What, ‘Born To Run’ doesn’t work for dogs?
By Gina Spadafori
June 9, 2008
Every time I get in the car for a long trip, the first song I listen to is the Springsteen’s classic “Born To Run.” OK, admittedly that’s a pretty silly image, a 50-year-old woman in a 10-year-old minivan that’s usually full of dogs rocking out to The Boss as she leaves her suburban driveway. But I’ve been doing this for, uh, 30-plus years and I guess now it’s sort of a superstition to start a trip this way. An auditory homage to St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers. (I also have a St. Christopher medal in the glove box, which my Godmother gave me in 1974.)
Honestly, if I ever really thought about what my dogs think of my music selection, I’d have to admit I don’t really care. You don’t want to listen to Mary Chapin Carpenter, my darlings? Fine. Develop opposable thumbs, get a job and make your own darn car payment.
But still … in her dotage the Queen Heather (age 11.5) has developed an anxiety over car rides any longer than the trip to the coffee shop. On our recent trip to Oregon, I actually had to crate her (she was in a seat-belt harness), then get off the highway and push two valium down her after she freaked out going over the mountain pass on I-5 in light snow.
Heather has more miles on her than a rancher’s old pickup truck, having traveled happily coast-to-coast a couple times and been in nearly every state except Alaska and Hawaii. At first I thought this behavior had something to do with the altitude, or the proximity of semis, the snow, whatever. But now she can’t even handle a quick trip to my brother’s house an hour away, so obviously it’s something to do with the aging process for her.
I think long trips are now over for her, but for the shorter ones I can’t avoid, I don’t see any harm in trying “Through a Dog’s Ear: Music To Calm Your Dog in the Car,” which Keith Turner reviewed over on our DogCars.com site:
Now comes a special music CD that has been created by psychoacoustics expert Joshua Leeds and performed by Juilliard graduate and concert pianist Lisa Spector that promises to settle down your dog in the car, leading to a stress-free ride for all involved.
“Through a Dog’s Ear: Driving Edition — Music to Calm Your Dog in the Car” is a 74-minute CD consisting of 12 piano solos that are arranged in a specific order to help your dog progress from being a frantic, slobbering, crazy canine to being a relaxed, calm and lovable pup in just a matter of minutes.
But while your dog is snoozing, you won’t be. That’s because the CD is designed to strike an ideal balance of keeping the driver alert while soothing your dog’s nerves. Amazing!
For the best effect, the creators recommend that you start the CD on track 1 because the music begins with slow, simple arrangements and gradually pick up in tempo and complexity as you progress through the CD.
For dogs with mild to extreme anxiety issues, there’s even a 20-minute “Travel Prep” track to put on at home prior to the car trip. The founders say that your dog will become accustomed to the music in a stress-free envrionment, adding to the sense of comfort when you get into the car and start playing the music.
Having listened to the entire CD a couple of times now — both on the road and at home — I can attest to the quality of the music and the positively uplifting attitude that it left me feeling.
Well, hmmmmm. I guess I’ll have to listen to it now, too. Because although it’s surely not Springsteen, if it can help my old girl cope I will just have to listen up.
Just a quickie thought on Heather - any behavioral changes like that make me think “thyroid” and warrant a full six panel test in my household.
When my terrier girl began to develop a fear of thunderstorms, I knew something was up. After all, this dog had slept through storms for 8 years, so why be upset by them now? The reason? Hypothyroidism.
Dogs don’t have to be fat, lethargic, or have a dull coat to be hypothyroid. My girl was lean, shiny, and active. And VERY hypothyroid.
FWIW.
Comment by mikken — June 9, 2008 @ 9:38 am
She gets full diagnostics twice a year since she became a “senior.” All is normal, quite recently so, but thanks for the suggestion.
Heather has always been sensitive to some noises. She used to have these regular freak-outs for no reason I could determine. We checked her nose to tail, inside and out, all normal.
Then one day I realized that it was the buzzer on the dryer. In the old house, the dryer was in a detached garage. In the new, it was in an attached garage — and the buzzer really upset her. I have no idea how that association began, but it was easily fixed: I turned the buzzer to “off” and covered the knob with electrical tape so no house guest, etc., could turn it on again.
The new dryer has plays a little tune when it’s done. No problems with that at all.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 9, 2008 @ 9:45 am
We had this happen with a retired show dog. Grizzi was a campaigned special with god knows how many miles under her belt then she suddenly developed a panic attack issue with the car.
She was “cured” by staying home a few times with the house sitter. She did not like being left out and deemed the car to no longer be evil.
