“This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.”
We enjoy listening to it at home, at work, in the car, in the store, and almost any place we go. Music appears to hit upon our stressful lives pretty much every single day. No wonder, songs and tunes can be vitally important to many humans. It can make us calm, content, and happy despite our demanding lifestyles. But did you have any idea that your pooch can also be calmed by music? Recent studies have shown that by playing music, animals tend to become more calm and at ease even in new surroundings.
What Music Do Dogs Like to Listen To?
Online digital music streaming service, Deezer, found that our four-legged friends aren’t that different from us and need music to enhance their overall health and happiness. These findings come from a study done in partnership with internationally renowned and respected animal behaviorist Dr. Sands, which explores the effect of music on animals, including variables such as track frequency and beats per minute (BPM)*.
Recognizing that music can have a profound effect on a dog’s health and happiness, Deezer and Dr. Sands created two canine-approved playlists: one keeps pups content and chilled to contribute to tip-top health, while the other releases the “paws” button for ultimate happiness.
The Best Songs to Make Your Pooch Happy
- The Prodigy — Firestarter
- Major Lazer, Fuse ODG & Nyla — Light it Up
- Skepta — Shutdown
- Daya — Sit Still, Look Pretty
- Timbaland, Keri Hilson, D.O.E. – The Way I Are
- Avicii — Wake Me Up
- Salt-N-Pepa — Push It
- OutKast — Hey Ya!
- Underworld — Born Slippy (Nuxx)
- Bee Gees — Stayin’ Alive
The Best Songs to Chill Your Canine
- Bob Marley & The Wailers — Could You Be Loved
- Adele — Someone Like You
- Blur — Parklike
- Justin Bieber — Love Yourself
- Caribou — Can’t Do Without You
- Baz Luhrmann — Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
- The Stranglers — Golden Brown
- Queen — Bohemian Rhapsody
- Snoop Dogg, Charlie Wilson, Justin Timberlake —Signs
- Pulp — Common People
What Now?
Several animal shelters have already begun playing soothing music to help quiet their 4-legged residents down. This technique has been discovered to be particularly effective for dogs in shelters during New Year’s Day or July 4th because it aids the dogs in coping with the deafening bangs and distress they often experience due to fireworks.
Fortunately, the effects of music on a dog’s well-being has spread even further to vet clinics as well. Research has shown that hospitalized pooches tended to have lower heart rate when harp music was being played to them. This suggests that music does not only help animals relax, but recover faster from their health problems, too. It appears that both humans and pets can get better more easily whenever they feel calm, peaceful, and are not making a great effort to cope.
Although not very surprising, it’s worthy to note that dogs are actually not very keen on certain percussion instruments which are somewhat reminiscent of gunshot sound. Pooches also seem to dislike the word “No” added into songs.
Nowadays, lots of dog owners are convinced that their pooches really enjoy listening to music and have made use of gentle, relaxing sounds to help them remain calm at home alone during the day, to recuperate from sickness or surgery, as well as to promote their welfare. It surely won’t be long before our four-legged furry companions will have their own unique music shops, collections, track list, and favorites stored in their own doggie iPods!
Mike
Apr 17, 2020 at 7:07 am
Hi,
Thanks for posting the awesome content. I have found a great tips hear. I have one pitbull and one cat in my home. sometime i feel bore to maintain them both at a time. Now i will manage a sound system to control them.
Barianna clancy
Aug 7, 2019 at 12:36 pm
My dog loves to listen to justin bieber for some reason!
Kelli from DogBedsView
Aug 2, 2019 at 2:51 am
I have two babies. Fred and Ginger loves Avicii. Wake me up song is one of the favorites.
Lina
May 14, 2019 at 5:22 am
My Bulldog Kobe loves taylor swift music
Angilia T P
Dec 26, 2018 at 5:44 am
When my dog hear any hip hop music ,he start to dance and I enjoy it
Simon
Nov 13, 2018 at 11:26 pm
I think playing music around pets is a great idea.
It’s not just music that can be beneficial to dogs, it is sounds as well.
