Can dogs understand music?

Do you notice your dog hovering in the background while you listen to soothing numbers of Adele, Elvis or Kishore Kumar? They may even try to howl certain numbers if they are in the mood! Well, if you are wondering if your dog has musical sense then the answer is – yes.

If your dog howls when they listen to music then they are just trying to appreciate it by creating their own kind of music. In comparison with their wild counterparts, domestic dogs bark more than they howl. They howl to communicate their loneliness apart from fulfilling other social functions.

According to scientific research, dogs have a sense of pitch. This is precisely why a dog howling with a group of humans is always noticeable and is often comical. They know that they are not of the same pitch as the other voices yet are highly pleased with their cacophonic sound!

Human music that induces their canine friends to howl is produced on wind instruments like the clarinets and saxophones. Dogs may also be driven to howl by long notes played on a violin or even by a singer holding a long note. A dog listening to this will perceive the sound as howls and will want to answer by howling and joining the session.

Further research also states that dogs have musical preferences and react differently to various genres of music. Deborah Wells, a Psychologist from Queens University in Belfast made dogs in an animal shelter listen to different kinds of music. Their behaviour was analysed as they listened to a compilation of songs ranging from pop music (Britney Spears and Robbie Williams), classical music (Beethoven and Vivaldi) and heavy metal music (Metallica).  In order to check if dogs actually responded to the musical aspects of the sounds they were also exposed to human sounds followed by a period of silence.

The findings were quite remarkable. The following are the results:

• Dogs barked and became agitated when they listened to heavy metal music.
• Dogs that listened to pop music or human conversation did not show any noticeable behaviour.
• Classical music had a soothing effect on the dogs and calmed them down.

So, Wells summarised the findings by stating that music plays a big role in influencing our moods, especially dogs. Classical music helps to reduce stress, heavy metal music can promote hostility, sadness and tension. Dogs, therefore can be considered as perceptive as humans when it comes to musical preferences. You never know, your dog just might me an avid fan of Mozart! Indulge them.