The Scottish SPCA, Scotland’s animal welfare charity, has released new research in partnership with University of Glasgow that suggests dogs have different music tastes.
The new paper focuses on the effect of particular kinds of music, showing that reggae music is a firm favourite in the canine world.
PhD student Amy Bowman said, “The research, which took place at the Scottish SPCA centre in Dumbarton, clearly shows that music has an effect on a dog’s behaviour.
“We were keen to explore the effect playing different genres of music had, and it was clear that the physiological and behavioural changes observed were maintained during the trial when the dogs were exposed to a variety of music.”
Professor Neil Evans added, “Overall, the response to different genres was mixed highlighting the possibility that like humans, our canine friends have their own individual music preferences.
“That being said, reggae music and soft rock showed the highest positive changes in behaviour.”
Scotland’s animal welfare charity previously released research in 2015 that showed the impact classical music had on a dog’s behaviour. Having shown that variety is key to avoid habituation, the Scottish SPCA will be investing in sound systems for all their kennels.
At present both their Glasgow and Edinburgh centres are able to pipe music into their kennels, and in the future every centre will be able to offer our four footed friends a canine approved playlist with the view to extending this research to other species in the charity’s care.
Gilly Mendes Ferreira, Scottish SPCA Head of Education and Policy, said “At present both our Glasgow and Edinburgh centres are able to pipe music into their kennels, and in the future every centre will be able to offer our four footed friends a canine approved playlist, with the view to extending this research to other species in our care.”
