Hobbies And Interests
Project Methodology
To test how music affects a dog's behavior, the NCDL set up a music player in the vicinity of the dogs involved in the study. Researchers noted the position, level of activity, and level of vocalization of the dogs every 10 minutes, over a period of four hours. The controlled environment of the kennels meant that the dogs had few distractions save the music being played.
Classical Music
Classical music was one of the music types which the NCDL played for the kennel dogs in their study. Their results confirmed a commonly held belief: classical music generally has a calming and soothing affect on dogs. This does not apply to all forms of classical music. A relaxed and soothing classical piece, such as Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" is considered suitable for this experiment.
Pop Music
Pop music was found to have little or no affect on dogs when it was played, neither calming nor agitating dogs. Pop music was not extensively played in the NCDL study on the affect of music on dogs and, in general, other types of music, such as classical, electronic, or heavy metal music.
Heavy Metal
While the NCDL study confirmed that playing classical music can calm and sooth dogs, heavy metal music was found to have the opposite effect. Dogs exposed to heavy metal music, regardless of age, gender or breed, generally became more agitated and nervous, even causing some dogs to bark and become more active.
Weaknesses of the Project
While the NCDL's tested the dogs reactions to a variety of music types, their study failed to note that there is considerable variation within these genres. Some classical music can be rousing and full of power and energy, such as Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana." The boundaries between musical genres are not fixed. Perhaps musics effect on dogs may be more accurately differentiated between down tempo, relaxed music, which generally has a calming effect, and bombastic, energetic music, which may cause agitation.