-sensitive or clothing-averse dogs.
*Everything else in this list should be double-checked with your vet as they are ingested! Always check consumable supplements with your veterinarian first.
Calming Probiotics - one example is Purina’s Calming Care Probiotics
L-Theanine - specificially Virbac Anxitane, VetriScience Composure, and NutraMax Solliquin. Unstudied supplements with L-theanine may or may not have effective doses or sometimes even a listing of how much is in them.
Zylkene
How to Use Sound Products for Pets and Pet Music
The main reasons I use recorded sound in my training are to mask other sounds that might make a pet anxious, associating sound WITH relaxation, and in a controlled way to desensitize a dog to sounds they actively dislike.
Masking Other Sounds
So lets look at the first reason I use calming sounds - masking other sounds. This is very common when working on separation anxiety in dogs but can be relevant to any dog or pet who has big feelings about sounds in various contexts. The music or sound does not necessarily need to be louder than the scary or annoying sounds - often the masking music just needs to be closer and more present for the dog than the sounds we are trying to make less concerning. According to studies, many dogs who have separation anxiety or alone time issues also have sound sensitivities. Worrisome sounds aren’t always thunder and fireworks (though that is extremely common). A sound-sensitive dog may be fearful or uncomfortable with high-frequency sounds like beeps, electronics running, and air breaks or other sounds that might be associated with something like jingling metallic sounds are associated with another dog approaching (collar tags).
When using sound as a masking tool, make sure it is not incredibly loud so that if your dog needs to rest or relax, it is easy to do so with the sound running. I often use white noise or pink noise as a masking sound for dogs, but many of my separation anxiety clients successfully use their favorite playlist of mellow music. The point of the masking music is for your dog to find it unobtrusive and possibly calming, but also to be more present in their sense of hearing than whatever is happening outside.
One very important note on masking sounds - sometimes something similar to the sound you are masking is useful but sometimes it is not! Some trainers have had success with Bluegrass masking metal sounds like keys, clinking collar tags, or something metallic in the hallway. But you want to AVOID something like classical music with occasional big loud drums if your dog is sensitive to thunder or fireworks. That is why I like the iCalmPet music in particular - they have options of different types of music but they really won’t feature any sudden or surprising sounds that radio music might. Some studies suggest it really is calming music for dogs but sometimes it seems to have no effect on behavior - similar to white noise. In a masking context, that is ok for us since having something neutral works. Their most common albums are more classical and piano inspired.
Association with Relaxation
This is a more intentional process of encouraging your dog to feel relaxed while specific music or sound is on. This is a legitimate way to help your dog learn how to relax in a variety of situations - in the car, in new spaces, at the vet, when you leave, the list goes on. The process starts off fairly simple, but it does take setting yourself up for success by making the music easy to access and making a plan.
First you want to note what times and in what situations your dog is truly relaxed. If your dog is NEVER relaxed - that is definitely a discussion to have with a veterinarian, veterinary behaviorist, and/or a trainer (I can help!) because your first step will actually be helping your dog learn how to relax at all. But for most dogs - once you know the context when your dog is most relaxed, start regularly playing the sound that you want to indicate it is relaxation time. You can use any sound that your dog does not mind - so it can be pet music, mellow music, or white/pink noise, or just a CD of relaxing nature sounds (again if your dog actually finds it unobtrusive, NOT if they find it concerning or stimulating). Play it fairly softly and let your dog relax. If your dog is most relaxed while snuggling - play it while you snuggle and you can offer long, slow pets if your dog likes them. Repeat this quite a few times - you are not training a behavior here, you are just associating the sound with the relaxation that is already happening which can take repetition.
After you have done this on a number of occasions (this may be different for every dog), then you will try using the music at a less relaxed time - but do NOT start with an actual scary situation or distracting environment. Ideally, try playing the music at a time when your dog is wakeful but not over-stimulated or experiencing stress. See if they can relax and maybe even lay down in that moment. If you have been offering the long, slow pets - you can do that as well in case it helps them relax. If it doesn’t work on the first try that is OK! Repeat playing the music in relaxing moments and try another time or in a different spot.
Over time, I love to get all the senses involved in this if you have the patience for it - use a lavender scent on a bandana, play the calm music, give gentle slow pets, and use a particular relaxation mat - all of these things can be portable to bring with you anywhere!
The association game can be a long one for some dogs- be incredibly patient with it. If you have to do something hard with your pet and they haven’t fully associated the sound with relaxing - don’t try to use it yet! Preserve your hard work while it is still building up and use alternative relaxation methods if you have any on hand, otherwise just do your best! You want to build a BIG bank of relaxation with the calming sound before you try to withdraw from it. If you withdraw from the bank too soon, too often, or too much at once - it can end up having the opposite association than we intended - sound equals scary thing like nails cut or thunder storms.
