Dogs relax with specially designed tunes

The scientific community agrees that music can have tremendous therapeutic potential, whether for people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or anxiety. But can music also help man’s best friend?

A Japanese startup that goes by the name One By One Music is betting on it.

This young startup is determined to make use of music’s myriad benefits for helping dogs relax. They also suffer from stress.

The causes of stress in an animal’s life can be numerous. But the most common include a sudden break in their daily routine, boredom and separation anxiety, for instance when the dog parent has to go away to work.

One By One Music has teamed up with veterinarians and researchers, some of them affiliated with Azabu University, to compose pieces of music that can be used to soothe dogs.

These pieces are generated by artificial intelligence and can reportedly reduce the stress level of the dog listening to them by up to 84%.

The Japanese company is offering a monthly subscription of 980 yen (about R132) to “dog parents” wishing to soothe their furry friend’s distress through music.

One By One Music isn’t the only company offering a service based on animals’ positive response to music. Last June, American firm Create Music Group acquired Music for Pet, a company specialising in the creation of songs and other entertainment content for pets.

The company’s two brands – Relax My Dog and Relax My Cat – reach over 20 million dogs and cats worldwide, according to the Music Ally website.

Streaming platforms have also got on board the phenomenon, featuring numerous playlists aimed specifically at stressprone canines and felines.

On Spotify, Relaxmydog has 89 150 monthly listeners, and Relaxmycat 111 284.

These playlists include relaxation-oriented tracks such as Relax My Cat, Chill Dogs and Snoozing Cat.

Despite all these players jumping on the bandwagon of pet music, one question remains unanswered: do the therapeutic benefits of music work on pets? It’s not clear.

In a study published in 2022 in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science, researchers at Queen’s University Belfast claim that music does not necessarily relieve dogs’ anxiety when they are separated from their humans or people to whom they are very attached.

They found that silence soothed them more than Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos.

And that’s a welcome relief for pet parents who occasionally have to leave their pets alone.

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