Playing lots of different sounds via phone etc when your dogs are puppies can be good too. It gets them used to sounds that they may encounter later on in life and when they do, they might panic.
We bought an app with heaps of different sounds on it and played it quietly when our puppy was eating.
Marina
Oct 28, 2018 at 8:09 pm
My dog loves to listen to Michael Jackson for some reason! 🙂
Mai
Oct 10, 2018 at 11:07 am
Well, I think dogs must love music much. It is true that they can understand and feel the melody. My dog loves music too. It is true.
jacok valley
Sep 16, 2018 at 12:13 am
Our 12-year-old is a Hurricane Katrina safeguard pooch and he cherishes the blues:) My sweetheart plays blues on his guitar and we hear it out while having a loosening up night outside on the porch and Monty loosens up ideal out and as a rule, nods off to it.re troublesome.
Daniel
Sep 6, 2018 at 6:55 am
My dog definitely likes music too. It was funny how he enjoyed Rock music just like I do.
Sandie lee
Aug 13, 2018 at 9:43 am
Great to know that dogs also like music. I didn’t know it before. Can dog use headphone too. Its a really interesting articles. I like the music list too. Thanks for sharing.
sacky jon
Jul 3, 2018 at 4:46 am
here no need to use headphones, they likely won’t be comfortable and will be far too loud for your puppy. Just play music at a nice comfortable volume that you both can enjoy.
Mary Ann
Sep 9, 2017 at 2:34 am
Great article, This is the different ways to entertain my dog. Thank you for sharing this.
Pet Lover
Jul 8, 2017 at 12:48 pm
Haha… This is defiantly best thing I have read till now while searching for different ways to entertain my dog. I never knew that dog like music as much as we do because our brain share the same hormones and some cell which makes human and dogs to enjoy the music.
This is very interesting list of music which I should consider for my dog. But do you think it is a good idea to put headphone of dog's ear? I am bit scared about this as this could damaged my dog's ear nerves because I have read somewhere that these nerves are bit sensitive and their frequency is very loud as compare to human.
I think I am not going to use headphone on my dog until I got a satisfactory reply from expert but surly play all these songs and filter those which my dog enjoyed most.
Brandy Arnold
Jul 8, 2017 at 1:26 pm
There is absolutely no need to use headphones, they likely won't be comfortable and will be far too loud for your dog. Just play music at a nice comfortable volume that you both can enjoy!
Pet Lover
Jul 14, 2017 at 2:20 pm
Thank you, Brandy!
Jess
May 27, 2017 at 7:01 pm
My husky loves DNCE Cake by the Ocean
& pharrell Williams happy
Pingback: RESEARCH: What Music Makes the Dogs Happy?
Selena Kelsey
Feb 15, 2017 at 10:27 am
this is really funny AIEYYYYYYYYY
Mary Nielsen
Feb 5, 2017 at 12:52 pm
I guess dogs react in a similar manner as we do because we are similar in so many ways. If you think about it, how many times it happened to you that you understand something along with your dog immediately… It is just that we understand each other! 🙂
And it also depends from the music your dog grew up listening with you. So if you have a small puppy and you are listening to your music all day long, your puppy will fall in loe with the music which makes you happy.
Jamie Richardson
Oct 2, 2016 at 5:20 am
My rescue pit loves sitting in the front of my truck, staring out the window howling and listening to Florida Georgia line, when she hops through the window and into the bed of the truck, she likes something that rattles the bed, like Skrillex or a Diplo mix. She has tastes all over depending on her mood, just like her dad!
Nica
May 7, 2016 at 12:54 am
I have a really loud old piano that radiates through the house and my little shiz tzu always sits underneath the piano at my feet while I’m singing and she falls asleep. I thought it would be hurting her ears but I guess not!