Desensitization and Counter-Conditioning (Training)
I will sometimes use sounds that a dog does not particularly like when training or when socializing puppies. I am not going to go into a full explanation here but may cover both of these topics down the road. The main takeaway here is that your dog may benefit from being carefully exposed to sounds while doing something they love - like play or getting snacks. But this process requires understanding and listening carefully to your dog’s body language to ensure you do not OVER-expose them to a sound. While desensitizing is a useful training tool, “flooding” a dog with an experience is NOT an effective training technique. Let me know in the comments if you want me to get into the details about flooding versus desensitization versus counter-conditioning in a future blog.
How NOT to Use Sound
I never intentionally use sound to make a dog or pet stop what they are doing; only to help them practice something alternative that makes the pet more relaxed. (One exception: issues of safety or emergency). Using a sound in an aversive way, or a way that your leaner doesn’t like, to encourage them to stop doing a behavior, may make a dog MORE anxious and stimulated OR practice an alternative unwanted behavior. Examples of using sound aversively could be clapping, high frequency tones that dogs are more sensitive to, or very loud music. A common way I see alternative behaviors being expressed is in dogs experiencing separation anxiety. If they have been encouraged to stop barking using aversive techniques, sometimes they WILL stop barking - but will then end up going to the bathroom inside when alone or switch to ripping up the doors and wall. In any case of anxiety or over-stimulation, a pet’s behavior is NOT a choice - it is coming out of an involuntary place of anxiety where they need to learn to FEEL SAFE and RELAXED to resolve the root of the problem.
So just to make it clear - Suppressing behavior is not a long-term effective solution. To really resolve issues related to over-stimulation or anxiety in dogs and pets, you NEED to help your dog learn how to relax in that situation.
Sometimes medication can be helpful while helping your dog learn to relax, but often it is not the entire solution. Some form of careful training (sound association, counter-conditioning, or alternative behaviors), desensitization (only exposure to what they can calmly handle), and management (like masking sounds, avoiding the things they can’t calmly handle) are generally needed to fully teach your pet that they are safe and/or can be calm.
What does the research say about music for anxious dogs?
There have been a number of studies over the years on the effects of music and sound on dogs and other animals. Sometimes music and audio-books seem to have amazing effects and sometimes limited or no effect. Some of this variation may be because different studies use different pieces of music - “Classical music” actually covers quiet a wide range of sounds. There is a lot we still don’t know while researchers are still working on separating out precisely what about music and sounds has an effect on dog and animal behavior and internal chemical processes (Kriengwatana 2022). One very interesting study specifically looked at the effects of the pitch and tempo of music on dog behavior (Amaya et al 2021). They carefully chose distinct pieces of music (see references below if you want to know which music they used). In this study they did not find conclusive differences between various tempos, but they did find that low-pitched music caused dogs to be more active and lay down for less time - possibly more vigilant and on-alert. The researcher’s theory on why lower-pitched music caused more alert activity is because low-pitched vocalizations from dogs are associated with aggressive motivations.
Overall, sound and music enrichment DOES have an effect on dog behavior. Most often, this type of enrichment seems to cause more time resting and laying down for dogs in shelters and kennels. Resting is a good thing! In general, if the same type of sound is played for a few hours every day for a week or more, then the benefits do seem to wear off. So changing it up a bit might be a good plan. Lower-pitched music and sound may still technically be “enriching” for dogs, but be cautious about using low-pitched music if you are aiming for relaxation!
So What’s Wrong With the RelaxoPet Pro?
Pure and simple - it uses a prolonged and aversive sound to suppress your dog’s behavior.
In the instructional video and in their written instructions for how to start exposing your dog to the device - this product sounds like any other pet music product. You play the music when your dog is already relaxed or at a time they often relax while you hang out calmly your - and they relax. Repeat a few times. That first part really is fine - it is just a speaker playing some music.
However, they recommend when you use it for the first time in a “training” context when you leave, that you then switch on the non-audio vibrations/subliminal noise. Some people even leave the non-audio vibrations on all day (please no!) and turn off the audio sounds.
These “vibrations” that they also call “subliminal noise” is what they claim helps alleviate stress and panicked reactions. These are actually extremely LOUD high-frequency sounds that are higher pitched than humans can generally hear, but dogs can hear just fine. The device can detect when your dog is moving or vocalizing and when it does - it play this very ultrasonic sound loudly for 20-30 minutes. After that, if they move or vocalize again, it will play again for 20-30 minutes.
