Do dogs like music? What the studies actually show

Nobody can ask a dog whether it likes music. What researchers can measure is behaviour: how much dogs rest, bark and move, and how their heart rate changes. By those measures, calm classical music has been linked to dogs resting more and barking less in shelters and kennels. Music made specially for dogs didn't do better, and the effect faded when the same playlist played every day.

So the honest answer is: many dogs seem to settle to some kinds of music, not every kind, and not forever. Here's what six studies found, and what they couldn't tell us.

What "like" means in a study

A dog can't fill in a questionnaire. So music studies swap "does the dog enjoy this?" for things an observer can record:

• Resting and sleeping. How much of the time dogs spend lying down.
• Barking. How much of the time they are quiet.
• Signs of stress. Standing, pacing, body shaking.
• The body. Heart-rate variability (HRV), where a higher reading usually means lower stress, and the stress hormone cortisol.

These are good signs of calm. They aren't the same as enjoyment. A dog that dozes off to Mozart is more relaxed, but we can't say it prefers Mozart. None of the studies below let dogs choose between music and silence, so "prefer" is a step further than the evidence goes.

What the studies found

Most of the research took place in rescue shelters and boarding kennels, where the music played through speakers for all the dogs in a room.

Do dogs prefer music or silence?

Compared with silence, calm music comes out ahead in most of these studies. Classical music meant more rest and less barking than no music at all in the shelter and kennel studies.¹²

One detail stands out. In the genre study, music didn't change how much dogs barked while it played, but dogs were more likely to bark once it stopped. Silence after music may not feel the same to a dog as silence before it.³

What kind of music do dogs like?

Classical has the most evidence, mostly because it was tested most. Across the shelter and kennel studies it was the genre most often linked to resting and quiet.⁴

Heavy metal is the one to skip. It was linked to more barking in one study and more body shaking, a sign of nervousness, in another.¹²

Soft rock and reggae are worth a mention, with a catch. In the one study that compared five genres, they showed the biggest change in heart-rate variability. But the stress hormone cortisol also rose during soft rock, so the picture is mixed. It's one study of 38 dogs, not a verdict.³

Music made "for dogs" hasn't beaten ordinary classical. In the kennel study, a track designed to relax dogs led to no more sleep than silence. A review of nine studies found no extra benefit from dog-designed music.²⁴

For which pieces were tested, and why variety matters, see our genre-by-genre guide.

Does it wear off?

It can. When kennelled dogs heard the same classical playlist every day, their heart-rate and behaviour changes were gone by day 7.⁵

When the same team played a different genre each day, the changes held across all five days. They suggest that variety may slow the fade.³

The practical lesson: rotate what you play.

What the research can't tell you

• Shelter dogs aren't pet dogs. A kennel is loud and unfamiliar. Music may matter more there than on your sofa.
• Speakers aren't the same as a collar. Every study above played music through room speakers. None tested a device on the dog.
• Calmer isn't cured. In the one study of pet dogs left by their owners, classical music had only a moderately calming effect. The authors suggest sound has little value for dogs in short, acute stress.⁶

If your dog panics when left alone or during storms, music won't fix that on its own. Talk to your vet about a plan.

For the full list, see each study, and what it did and didn't measure.

How to try music with your dog

1. Start with calm classical or soft instrumental music. That's where the evidence is.
2. Rotate the playlist. Don't play the same few tracks every day.
3. Watch your dog, not the music. Signs worth noting are the ones the studies measured: lying down sooner, settling for longer, barking less. If your dog gets up and leaves the room, try something else.
4. Play it at calm times first, like naps and quiet evenings, so the music becomes part of settling down.

Where the Barkwoo Music Box fits

The Barkwoo Music Box clips onto any standard collar and plays calming music from there, so the sound stays with your dog as they move around the house. One button starts the preloaded playlist: hours of preloaded music. It doesn't need a phone, WiFi or an app. To add variety, plug it into a computer and drag your own MP3s in alongside the preloaded tracks.

You can listen to the calming playlist before you decide. The research above was done with speakers in shelters, not with our device, so we point you to the studies rather than claim more than they found.

Quick answers

Do dogs like music? Nobody can ask them. In shelter and kennel studies, calm classical music was linked to dogs resting more and barking less, which suggests many dogs find it settling.

Do dogs prefer music or silence? No study has let dogs choose. Compared with silence, classical music meant more rest and less barking in most of the studies. One study found dogs were more likely to bark after the music stopped.

What music do dogs like best? Classical has the most evidence. Heavy metal was linked to more barking and body shaking. Soft rock and reggae showed promise in one study, with mixed results.

Is music made for dogs better? Not so far. A dog-designed track did no better than silence in one study, and a review of nine studies found no extra benefit.

Should I leave music on when I go out? It may help your dog settle, but the effect in pet dogs left alone was moderate. If your dog is distressed when you leave, talk to your vet.

References

1. Wells, D.L., Graham, L. & Hepper, P.G. (2002). The influence of auditory stimulation on the behaviour of dogs housed in a rescue shelter. Animal Welfare, 11, 385–393. doi:10.1017/S0962728600025112 ↩︎
2. Kogan, L.R., Schoenfeld-Tacher, R. & Simon, A.A. (2012). Behavioral effects of auditory stimulation on kenneled dogs. Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 7(5), 268–275. doi:10.1016/j.jveb.2011.11.002 ↩︎
3. Bowman, A., Dowell, F.J. & Evans, N.P. (2017). The effect of different genres of music on the stress levels of kennelled dogs. Physiology & Behavior, 171, 207–215. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.01.024 ↩︎
4. Lindig, A.M., McGreevy, P.D. & Crean, A.J. (2020). Musical dogs: a review of the influence of auditory enrichment on canine health and behavior. Animals, 10(1), 127. doi:10.3390/ani10010127 ↩︎
5. Bowman, A., Scottish SPCA, Dowell, F.J. & Evans, N.P. (2015). 'Four Seasons' in an animal rescue centre; classical music reduces environmental stress in kennelled dogs. Physiology & Behavior, 143, 70–82. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.02.035 ↩︎
6. Kinnaird, R.F. & Wells, D.L. (2022). The effect of auditory stimulation on pet dogs' reactions to owner separation. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 254, 105688. doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105688 ↩︎