Dogs calmed more by classical music than audiobooks, new research shows

Classical music may help dogs settle when they are home alone, but playing audiobooks has no effect.

That is according to a just-published research paper from academics at Queen's University in Belfast (QUB).

The study found that playing classical music had a "moderately-calming effect" when separated from their owners.

However, it ultimately found that music and audiobooks have "little value to dogs in situations of short-term acute stress".

Previous Scottish research suggested that classical music had a calming effect on dogs in rescue kennels.

Subsequent research suggested that dogs particularly preferred listening to reggae and soft rock.

But researchers from the Animal Behaviour Centre at QUB's School of Psychology decided to study if classical music or audiobooks reduced stress for domestic dogs when they were separated from their owners for a short time.

Some dog owners leave music, the radio or an audiobook on when they are out or away from home, for instance, as they think it makes their dog feel they have company.

The QUB researchers said that separation from their owner was "a known short-term stressor" for dogs.

To test whether classical music or an audiobook reduced that stress, they played 82 dogs involved in the study a Mozart Sonata and the audiobook of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

They also played the dogs nothing while they were left without their owners for a short time in a research room at the university - the "control condition".

A variety of breeds were recruited for the study, all with the consent of their owners.

Each dog's behaviour was observed and recorded on video while they were played the classical music, the audiobook and nothing.

"Dogs exposed to classical music were significantly faster to lie down than animals in the audiobook condition and quicker to settle than animals in the audiobook and control conditions," the research paper said.

Dogs who listened to the audiobook did gaze at the speaker playing it.

But the researchers found that listening to an audiobook did not reduce the short-term stress dogs felt on being separated from their owners.

"Overall, findings point to only a moderately calming effect of classical music, and no apparent welfare benefits of an audiobook, on dogs separated from their owners," the paper said.

"There was nothing to suggest that human conversation in the form of an audiobook led to any welfare advantages."

"The research points to auditory stimulation having little value to dogs in situations of short-term acute stress."

However, the researchers also said that being played classical music or an audiobook did not have "any detrimental effect" on the dogs' welfare.

The research paper, entitled "The effect of auditory stimulation on pet dogs' reactions to owner separation" has just been published in the journal, Applied Animal Behaviour Science.

The study was led by Dr Deborah Wells from QUB's School of Psychology.