🎵 Calming sounds

Guide: how to calm your pet with music and sound

What this tool does

Calming music is a player of relaxing sounds designed for dogs and cats. It has different moods, like soft music, white noise or nature sounds, and a timer so it plays as long as you need. It's useful when your pet is home alone, during storms or fireworks, on trips or after a vet visit.

How it works

Choose a mood, set the volume and start the timer. You can play it on your phone or connect it to a speaker. Sound plays while the page is open, so keep the screen on or the installed app in the foreground.

Why music helps

Several studies with shelter dogs have found that soft, slow classical music is linked to more time resting and less barking. White noise, meanwhile, helps mask frightening sounds like thunder, firecrackers or traffic.

Volume is key: dogs and cats hear much better than we do, so keep it low. It also helps to play it during calm moments, so your pet links those sounds with relaxation and not only with stressful situations.

Other ways to reduce anxiety

Music helps, but it's not a complete solution. Combine it with other steps:

• A safe hideout: a covered bed or crate in a quiet corner where it can retreat.
• Exercise first: a walk or play session before leaving it alone helps it rest.
• Low-key departures: skip big goodbyes and over-excited reunions.
• Enrichment toys: a food-stuffed toy gives it something to do.
• During storms or fireworks: close windows and curtains, stay nearby and act normally. Calmly comforting it doesn't reinforce fear.

If your dog destroys things, barks for hours or has accidents every time it's left alone, it may have separation anxiety. Talk to your vet or a trainer. To understand its stress signals, use What is my pet telling me?

Getting ready for fireworks

If you know fireworks are coming, walk your dog before they start and make sure it wears a tag with your phone number: many pets bolt in fear. Have the music ready, close doors and windows and set up its hideout. If it struggles every year, talk to your vet well ahead of time. With patience, many anxious pets become much calmer over time.