Through A Dog’s Ear CD review: calming CD for fearful dogs with noise phobias or anxiety
Through A Dog’s Ear was one of those great finds - you know the ones you really want to keep to yourself?! Had Lisa Spector’s Through A Dog’s Ear series not already found global admiration, I probably would have kept it quiet! However, I wouldn’t have been able to keep it quiet for long: the beautifully played classical pieces, gradually getting softer and more soothing as the tracks progress is credit not only to the scientific research that was conducted to make Through A Dog’s Ear such a success, but to professional concert pianist, Lisa Spector’s sensational talent.
If your dog is anxious, nervous, fearful or perhaps just generally highly strung, Through A Dog’s Ear is the only clinically researched auditory series with practical solutions for canine anxiety problems and in my opinion should be in every dog owner’s music library. It’s not only great for dogs who are stressed - I play it to my own dogs in the car and within minutes they’re settled and then asleep. Even in my office when I need some time to work, I bring them in, put the CD on and continue working with dogs asleep at my feet. I have combined the use of Through A Dog’s Ear with products such as Thundershirt with results that are a wonder to witness: we all want our dogs to have a life that is as happy and healthy as possible but often forget how stressful it is for dogs to live in our human world.
Regular readers of my blog will know that the academic in me always seeks out research, results and scientific evidence. Through A Dog’s Ear has a story behind it that will make you smile in awe and amazement.
Belfast-based psychologist and animal behaviourist Deborah Wells undertook a research program to determine the influence of five types of auditory stimulation on dogs: human conversation, classical music, heavy metal music, pop music, and a silent control (no music at all).
From Dr. Wells’s study, we came to understand that classical music had a marked soothing effect on dogs when compared to the other types of auditory stimulation. In the discussion section of her published research, Dr. Wells stated: “Classical music resulted in dogs spending more of their time resting than any of the other experimental conditions of auditory stimulation. This type of music also resulted in a significantly lower level of barking. Research suggests that calming music may have a beneficial effect on humans, resulting in diminished agitation, improved mood and lower levels of stress. Although the specific effect of classical music on dogs remains unknown, the findings from this study suggest that it may, as in humans, have a calming influence.” She concluded that heavy metal agitated the dogs, indicated by increased frequencies of standing and barking, and that neither human conversation nor pop music had any apparent effect on the dog’s behaviors, perhaps due to habituation to radio exposure.
Dr. Wells stated: “Further work is still required to unravel the specific acoustic elements that dogs respond to.” That challenge inspired Lisa Spector to take her bioacoustic research where no one had gone before.
The music of Through A Dog’s Ear builds on the ground breaking psychoacoustic research of Dr. Alfred Tomatis (1920-2001). Known as the “Einstein of the ear,” Tomatis discovered the extraordinary powers of sound as a “nutrient for the nervous system” - we’ve known for years that listening to soft, calming music helps to soothe and calm. His therapeutic discoveries redefine modern psychoacoustics — the study of the effect of music and sound on the human nervous system.
When the immune or nervous system is heavily taxed, a natural reaction is to self-limit the amount of auditory or visual stimulation entering the system. However, the “nutrients” of sound are needed the most when life energy is at a low ebb or when neurodevelopmental (including sensory) issues are present. To facilitate maximum sound intake while conserving energy output, the method of simple sound has been created. Lisa Spector teamed up with sound researcher Joshua Leeds (experienced in creating music used in neuro-developmental centres worldwide), to devise a series of classical pieces and arrangements of well-known pieces, that would harness the power of this ’simple sound’ philosophy.
Through A Dog’s Ear is a collection of beautifully produced classical music based on scientific research, which gradually get calmer and more soothing as the tracks progress. Available on five different CDs (I reviewed Volume 1 which is excellent) each lasting one hour, priced at £12.95 here. Also available for download here. Very highly recommended.
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