What music do dogs prefer Bach vs Snoop Dogg

Hey Julie,

I hope youve had a fun week.

I saw a new in-press publication with your name on it - "Smelling more or less: Investigating the olfactory experience of the domestic dog" - looks like a really great study, and so timely after my last post about dogs and olfactory enrichment! 

Looking forward to reading it (and all those other cool Learning and Motivation articles) over the weekend.

So did you do your homework? Did you watch this clip from the Sydney Opera Houses Ship Song Project? 

I wanted you to watch this clip, and more importantly, LISTEN to it, because it features lots of different musical styles. I dont know about you, but I certainly have a different reaction to the different styles. Some appeal to me more than others. Some I find relaxing, while others make me want to nod my head to keep the beat or even hum along.  I was talking about this clip recently with my friend Mark (from SARC, in my head that always runs together "Mark-from-SARC") and of course we shifted to talking about dogs and music. As you do. Thats normal - right?!

What kind of music do dogs prefer?

As part of my PhD research into kennel enrichment, I looked into this very question. 
The research in this area has been conducted in two kennel environments.  

Headphones on dog = silly (they hear around x4 better than us!) source

In the first study, scientists played five different recordings to dogs housed in a shelter kennel: 

- a control (nothing) 

- human speech

- classical music

- pop music

- heavy metal music

to the dogs and recorded the behaviours of the dogs using an ethogram. Then they looked at the differences in the behaviour of the dogs during each condition.
 
The dogs were significantly more likely to run around barking when the heavy metal music was played; and lie down, apparently resting quietly, when the classical music was on. 

There was no difference to their behaviour when the control, human speech or pop music were played. The second study showed similar results, with classical music linked to more sleeping and heavy metal correlating with more body shaking.

(source)

Its probably worth noting that these changes in behaviour may not reflect dogs actual PREFERENCE for music. To assess that, wed need to set up a study design that offered dogs a choice of multiple sound environments. But it certainly suggests that if we want to encourage behaviours associated with relaxation, like lying down, not barking, and sleeping; we should be piping some gentle classical music to the environment our dogs are in. I reckon my dogs quite like Chopins Nocturnes, but maybe thats just me.

The Australian ABCs fabulous science program, Catalyst, have a great (~6min) story about this research that you might enjoy watching here.

(cant embed their vid, but click this pic to go to video)

Have a great weekend, I look forward to hearing what else is going on with you now those students have been set free!

Mia

Further reading:

Hubrecht, R. C. (1995). The welfare of dogs in human care. Chapter in Serpells book: The domestic dog, its evolution, behavior and interactions with people, 179-198.

Kogan L.R., Schoenfeld-Tacher R. & Simon A.A. (2012). Behavioral effects of auditory stimulation on kenneled dogs, Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 7 (5) 268-275. DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2011.11.002 

Wells D., Graham L. & Hepper P. (2002). The influence of auditory stimulation on the behaviour of dogs housed in a rescue shelter., Animal Welfare, 11 (4) 385-393. Other: Link

© 2013 Mia Cobb

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Millionaires Prefer Dogs to Cats Should They Reconsider

By Tamara McRill

As it turns out, the pet most likely to be shedding fur in the lap of luxury may not fit very well on a human lap at all. A recent survey done by the Spectrem Group shows that millionaires overwhelmingly pick dogs as their pet of choice: 58% own dogs, while only 37% are cat owners.

Thats a big difference in pet ownership from the rest of the country. Humane Society statistics show that 39 percent of U.S. households own dogs, while 33 percent own cats. But those households actually own more cats total than dogs: 8.2 million more cats, to be exact. This is because feline households are more likely to have two cats, while canine households are more likely to have only one dog.

So why do millionaires prefer dogs over cats? Are they missing out on something the rest of the country gets about cats?

Looking for Love and Loyalty

One of the theories floating around is that millionaires might prefer the unconditional love and loyalty dogs give them. A love that is unattached to their ginormous bank balance. That is something youll certainly get in spades from most dogs.

But heres a secret most cat owners could tell these millionaires: cats love deeply and faithfully too. Now I dont know if it takes longer for a cat to become deeply attached to its human, since I have always been a very hands-on pet owner. I do know, from having many cats in my youth, that kitties can love just as fiercely as dogs. Maybe it does come down to having the time to play and bond.

What about Time?

Having owned both cats and dogs, I would say that dog ownership takes far more time out of your day. Larger breeds cant get the type of exercise indoors that most cats can manage, and all dogs need to be walked. They also need to be taken out to potty.

Some wealthy people may choose to hire someone to handle those dog details, but Im assuming they could just as easily hire someone to change the litter pan.

Travel Companions

Perhaps it comes down to being able to take their pets with them. Assuming that many wealthy pet owners travel frequently, they may choose dogs as their four legged companions because they can go more places with them. Although both cats and dogs can certainly travel, dogs are more accepted in hotels and other locations.

Of the other factors I could think of, dogs and cats came out even. Having a high-powered job is stressful, but petting either animal is a proven stress reducer. Its certainly just as fun to hand out a FELIDAE cat treat to a purring pal as it is to toss a CANIDAE dog treat to a drooling buddy.