Not only do I think 20-30 minutes of loud sound is inhumane, I also think this is a completely ineffective way to actually convey what a dog is doing right or wrong. A dog would basically learn that doing anything at all ends up hurting their ears, so they should do absolutely nothing. The after-effects of this type of behavior suppression could be enormous. If a dog feels unable to walk around, get a drink of water, or even self-amuse with appropriate play and chewing on legal chews - they will probably have that much more nervous intense energy when you come home and the device is shut off.
Just on a human and dog safety note - the device says not to hold it too close to your ear because it may cause hearing damage. Again, that is because the high-frequency sound it emits is actually extremely loud even if you can’t perceive it - your ears will still be effected by the sound vibrations.
This is not the only product like this out there - be careful and read carefully when buying pet speakers and products.
Avoid any pet product that uses vibrations, ultrasonic sound, high frequency sound, subliminal sound, or says it is a “training device.”
On a Happier Note!
There is a ton of awesome research out there about how helpful sound and music can be when helping our dogs relax and learn to feel safe.
That’s my two-cents, and I welcome comments! Happy Training!
References:
Amaya V, Descovich K, Paterson MBA and Phillips CJC. (2021). Effects of music pitch and tempo on the behaviour of kennelled dogs. Animals (Basel) 11(1): 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11010010.
Amaya V, Paterson MBA and Phillips CJC. (2020). Effects of olfactory and auditory enrichment on the behaviour of shelter dogs. Animals 10(4): 581. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10040581.
Algers B. (1984). A note on behavioural responses of farm animals to ultrasound. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 12(4): 387-391. https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-1591(84)90130-8.
Blackshaw JK, Cook GE, Harding P, Day C, Bates W, Rose J and Bramham D. (1990). Aversive responses of dogs to ultrasonic, sonic and flashing light units. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 25(1-2): 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-1591(90)90064-K.
Blackwell EJ, Bradshaw JWS, Casey RA. (2013). Fear responses to noises in domestic dogs: Prevalence, risk factors and co-occurrence with other fear related behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 145(1-2): 15-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2012.12.004.
Bowman A, Scottish SPCA, Dowell FJ and Evans NP. (2015). ‘Four Seasons’ in an animal rescue centre; classical music reduces environmental stress in kennelled dogs. Physiology & Behavior 143: 70-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.02.035.
Bowman A, Scottish SPCA, Dowell FJ and Evans NP. (2017). The effect of different genres of music on the stress levels of kennelled dogs. Physiology & Behavior 171: 207-215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.01.024.
Brayley C and Montrose VT. (2016). The effects of audiobooks on the behaviour of dogs at a rehoming kennels. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 174: 111-115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2015.11.008.
Denenberg S and Landsberg GM. (2008). Effects of dog-appeasing pheromones on anxiety and fear in puppies during training and on long-term socialization. Journal of the American Veterniary Medical Association 233(12): 1874-1882. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.233.12.1874.
Grigg EK, Chou J, Parker E, Gatesy-Davis A, Clarkson ST and Hart LA. (2021). Stress-Related Behaviors in Companion Dogs Exposed to Common Household Noises, and Owners' Interpretations of Their Dogs' Behaviors. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8:760845. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.760845.
Kinnaird RF and Wells DL. (2022). The effect of auditory stimulation on pet dogs’ reactions to owner separation. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 254: 105688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105688.
Kogan LR, Schoenfeld-Tacher R and Simon AA. (2012). Behavioral effects of auditory stimulation on kenneled dogs. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 7(5): 268-275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2011.11.002.
Kriengwatana BP, Mott R and Carel ten Cate. (2022). Music for animal welfare: A critical review & conceptual framework. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 251: 105641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105641.
Landsberg GM, Beck A, Lopez A, Deniaud M, Araujo JA and Milgram NW. (2015). Dog-appeasing pheromone collars reduce sound-induced fear and anxiety in beagle dogs: a placebo-controlled study. Veterinary Record 177(10): 260-260. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.103172.
McConnell P. (2013). New Research on Dogs and Music. Available online: https://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/new-research-on-dogs-and-music [(accessed on 23 June 2023)].
Overall KL, Dunham AE, Frank D. (2001). Frequency of nonspecific clinical signs in dogs with separation anxiety, thunderstorm phobia, and noise phobia, alone or in combination. Journal American Veterinary Medicine Association 219: 467–473.
Overall KL, Dunham AE, Scheifele P and Malowski KS. (2019). Fear of noises affects canine problem solving behavior and locomotion in standardized cognitive tests. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 221: 104863, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2019.104863.
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Additional Learning:
The Other End of the Leash: blog at https://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/
Eileen Anderson. Sound Decisions: A Webinar on Sound and Dogs
Eileen and Dogs: blog at https://eileenanddogs.com/
