What would you say if someone told you to put on some reggae music … for your dog? Ya, mon! As crazy as it may sound, a study has found that playing a little rub-a-dub for Fido will make him a good pooch. If that doesn’t work, then perhaps you could try a spin of soft rock as that could do the trick too.
According to a study that was published in the Journal of Physiology and Behavior, dogs in animal shelters tended to lean towards reggae and soft rock than to any other genre. While this might conjure an image of pups bopping their heads in time to a Bob Marley hit, the fact is the effects the music has on the reggae-loving pets is more on the inside than on the outside.
According to researchers at the Scottish SPCA and the University of Glasgow, the study was done to see how different genres affected the stress levels and behaviors of dogs in shelters. PhD Student Amy Bowman confirms the results of the study.
She said it “clearly shows that music has an effect on a dog’s behavior.”
But, to reach that conclusion the researchers made the dogs wear heart monitors as they listened to different sorts of music including classical, Motown, and pop as well as reggae and soft rock. While they realized that, just like us, dogs too had individual tastes when it came to their music, the last two genres proved to be more popular with the canine crowd. According to Professor Neil Evans from University of Glasgow, they are partial to the “Big Music from the Little Rock.” He said:
“…reggae music and soft rock showed the highest positive changes in behavior.”
This spells good news to any dog that might find itself in an animal shelter which can be a scary and stressful environment at first. Their nervous and stressed behavior, apart from being bad for the pets themselves, will interfere with their chances of getting adopted as people thinking of taking one of them home usually prefer a dog that is relaxed and interacts with them and not one that cowers, barks, or shakes – all indications of fear and stress.
The results of the study have been found to be so conclusive that the Scottish SPCA has decided to invest in sound systems for all their kennels and promised to deliver on a canine-endorsed playlist for the four-legged reggae buffs to relax to.
Now, while it might seem so, this isn’t the first time this type of study has been done. As a matter of fact, this current study was a follow up on an original one that found dogs that listened to classical music not only barked less and lied down more, both signs of relaxation, but also that the effect wore off after about seven days. This suggested that the dogs either got used to the music or got bored with it, and this opened the door to the next experiment: Which genre of music would they not get tired of?
Well, now you know. So, turn that dial up and let Fido chill.
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