As a pet sitter that has covered daily dog walking in Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, and Milwaukee counties, I’ve seen many clients that have left music on for their dogs while the pups are home alone. The number of clients that do so increases for pet sitting clients whose dogs and cats are alone more often than usual. Does leaving music on in your absence really affect your pet? It can, but the kind of music matters.
Some leave the radio on, and some a specific CD or playlist. One of my radio-fan clients leaves theirs on as they think the voices simply talking help their cat not feel as alone (NPR is their cat’s favorite). With my last dog, we’d always leave the radio on for him with the same mindset that any music would help and it could also drown out some background noise. However, when Tucker developed separation anxiety, we looked into the musical aspect more.
In the studies that have been done, certain types of classical music have proven to be the most beneficial at calming, and heavy metal has shown to cause more anxiety than the pet started with. As more research is done into benefits of music on dogs, more solutions have arisen. There are CDs specifically loaded with classical music shown to increase relaxation in stressed pets, those recovering from medical procedures, or those in a shelter environment. There is also a product called Pet Tunes which is a little speaker or collar that has been preloaded with calming songs specific to dogs or cats. I’ve used the Pet Tunes cube and aw significant improvement with my storm-phobia pup. Because of our(and other clients) success with it, Wisconsin Pet Care provided them to clients with anxious pets during vacation sits. You can find more information here.
If your dog suffers from anxiety or you’d just like some extra relaxation techniques, give classical music a shot and see the results for yourself.