Pingback: 8 Ways To Make Your Pet Less Lonely — Dr. Patrick Mahaney
Autumn Leaves
Apr 14, 2016 at 4:56 pm
My dog seems to like maroon 5 xD
Andrew Lopes
Dec 24, 2015 at 11:39 pm
My dog seems very strange he seems to dislike classical music and be calmed down when i put on rock or metal music but it makes sense since my favorite genere is rock and dubstep he is really relaxed to those types of songs
Elizandro Lara
Dec 16, 2015 at 11:09 pm
What’s amazing is that my dog seems to love Snoop Dogg. Especially “Young, Wild, and Free”.
Nox-rr
Nov 1, 2015 at 12:04 pm
Mine seems to like Van Halen, ACDC and Ronnie James Dio. I started a hard rock karaoke and he went sleeping just by me. He left when i stopped oO
Thad
Apr 14, 2015 at 2:46 pm
Do dogs like reggae?
Stuart Alexander
Sep 27, 2017 at 8:28 pm
Oh yeah, they totally 'dig' it.
Doug Fessenden
Jan 11, 2015 at 9:41 pm
Both my dogs over the years have enjoyed classical. Both dogs would actually reorient themselves to the center of the stereo speakers I presume to get the “full” experience.
Blondie and Bear both pretty much liked all restfull (classical and easy listening and yes “Pink Floyd”). Blondie DID NOT like hard rock, her ears would go up, look at me with distress and bail to the bedroom.
Aishah Bowron
Jul 16, 2014 at 4:11 am
My two chihuahuas Pedro and Pablo love smooth jazz, R&B and Motown music
Rena
Jul 14, 2014 at 6:14 pm
Our 10 year old is a Hurricane Katrina rescue dog and he loves the blues:) My boyfriend plays blues on his guitar and we listen to it while having a relaxing night outside on the patio and Monty relaxes right out and usually falls asleep to it.
Laurel
Jun 29, 2014 at 9:48 am
I work in a shelter and we do have the classical music playing with birds chirping etc. But, we did a experiment and the dogs seem to be calmer with country music. I am thinking that in general, country doesn’t have a lot of high pitched sounds and does have recognizable, common type of beat. We’ve tried this for over a year and it seems to work. I am wondering in music research, did the experiments include country? I am assuming so. I guess Minnesota shelter dogs are just a “little more country.”
Singing Dogs
Jan 8, 2014 at 8:20 pm
Cody and Sierra sing to music!
singingdogs.net/happy-new-year-2013
Chris
Nov 21, 2013 at 7:29 pm
My (2) 11+ year old bassets seem to love my music DVD’s. They each have a bed in front of the big screen, and each night I put on Widespread Panic, Umphrey’s McGee & Steely Dan and they conk out and sleep lie babies. Maybe on to something here!
david
Oct 31, 2013 at 1:34 pm
what types of music do dogs like to listen to and how long can they hndel it
Jack
Oct 5, 2013 at 10:28 am
Thanks for confirmation. We have a Maltese and Pomeranian who bark at every sound. I turn on my Pandora
Gospel stations and they go right to sleep! Thank God for these moments of peace and quiet. Lol
WhiteWolf
Sep 10, 2013 at 10:28 am
I have used music (Easy listening) for my dog since she was a puppy. At night we play music and when we leave for a calming time for her and she is totally relaxed at night and when we go out. We learned about using music from the Monks of New Skete who have a book about raising puppies ( the Art of Raising a Puppy) and train German Shepards for guide dogs and companions, and use classical music with their puppies from the time they are born. I can only hope that shelters and animal hospitals will see the benefits of using soft music.
Blaine
Sep 9, 2013 at 4:23 pm
Has anybody started a pandora station yet? Or have some example music?
Nathan
May 20, 2013 at 12:07 am
“Revolution 9” might fit the bill.
Robert Baier
Mar 22, 2013 at 7:40 pm
They probably like pink floyd as well
Scharlene Tyler
Mar 15, 2013 at 12:46 pm
This is a very interesting article…thinking of sending it to my vet who has both an animal hospital and a boarding annex with grooming care as well…seeem perfect for that set up….and others as well…how about to the University of Florida Veterariany Hospital as well..bet it would also work for lark animal surgery centers for horses etc. the uses seem unlimited to me..