The influence of music on barking

Abstract: This study investigated the effects of a music and nonmusic/silence condition on the barking behavior of dogs contained in an enclosed area. The subjects were a mix of male and female dogs, a maximum of 30 inclusively, of mixed sizes, breeds, and ages, who were kenneled indoors together for at least 12 hours. Afetr one minute of silence, test conditions were started alternately: 30 minutes of country-western style music or 30 minutes of nonmusic-silence, each followed by rounds. During rounds the following dependent variables were measured under the two test conditions: 1) commencement of barking once rounds started, 2) the intensity of barking (decibels) during rounds, and 3) the amount of time for barking (duration of barking) to cease following the start of each round. An analysis of variance was computed. Statistically the results were nonsignificant for the two conditions on all of the dependent measures. These results are discussed with suggestions for future research.

Keyword(s): Barking, dogs, silence.

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