Quiet for loud nights.

In 19 storm-phobic dogs at home, a 5-minute thunderstorm recording raised saliva cortisol by 207%, and levels had not returned to baseline 40 minutes later.

In a survey of 1,225 owners, counterconditioning (giving food or play right after a noise) was among the most effective strategies, and it worked even when done informally rather than as a formal training plan.

In a UK owner survey, about 49% of dogs showed at least one behavioural sign of fear to loud noises, with fireworks the most common trigger. Fewer than a third of owners had sought professional help.

Owners who played recorded firework sounds at gradually rising volume, paired with good things, saw significant drops in fear severity at follow-up. The main obstacle was owners not finding time to practise.

The review sets out the standard for noise aversion: graded exposure kept below the level that causes fear, combined with counterconditioning, plus a safe place and situational medication when needed.

In a New Year’s Eve fireworks trial, 72% of owners rated the treatment effect as good or excellent, versus 37% with placebo.

In a placebo-controlled trial during a fireworks period, dogs on imepitoin showed significantly lower owner-rated anxiety than dogs on placebo.

Across human conversation, pop, classical, heavy metal and silence, classical music led dogs to spend more time resting and less time barking. Heavy metal increased agitated behaviours.

In 117 kennelled dogs, classical music increased sleeping and reduced vocalisation, while heavy metal increased body shaking, a sign of nervousness.

Classical music improved heart-rate variability, a physiological marker of lower stress, but the benefit faded within about a week as dogs habituated.

Soft rock and reggae gave the largest drop in stress markers, and a varied playlist seemed to reduce habituation compared with a single genre.

Dogs listening to audiobooks spent more time resting and less time vocalising than with classical music, pop or silence. A steady, predictable sound may matter more than the genre.

In a busy vet hospital, classical music played at this setting made no significant difference to dog behaviour.

Dogs hear from roughly 67 Hz up to about 45 kHz, far higher than humans, and are more sensitive to high frequencies.

After a stressful task, people’s skin-conductance stress response recovered faster while hearing nature sounds than while hearing road or ambient noise at similar loudness. This is a human study.

Faster tempo raised breathing rate and blood pressure in listeners; slow tempo and pauses lowered them, with the calmest readings during pauses. This is a human study.

Describes the iso principle used in music therapy: start near the listener’s current arousal, then change tempo and intensity gradually toward the target state.

A low-pitched masking sound hides higher-pitched sounds much more than the reverse, and this “upward spread of masking” grows as the masker gets louder. It comes from the mechanics of the inner ear, which mammals share.

Recorded thunder carries most of its audible power in the low hundreds of hertz and below, with rumbles and infrasound lower still. Much of that energy sits below what small speakers can play.

Active noise cancellation only works in a small zone near the error microphone, like inside headphones. In an open room, anti-noise adds to the sound in some spots while cancelling it in others.

Brainstem hearing tests showed age-related hearing loss starting at about 8 to 10 years. It affected all frequencies but was largest and progressed fastest in the middle-to-high range (8 to 32 kHz).

Puppies’ ear canals open at about 2 weeks, and hearing thresholds reach adult levels at about 20 days, although brainstem pathways keep maturing for several more weeks.

Dogs with musculoskeletal pain developed noise sensitivity much later, at about 6.5 years, than dogs without pain, at about 2.7 years. The researchers suggest pain may worsen the tension caused by startling.

Dogs are dichromats, with two cone types peaking near 429 nm (blue-violet) and 555 nm (yellow-green). Reds and greens look like dull, similar tones to them.

Dogs see flicker up to roughly 70–80 Hz, faster than humans. Light that looks steady to us can look like it pulses to them.

Moving images on a screen had only small effects on shelter dogs’ behaviour, much weaker than the effects seen with sound.

Dog cones peak near 429 nm (blue-violet) and 555 nm (yellow-green), and rods near 506 to 510 nm. Dogs cannot tell red from green and are very insensitive to deep red.

Dog retinas are rod-dominated, with rod pigment peaking near 506 to 510 nm, and a reflective tapetum lucidum that gives light a second pass. Dogs see well in dim light and are highly sensitive to motion.

Shelter dogs under fluorescent lighting stood and barked more. Under flicker-free LED lighting they were more likely to lie down and stay at the back of the kennel.