Dogs
become sweet-tempered and relaxed when they listen to classical
music but put up a howl when they listen to heavy metal, according
to researchers.

Animal
behaviouralists led by Deborah Wells of Queen's University in Belfast,
Northern Ireland, exposed 50 canines in a dog shelter to four different
types of noise. The pooches were given either a middle-of-the-road
pop compilation that included Britney Spears and Robbie Williams;
a "best of classical" CD; a radio program which only had
human conversation; or an album by heavy-metal rockers Metallica.
The
dogs became agitated and barked a lot when listening to Metallica
but became quiet and lay down more when they listened to the classics.
Pop music and the human voice seemed to make little difference to
how they behaved. The study is reported in a specialist British
quarterly, Animal Welfare.
The
chief executive of the National Canine Defense League Clarissa Baldwin
discussed the implications of this work: "It is very important
to us that the dogs have as pleasant a time as possible while they
are in our care. Some of our dogs have had a rough start in life
and may be stressed out by being in kennels, so we need to ensure
they are as calm as possible. We always have the radio on in our
re-homing centers and we will be tuning into classical stations
from now on."
Previous
studies have already suggested that classical music boosts egg production
in factory hens and milk production in cows but this is believed
to be the first to apply to dogs. Wells added that the findings
supported the use of soothing music in human environments too. "We
know that classical music results in decreased stress, decreased
agitation, improved mood, improved performance in certain things
as well," she said."So
there is certainly scope for using classic music in potentially
stressful environments, such as dentists' waiting rooms, hospital
waiting areas, airports and so on."
She
added: "It is well established that music can influence our
moods. Dogs may be as discerning as humans when it comes to musical
preference."