Top photo by Puppies are Prozac
Bottom photo by Suzi Duke

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Black Dog Syndrome A Bad Rap

Hi Mia & Julie –

Firstly, thanks so much for letting me drop a verse in the rap song of your blog! I feel so awesome being featured. It’s like being Lil Wayne or something. Anyway…

I’m just recently back from ISAZ 2013, where I had a most excellent time chatting with other anthrozoologist-y types. 

As you know, I just graduated from the Anthrozoology Master’s Program at Canisius College, so I was uber-excited to have a chance to share my research with colleagues in the field. ISAZ did not disappoint. 

Pauleen Bennett & Heather at ISAZ 2013

Now I get to share with you two and it just gets better and better! :-)

My master’s thesis research project (advised by the oh-so-awesome Christy Hoffman) looked to answer the question: “Does Black Dog Syndrome Exist?”

Animal welfare folks are probably familiar with the concept of Black Dog Syndrome (BDS) that Julie introduced last week: it’s the idea that dogs with black coats have a harder time than other dogs getting adopted, and as a result, may face higher rates of euthanasia and longer stays in adoption programs. 

Popular media - but is it correct?

A lot of popular media articles focus on this concept (like here, here, here and here) but the research results have been mixed: in a study published earlier this year, participants rated an image of a black dog as significantly less agreeable, less conscientious, and less emotionally stable than a yellow dog (Fratkin & Baker, 2013). Yet research into factors influencing shelter dogs’ lengths of stay (LOS) found that LOS was not significantly correlated with coat color (Brown, Davidson, & Zuefle, 2013; Protopopova, Gilmour, Weiss, Shen, & Wynne, 2012).

To dig deeper into the questions of whether potential adopters discriminate against black dogs in a shelter and whether black dog discrimination is reflected in shelter stats, I conducted a two-part research project:

Shelter Visitor Pilot Study – examined interaction between potential adopters and shelter dogs

Shelter Data Analysis Study – investigated relationships between LOS and coat color, age, sex and breed, as well as the impact of these variables on likelihood of euthanasia

And what I found may surprise you.
There was very little evidence to support the concept of Black Dog Syndrome!

From Heathers ISAZ 2013 poster

I know animal shelter workers are going “WHAT!?” right now – I know because I AM a shelter worker – but the truth is, even if many potential adopters come to the shelter with a negative bias toward black dogs, it’s not resulting in crazy-long shelter stays or greater risk of euthanasia for black dogs. In fact, according to analysis of shelter statistics, black dogs were adopted out faster than average at both shelters in my study. Black dogs were also less likely than expected to be euthanized (good news for black dogs, eh?).

When shelter visitors video-recorded their walk through the adoption area, I found that they spent about equal amounts of time looking at every dog, regardless of coat color. Visitors also rarely made specific comments with regards to coat color, although one guy did say: “I like black. Black dogs are cute.” Interactions like petting or feeding dogs also occurred as frequently between visitors and black dogs compared to dogs of other coat colors.

Still, I can’t deny that a few different studies show that people rate images of black dogs more negatively than other colored dogs. That being so, can I really say there’s no such thing as Black Dog Syndrome? Well, I think there’s evidence for a negative bias against black coats when viewing still images of dogs of different coat colors. However, this bias just isn’t impacting the adoption rates or in-person interactions with black shelter dogs. Granted, my video study sample was very small – it was a pilot study, after all – but the shelter stats were quite clear (and my sample there included 16,000+ individual dogs).

So, yes, I’m saying Black Dog Syndrome ain’t no thang. Like, really, it’s not a thing. 

But I certainly am open to the idea of a Black Dog Bias, and I think that’s the next step for this type of research – teasing out whether preconceptions are truly influencing adoption decisions. 

My head’s swimming with ideas about how to do this and if anyone is working/has worked on this kind of research, I’d love to hear from them!

Thank you ladies for giving me the mic.
Now picture me dropping it on the floor without a care. Svo. Out.

No really, you two are super RAD. Keep doin’ what you’re doin’! 

And thank you for letting me be a part of it.

Heather Svoboda, MSc

Communications & Development Manager, Cat Adoption Team

Infrequent Blogger, Anthrozoologist Real Gosling // Reasons My Cats Are Sleeping

Further reading:

Brown W.P., Davidson J.P. & Zuefle M.E. (2013). Effects of Phenotypic Characteristics on the Length of Stay of Dogs at Two No Kill Animal Shelters, Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 16 (1) 2-18. DOI: 10.1080/10888705.2013.740967

Fratkin J.L. & Baker S.C. (2013). The Role of Coat Color and Ear Shape on the Perception of Personality in Dogs, Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People & Animals, 26 (1) 125-133. DOI: 10.2752/175303713X13534238631632

Protopopova A., Gilmour A.J., Weiss R.H., Shen J.Y. & Wynne C.D.L. (2012). The effects of social training and other factors on adoption success of shelter dogs, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 142 (1-2) 61-68. DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2012.09.009

Svoboda, H.J. & Hoffman, C. (2013). A novel empirical test of Black Dog Syndrome. Poster. International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ) Conference. July 18-19, Chicago, USA.

© 2013 Do You Believe in Dog?

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