Date of Completion

2023

Document Type

Honors College Thesis

Department

Music

Thesis Type

Honors College, College of Arts and Science Honors

First Advisor

Dr. D. Thomas Toner

Keywords

dogs, canines, music, behavior, emotion

Abstract

The creation of music is well known to be considered “human nature”, but is it possible that music can influence other species? This study focuses on the psychophysical, or emotional and physical, responses of canines in response to musical stimuli. For support, literature including the basics of ear anatomy and sound processing in both canines and humans, the fundamentals of music creation and expression, the impact of music on human neuroscience and emotional conveyance, as well as past research of the impact of music on canine behavior and expression. To expand on this under-researched field, a voluntary survey was created using “Google Forms” that allowed canine owners to anonymously share their previous findings and experiences upon exposing their canine(s) to musical stimuli.

Upon analysis of the 96 received responses, it was found over 70% (70.84%) of canines had observable physical and/or emotional changes when presented with music from a variety of different genres including classical, pop, rock, and heavy metal. Overall, 83.56% of the canines impacted by the musical stimuli showed what can be considered “positive” physical and/or behavioral changes that can be used in settings where canines are presented and susceptible to increased levels of stress and anxiety including animal shelters and veterinary offices.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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