Plenty of studies show that music has a positive effect on dogs, particularly reggae, but this song is tailor-made to de-stress .

It has been scientifically proven that music can relax dogs and be a massive help for generally anxious dogs. With that in mind one dog’s owner took to creating music designed just for dogs to chill out to with his stressed and tense dog Daisy as his muse.

Daisy’s owner, singer-songwriter Gnash, decided to create music to sooth his dogs tension after attempting medication and animal behaviour therapy. Gnash heard about the positive effects of reggae and got in contact with Professor Neil Evans, Dr. Fiona Dowell and student Amy Bowman from the University of Glasgow to discuss how to go about creating his music for dogs.

They told Gnash that: “The song shouldn’t be overly complex. A steady tempo on the drums is quite good.” They go on to say: “There’s a couple of papers that suggest that having a ten second repeat in music synchronises your respiratory and your cardiovascular systems.”

Although reggae seemed to prevalent for good vibes in dogs, the track Gnash went into the studio and recorded became a much more ambient, relaxing piano piece. The effects were seen even during the recording of the track when Daisy cuddled into one of Gnash’s friends who hadn’t been able to come close to her before.

The power of calming music for dogs is being utilised specifically in dog shelters where lots of dogs have issues with anxiety and stress due to past trauma. After creating his composition Gnash took his music to be trialled at a dog adoption shelter. Speaking on the experience, he said: “It was a powerful experience to watch an entire room full of dogs, and my own rescue dog Daisy, react to this song. It was incredible to be able to create music that transcends human emotion and has the ability to connect with these animals on a deeper level.