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Music doesn't soothe the beast long

In search of ponies

link Sharna Johnson

Dogs tend to not like being confined and can get rather vocal about it — barking, whining, pacing and panting — and those are just the tame behaviors that show their discontent.

In addition to making noise, isolation can lead dogs to engage in a plethora of overt and destructive behaviors, especially if they are confined to a kennel or other small area for a significant amount of time.

They may not like it, but the reality is most pet dogs, at some point or another, will need to be placed in a travel crate, left indoors unsupervised or boarded at a facility while their people are out of town.

There are, of course, dogs for which the crate or kennel is no problem. With a little training and routine, they begin to see the crate as their own special place where they get to kick back and relax, and pups such as these sometimes even run gladly to their “bed” whenever they get the chance.

New puppies, those in unfamiliar circumstances, who have to be confined for extended periods of time and a number of other dogs, however, are not so likely to relax and can experience tremendous stress and anxiety once the door is closed.

And often, despite expert advice, leaving them with a loud ticking clock or radio static rarely seems to be a magic answer for what ails pups who don’t like being left alone.

Though it is irrefutably troublesome for pet owners who must leave their dogs for periods of time only to come home to a basket case of a pooch, the increase to a dog’s stress level in confinement is an issue that can be particularly profound for animal facilities, where dogs are often confined for weeks or months.

Interested in finding solutions, a research manager for the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals teamed up with a Glasgow researcher to see if music might help stressed dogs deal with confinement in adoption and rescue facilities.

For a one-week period, 6 1/2 hours of classical music was played daily for one group of kenneled dogs, while a second group was kenneled in a silent environment, then at the end of the first week, the groups were switched.

Observations of things such as heart rate and overall behavior revealed that the dogs who were exposed to classical music were far more relaxed and spent more time sitting calmly, while the dogs in the silent environment were more likely to move around and bark.

Male dogs, in particular, were found to respond to the music more than females, exhibiting greater changes in behavior and physiological state.

Interestingly, however, the study also revealed that the dogs acclimatized to having music played.

By the end of a week, the benefits provided by the music had ceased and most dogs had reverted to the same state as when they were kept in silence.

The revelation prompted a sub-study, in which the team discovered the changes brought on by the music generally faded by the second day, leaving them to conclude that more research is needed to determine how the power of music can be effectively used to help stressed dogs.

Knowing music makes a difference is a great start, but if looking at the same four walls are part of the problem, it stands to reason that listening to the same thing for a week might not be the answer.

And in the long run, science may just find it is the shuffle option, more than the music itself, which ultimately soothes the savage beast.

Sharna Johnson is a writer who is always searching for ponies. You can reach her at: [email protected]