Study: Classical Music Best To Calm Dogs

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS Denver) – Perhaps Beethoven would have been an appropriate remedy for the 1990s mischievous movie dog "Beethoven."

That's because a new study by a professor at Colorado State University found that classical music may reduce stress in dogs.

Lead author Lori Kogan studied the effect of different types of music on various breeds.

According to Leader-Post, the study determined that classical music was more soothing than "psychoacoustic" music that was specially designed to sooth animals.

By contrast, heavy metal music seemed to amplify dogs' anxiety. The study also linked heavy metal music to less sleep, more barking, and increased shaking.

The dogs were exposed to 45 minutes of the three different genres of music with behavior being recorded every five minutes.

The study linked classical to a more relaxed and restful behavior, while heavy metal was linked to greater anxiety and unrest.

"I did thousands of behavioral assessments over a period of four months," Kogan told the Leader-Post. "So the likelihood that this is an error is pretty small."

"The plus side is that you can download classical music for free," Kogan added to the paper.

The study has been published in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior.