Tunes to rock your dog's world

Kim Campbell Thornton • E-mail

Whenever Green Day’s "Geek Stink Breath" played on the music channel, Jim Snider of Little Hocking, Ohio, would scratch the hind quarters of Oslo, his Norwegian Elkhound, in time to the song. Now, whenever Oslo hears the tune, he finds Snider and presents his backside so he can get a good butt rub.

Stuart Milliken’s dog Kona likes to vocalize to music. He’s especially fond of live music — Milliken, who lives in China, and his friends play recorders and guitars — and jolly Italian baroque recorder sonatas are a favorite.

And Marsha Herman of Hamden, Conn., says that when she taught instrumental music, her dogs and cats didn’t mind low-sounding instruments such as trombones, baritones and tubas, but they left the room instantly at the sound of a violin, oboe or saxophone.

Clearly, some dogs associate music with good times or seem to respond to it either positively or negatively, but can it have a therapeutic effect? To paraphrase playwright William Congreve, can music soothe the savage beast? Some pet professionals and musicians believe the answer is yes.

A study led by Deborah Wells at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland demonstrated that classical music calmed dogs, making them rest more and stand up less.

First-hand experience is proof enough for trainer Pam Dennison of Blairstown, N.J. One day she decided to play some rock 'n' roll to loosen up the people in her class on dealing with aggressive dogs. By the end of the session, she realized it had loosened up the dogs as well.

“Everybody was be-boppin’ around and they forgot to be scared, and so did the dogs,” Dennison says.

Now she often uses music for the same purpose in puppy kindergarten classes or in private sessions if a dog seems unusually nervous. She plays around with different types of music until she figures out what a particular dog likes.

“I have Vivaldi, I have show tunes," she says. "There was one dog that hated classical music, but she really likes Harry Connick Jr. I find that most of the dogs in the aggressive-dog class really like 60s rock 'n' roll. Any time dogs seem to be nervous, I add music to see if it has a bearing. It usually does.”

Lonesome blues
When animal behavior therapists are presented with dogs or cats that have separation anxiety, it’s standard for them to recommend that owners play soft music or talk radio when the animal is left alone.

Nicholas Dodman, a professor and program director of the Animal Behavior Department of Clinical Sciences at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton, Mass., recalls a conversation with a man at his gym who was concerned because his wife was threatening to get rid of their cat, who made a habit of throwing up on the couple’s white carpet. Upon discovering that the cat threw up only when it was left alone, Dodman recommended playing music or the radio to relieve the silence. A few weeks later, Dodman saw the man again and asked about the cat. “He said, ‘Oh, it’s great. I leave the radio on now and he doesn’t do it anymore,’ ” Dodman says.

That said, Dodman isn’t persuaded that music itself is what’s beneficial. “I do think that sounds are very important,” he says. “I have people make a tape of household sounds that includes people talking, the TV being on in the background, the dishwasher, even some words for the pet — ‘Hey, what’s up, Ralphie? How are you doing?’ Then they play this tape when they’re away and … when the door shuts the animal’s not faced with absolute silence but rather the same auditory backdrop it would have when people are there.”

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