But another girl of ours who did the same thing was finally diagnosed with a middle ear disorder. Not something detectable with a normal geriatric work up. She coped as a youngster but as the bones of her middle and inner ear calcified, she became steadily worse. Crating her in a Vari-kennel or in a crate that we could cover helped, she had problems when the world was whizzing by. She made many long car trips with us like that and did the mountains OK with 5-8 mgs of valium as needed
Comment by JenniferJ — June 9, 2008 @ 10:20 am
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 9, 2008 @ 9:45 am
I would be interested to hear what specific tests you have done on her twice a year.
Comment by slt — June 9, 2008 @ 11:07 am
I’d have to check, but off the top of my head: CBC, thyroid, urinalysis, chest films and ultrasound. Plus a complete physical exam, natch.
The ultrasound was what caught a tiny tumor on her spleen a few years ago. Spleen and tumor removed the same day, and she has been doing great ever since.
Yes, it IS kinda weird that I have rescheduled a whole ton of “at 50 you start getting … ” diagnostics for myself like sox times, but Heather never misses HER preventive care check-ups.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 9, 2008 @ 11:37 am
I have “Through a Dog’s Ear: Music to Calm Your Canine Companion, Volume 1.” (Whew, what a mouthful!) I love it - it really seems to calm mine and my roommate’s dogs!
The roomie’s dog is absolutely terrified of fireworks. On Memorial day weekend, he was freaking out because there were some going off in our neighborhood. I went on the website for Through a Dog’s Ear and tried out the tracks to see if they’d help him settle a little. Ten minutes later, he was snoozing on the rug. Now, when we leave him alone, we turn it on.
Comment by Tara M. — June 9, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
When my dog was a youngster I bought a three pack CD called Pet Music, which is similar to the CD you mention. It really works. I left it on while I was gone. I think I might have loved it more than the dog. It was the prettiest music with birds and waterfalls mixed in. I would play it when I came home from work to reduce my stress.
The conditioning is important I think. Initially, I would play it while we were all just hanging around in the den when the dog felt the most secure. He then would associate that secure feeling when he heard the music. That is the theory anyway. My dog was not that anxious to begin with but he was prone to some minor stress destruction on occasion when left alone when he was young. The music really, really helped. I still have it and still play it .. for me.
Comment by Nicole — June 9, 2008 @ 3:42 pm
How funny! I was just talking to the “Through a Dog’s Ear” folks and mentioned that set. I used to play it while working … and loved it!
Not sure it went. It may have been misplaced when I moved a few years ago.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 9, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
Interesting comment about hypothyroidism, Mikken. Something to file away.
Somewhere I read a few years ago that dogs who react badly to thunderstorms are actually getting shocks from the lightning. It explains why they often hide in the bathroom, something to do with grounding. I can’t remember the book, might have been one of Dodman’s. I found it intriguing (and logical) at the time but didn’t follow up with a lit search.
As for music, we will always love The Boss, but Born to be Wild is still one of our out-of-the-gate classics!
Comment by Caveat — June 9, 2008 @ 5:18 pm
Try playing CCR’s “Run Through the Jungle” for her.
It’s more of a dog thang.
Comment by H. Houlahan — June 9, 2008 @ 7:20 pm
Not to be a wet blanket, but this goes against science. If you play the music before you get in the car and the music pairs with the stressful event and becomes a precursor to a stressful thing (car ride), then the opposite effect would happen. This would be classical conditioning gone wrong.
Comment by nancy freedman-smith — June 10, 2008 @ 5:05 am
If you were only dealing with classical conditioning, maybe. But there’s more in the world than we know, dontcha think?
I don’t know these people, and I haven’t listened to the CD, but I know that for me, certain sounds and smells can alter mood , sometimes radically. Might that not be true for other animals as well?
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 10, 2008 @ 7:00 am
No, if the music is introduced *first* and associated with non-stress, there is the possibility that the association with calm can be carried over into the more challenging circumstances of the car.
I don’t think it’s very likely to fix an entrenched stress response to car travel on its own, but the principle is legitimate.
I don’t think the manufacturers intended owners to play the music *immediately before* each car trip, which is maybe the way you read it.
Comment by H. Houlahan — June 10, 2008 @ 7:02 am
OH yes H , that is how I read it. I thought they wanted you to put it on while getting ready to go in the car. You could create warm fuzzies with music if it is played at good non stress times.
And Gina, sure there can be other things at works. There have been studies that classical music calms dogs down and heavy metal has the opposite effect. big duh there huh?
Comment by nancy freedman-smith — June 10, 2008 @ 7:08 am
They also play “Born to Run” before the Haskell every year :^)
— Your Jersey Girl buddy
Comment by Sarah K Andrew — June 10, 2008 @ 10:18 am
Nancy, I would start playing it when your dog is in a completely secure mode. They say that before bed time is when a dog feels most secure. I don’t know why. Maybe that is when the family is all together talking or watching tv and it is cozy and comfy. I would do that many many times and then introduce it in the stressful situation.
