Anna Webb is an animal behavior specialist. To help dogs fight anxiety in the car, she created a playlist of their favorite tracks.
As we know, long car journeys can quickly become boring. Some feel discouraged just thinking about it. In these cases, a nice playlist can help put everyone in a good mood and not see the hours pass. And in Anna Webb’s experience, this would also be the case for dogs.
The specialist conducted the survey after reading a study conducted by Škoda, which states that 6 out of 10 dogs would be anxious in the car. Even more, 75% of drivers admit to having been distracted by their pets, and 60% of them do not know how to calm them down when they are in the throes of anxiety. Challenged by this observation, Anna Webb decided to collaborate with the Czech car manufacturer to find solutions. Together they composed “Happy Hounds”a playlist of 20 songs that would calm dogs down, and made it available on Spotify.
Before putting it in public, they did simulations on all races. The specialist has made some very interesting observations. For small dogs, for example, it would be better to favor songs with a higher BPM, since their heart rate is faster. For large dogs, it would be the opposite: calm music should be put on because their heart beats more slowly. She points out that it is important to take this into account because dogs have an increased sensitivity to frequencies and do not react to them in the same way as humans.
“It will help to get your dog used to the playlist before getting in the car, so he will associate the songs with positive things. These songs will allow him to tell himself that everything is fine, and this in any situation, for example in a little scary weather conditions or if they feel a car speeding up to overtake you.“, she recommends.
In the playlistyou will find in particular pop titles, such as “Flowers” de Miley Cyrus, “Oh My God“d’Adele,”Good Days” but SZA, “Anti-Hero” de Taylor Swift, “Orphans“by Coldplay,”Falling (Side A – acoustic)” de Frank Ocean, “Watermelon Sugar“by Harry Styles,”Stay” by Rihanna, “Like A Prayer“by Madonna or again”Knowing Me, Knowing You” from ABBA.