Hello, readers!

This week I would like to discuss a new idea recently recommended by Cesar Millan to calm our dogs. Cesar Millan recently discovered listening to audiobooks can reduce anxiety in our dogs. We have known about calming music for our dogs … but audiobooks?

Although this might sound silly at first glance, looking at the evidence can prove this is absolutely worth looking into. After all, our main goal for our dogs is to provide them with as much happiness as possible.

Amazon has now released approximately 350,000 audiobooks for our dogs to listen to. In addition to Cesar Millan’s recommendation, the Dog Psychology Center in California also influenced Amazon’s decision to support the audiobooks. The Dog Psychology Center, in a research study, determined three out of four dogs showed a reduction in their anxiety within one month of listening to the audiobooks. How interesting!

Finding an audiobook which has a voice similar to our own definitely helps. Our dog misses us when we are gone which, of course, can result in separation anxiety. If the dog hears talking while you are gone, he or she may not feel as alone and their feelings of separation anxiety may be reduced.

Dogs are able to read the tone of the voice they hear as well. This is why certain audiobooks were chosen to be made available on Amazon for our dogs including: The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.

The books in the list for dogs are known to be calming and consistent. As an alternative to purchasing an audiobook at Amazon, research recommends recording yourself reading a book so your dog can still hear your voice while you’re away. Of course, it is easier to just purchase the audiobook at Amazon to save on time. Just be sure to choose a voice similar to yours.

In addition to calming our own dogs, shelter and rescue organizations are now implementing the new research for shelter dogs. The shelter is a stressful place for dogs with all of the commotion and loud barking. Research has found shelter dogs are actually calmer when listening to an audiobook!

A research study conducted by a Professor at Hartpury Animal Behavior College found, when shelter dogs listen to audiobooks, they tend to rest more rather than show signs of anxiety. When the audiobook was compared to calming music, the audiobook also showed more promising results than the music. So, if you have tried playing music and your dog did not have any reaction, you may want to give the audiobook a try.

This isn’t too big of a surprise for many shelter organizations who have already developed volunteer programs for dog lovers to read books to dogs. Hearing the sound of our voice in a ‘happy’ tone influences a dog, even if they aren’t our own dog. Dogs are happiest when the people surrounding them are happy.

Of course, dogs aren’t likely to understand the storyline but, they may experience less anxiety when they are listening to someone talk on the audiobook. Dogs are extremely social animals and want to be near their human companions as much as possible. So, if you think about it, hearing someone talk likely makes them feel like they are not alone.

The discovery of the audiobook for dogs is a recent finding so additional research needs to be done. But, if your dog has separation anxiety, anything is worth a try! We want our dogs to be calm when we leave the house … we don’t want them to be miserable while we are gone.