That is what I did many years ago. My dog actually spent a day tearing every single page,one by one, out of the phone book while I was out. I came home to four million individual pieces of phone book pages on my floor. I didn’t want to keep him crated forever and so I tried the pet music. I really spent time with the conditioning part. He never destroyed again. I attribute this to the music. I put it on repeat and so it played the entire time he was alone.
Comment by Nicole — June 10, 2008 @ 3:41 pm
Oh cool… parts of the Through a dogs ear cd is available from iTunes store. Neat. search for “through a dogs ear”
Comment by Lost for Words — June 11, 2008 @ 11:54 am
I am the pianist on the above mentioned Through a Dog’s Ear music series of CD’s. Just wanted to inform everyone that regarding Driving Edition: Music to Calm your Dog in the Car, there are detailed instructions written by a behaviorist on how to use the music for dogs with mild, moderate, and extreme automobile anxiety at: http://throughadogsear.com/dri.....ctions.htm
The instructions are also in the CD liner notes and includes information on a special 20 minute music track called “travel prep”. This music, along with Music to Calm Your Canine Companion, is not classical music that you can find on any other CD’s. It is music that has been clinically demonstrated to calm the canine nervous system, through pyschoacoustic changes of slowing down, simplifying patterns, and lowering frequencies. We are receiving emails from all over the world telling us how much the music is helping dogs with numerous anxiety issues.
Comment by Lisa Spector — June 11, 2008 @ 6:12 pm
Thanks for the clarification, Lisa! Can’t wait to get my copy of the CD and listen to it.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 11, 2008 @ 6:14 pm
Had I known that this was an advertisement for a specific product I certainly wouldn’t have mentioned an alternative product that came out seven years ago. So sorry. But this is not new. And I should stop here but this sort of ticks me off a bit. You say it is designed to calm the canine and yet the website says :The arrangement techniques used in this music have been clinically demonstrated to not exacerbate canine anxiety. That is not the same as demonstrated to calm. And I don’t even mean to pick on your product because I haven’t listened to it but I can not stand when a maker claims to be so innovative when it has already been done and done well. Sorry Gina. This just rubbed me wrong.
Comment by Nicole — June 11, 2008 @ 7:42 pm
It wasn’t an ad. Keith Turner wrote about the product on our DogCars.com and I thought it was interesting enough to link over here, too.
You know, company reps come over and make comments all the time. Sometimes they get hammered for it (remember the pet insurance discussion?) and sometimes they get thanked. Fine, either way.
But if you see something written about in this blog, I will guarantee you it’s not a paid product placement. We don’t do that.
If we write about something, it’s because we find it interesting, innovative or sometimes even just weird. We sometimes even trash a product. (Anyone remember the hailstorm of grief I gave the poor company stupid enough to bring out and gush over six-packs of three-ounce spring water for dogs the week after Hurricane Katrina? I mean, people are dying and these idiots are pushing “the most exciting innovation in new pet hydration” or some such nonsense. Gah! )
The banner ads at the top of the pages on our site are sponsors, and yes, they pay us for that space. But they buy the banner space to promote their product. They do not buy coverage. That’s in their contract, by the way, so everyone understands the rules.
Speaking of that previous product, the Pet Music CD set … I found it! I was amazed that I was able to guess which box in the garage it might be in, and it was the third one I checked. (Yes, I need to clean out my garage.) I listened to it this afternoon, and I still like it. The dogs, cats and parrot didn’t comment much either way.
Pet Music is on sale here, and it looks like the same product, but I have a three-CD set and this is three two-CD sets, so I can’t be sure. The covers have changed a little, too, but they look similar.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 11, 2008 @ 8:06 pm
Guess we’re on the same soundtrack, Gina. I recently interviewed Susan Wagner, the vet neurologist coauthor of Through a Dog’s Ear, for my upcoming column on noise phobias, which I think will be up on Monday. By the way, cats can develop fears of certain noises, too, according to vet behaviorist Terry Curtis at University of Florida, but we don’t usually notice it because they just run and hide instead of becoming destructive or crashing through windows like dogs do.
Comment by Kim — June 12, 2008 @ 5:43 pm
I’m really not trying to advertise a product, I just would like to clarify because I think there was some misunderstanding in Nicole’s comment about the music of Through a Dog’s Ear not exacerbating canine anxiety. She is referring to a completely different CD created for a different purpose that wasn’t even mentioned on this site. And, yes, we are very pleased that there is other music for animals on the market and people are realizing that music and other non-drug related remedies are available to their animals. Gina, thanks for your explanation above and for your comments.
Comment by Lisa Spector — June 13, 2008 @ 7:52 am