Effects of Music Pitch and Tempo on the Behaviour of Kennelled Dogs

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Domestic dogs often live in confined environments for different reasons. These environments can be challenging for some dogs and this can lead to high levels of stress and arousal, which could affect welfare. Auditory enrichment has been shown to reduce arousal-related behaviours in dogs, and the aim of this study was to investigate if these effects are induced by particular characteristics of music such as tempo and pitch. The behaviour of 10 kennelled dogs was monitored in response to music tracks played with different characteristics (high pitch, low pitch, fast tempo and slow tempo), as well as white noise and a control. Low pitch tracks seemed to prompt behavioural changes by increasing the level of alertness of the dogs, potentially due to the association between low frequency vocalisations with agonistic contexts, making them more vigilant of their surroundings. ABSTRACT: Confinement can be stressful for some dogs and this can lead to behavioural issues and poor welfare. A key component of the stress response is behavioural arousal, characterised by increased alertness and sensory sensitivity. This makes behavioural observations a useful tool to assess stress, as they provide insight into an animal’s internal state. Auditory enrichment has been shown to reduce arousal-related behaviour in dogs, but it is not clear if specific characteristics of a music track, such as tempo and/or pitch, produce these effects. The aim of this study was to compare behavioural responses of dogs to music tracks played with different characteristics (high pitch, low pitch, fast tempo, and slow tempo), as well as white noise and a control. Pitch and tempo modifications were applied to ten piano music songs and the six treatments (four different treatment-song combinations, white noise, and control) were presented daily, for ten minutes each, to ten dogs over ten days. Behavioural changes seemed to be driven by low-pitch tracks, which increased the level of alertness of the dogs. These findings could be related to the Morton’s motivations-structural rules: harsh, low frequency vocalisations signal aggressive motivations in mammals. Dogs may have perceived low-pitch tracks as more unsettling and were therefore more active and alert when listening to them.