Katy on…Through A Dog’s Ear
Posted: March 9, 2009 Filed under: Apso Aficionados 3 CommentsHi Debby,
I’ve been meaning to write you….
For Christmas, the Apsos got some Dog Music. You may have heard of it, as it is produced in Boulder.
It’s called “Through a Dog’s Ear”. “Music to Calm Your Canine Companion is the first CD in a new series of music clinically demonstrated to deeply relax dogs. Based on pioneering research into how the canine nervous system responds to sound, psychoacoustic expert Johua Leeds and concert pianist Lisa Spector have created music that is twice as effective as conventional classical selections for reduction of canine anxiety behaviours. Research conducted with 150 dogs showed that the psychoacoustically designed classical piano arrangements on this CD induced calmness in 70 percent of dogs in shelters or kennels and 85 percent of dogs in households.” There is a book that explains the theory and how this all came about, but each CD also comes with a little booklet that is very informative and gives lots of advice for their use, i.e., Separation Anxiety, Thunderstorm, Fireworks, Excitement with Visitors, Boarding, etc.
We bought three of the CD’s: one just for the dogs (which is deeply calming for dogs and people, too), one for the whole household (which is upbeat and lively, and is lovely for background music without putting you to sleep) and one for the car (which promises to relax the dogs and not put the driver to sleep!). We’ve used them since Christmas and find that they really do seem to relax the dogs. I play the Dog’s Ear CD whenever we leave the house, and they seem to just relax and go to sleep when we’re gone. I play the one for the whole household when I’m painting, and it’s very conducive to creative work, while keeping the dogs happy (and the birds, too!). We got the one for the car, not because we have any specific car issues, but Wyatt does get car sick occasionally. Hard to tell yet, but whenever we’ve played it, he’s been fine, no anxiety and no car-sickness. Much better than drugs! They are $14.95 each, but they have “deals” which is how I bought the three CD’s in one package.
Katy
Kunza at FleetFire Timbers 
Thanks, Katy — Will definitely check out; will be well worth it if it cures the “car” puckies; my Willis is finally able to take the ride, but poor Tango still heaves at the end of the ride.
I’m so glad you are enjoying these CD’s. I am the pianist and co-creator of Through a Dog’s Ear. It brings me so much just to hear how much this music is helping dogs. Some of the emails I receive bring tears to my eyes. I just wanted to mention that you’ll see the best restuls with Driving Edition by following the protocol (written by a behaviorist) in the CD liner notes. You can also read them here:
http://throughadogsear.com/driving_edition_instructions.htm
I’d love to stay posted as to your results. Feel free to email me at:
Lisa@ThroughADogsEar.com
Thanks.
Lisa Spector
Katy, great information! On a whim, I checked to see if our public library might have the book and music, Through a Dog’s Ear and they do! Most interested in the driving music to calm Petey during road trips. Thanks!