Leaving the TV on for Your Dog Probably Isn’t Doing Much
Do you ever leave music on for your dog to keep them company while you’re gone, or maybe put on a TV show? Well, turns out you might just be wasting electricity . . .
A new study looked at how dogs behaved when their owners played music and audiobooks while they were gone. And in general, it didn’t make a big difference.
If music helped, it was only a little. And audiobooks had NO effect.
The study involved 82 different dogs. Some sat in silence . . . some listened to Mozart . . . and others listened to the audiobook version of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”.
The classical music DID seem to help them settle down a little faster at first. But that was the only real difference, and they still showed other signs of stress.
The researchers didn’t look at whether the visuals from a TV might do anything. But they say that sound alone appears to offer, quote, “little value to dogs” dealing with short-term stress. (Meanwhile, your cat couldn’t care less about anything, ever.)