Dogs can be very nervous. If they are struggling with separation anxiety or trying to recover from a terrible past, dogs may need something to calm them down. Music therapy is one way to help a dog with behavior or anxiety problems.

Music therapy works for dogs because they respond to the soothing effects of relaxing songs. In today’s noisy world full of sirens, motorcycles, lawn mowers, and multiple TVs, dogs might become overloaded with sensory input.

Recent studies have shown that music can greatly influence dog behavior. Their internal organs speed up or slow down depending on external rhythms, so they respond to the vibrations around them.

“Music is one way to control and mediate the sound environment,” said sound researcher Joshua Leeds, who recently co-authored a new book and CD set called Through a Dog’s Ear: Using Sound to Improve the Health & Behavior of Your Dog, along with veterinary neurologist Susan Wagner.

With 20 years of research in psychoacoustics, Leeds helped create music that could calm and modify dog behavior, and in the process, he found that dogs preferred classical music.

Researchers found that 70 percent of dogs in kennels and 85 percent of dogs in households showed a reduction of stressed-out behavior when listening to the CD.

Even when sounds create negative or aggressive canine behavior, music has been shown to relax and improve the general health and well-being of dogs.

Tags: calm dogs, classical music, Joshua Leeds, music therapy, psychoacoustics, separation anxiety