Understanding And Using Sound To Heal Your Pets with Lisa Spector

Ever been overwhelmed by the sheer power of music? Ponder over its potential to not only spark emotions in humans, but also in our beloved pets. Allow us to take you on a fascinating journey with Lisa Spector, a virtuoso concert pianist and pet music specialist, as she takes us from the glitz and glamour of Juilliard stages to the heartwarming world of pet music. Through her inspiring journey, she's used her musical prowess to create calming soundtracks that have assisted in reducing anxiety in over 1500 shelters globally, leading to increased pet adoption rates. 

Now, imagine your hyperactive canine companion suddenly calming down with the soothing notes of a piano. Sounds magical, right? This episode explores the therapeutic effects of music on pets, specifically dogs. We delve into the intricate science of sound, understanding how a balanced mix of low frequencies and long, smooth lines without sudden changes can induce relaxation in our furry friends. We also throw light on how music can serve as a classical conditioning response, helping our pets cope with situations that trigger stress. If you've ever wondered what music your dog prefers, hold on till the end as Lisa answers this intriguing question. Welcome to an episode that's sure to strike a chord with every pet lover out there!

Transcript

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Music's Impact on Pet Well-Being

Dr Edward 0:25

Welcome everyone to the full episode of Pets , people and Harmony with our special guest , lisa Spector , the podcast title being Heal your Pets With Music , and today we're going to dig into really in the in the short episode teaser episode , we just went into the fact that , wow , our pets are incredibly sensitive to sound and sound pollution can can be harmful and stressful for them . But what we're going to do in this extended episode is that Lisa is going to share a whole lot of her deep wisdom , coming from a career as a performing concert pianist and then stretching out into to studying how music and sound affects animals and particularly composing special music that has particular kinds of frequencies and cadences that help animals relax . So how did you get in ? How did you come from being a concert pianist to making music for animals ?

Lisa Spector 1:31

Well , I often say that my Juilliard degree has gone to the dogs and I couldn't be more thrilled . I did not go to Juilliard to learn to play and record music for dogs , but it's so satisfying because my recordings have helped dogs get adopted in 1500 shelters worldwide and I see how it's helped in veterinary clinics and it's just so heartwarming to me . So it happened what appeared to be by accident , but we know there are no accidents . But looking back it was just kind of divine intervention At the time . This goes way back 20 years , 2003, .

Lisa Spector 2:04

I was a volunteer puppy raiser for Guide Ducks for the Blind down here in California and I had four month old puppy . I was raising Yale Lab and I owned a music school . That's what I did professionally . So of course I brought the puppy to the school and I was learning different kinds of music to focus and calm my four class of four year olds . In the process I'd look over at my puppy Rembunctious , you know , he's a four month old lab and he's , like you know , snoozing . At no time I'm like great , the kids are focused , quiet . But I'm really onto something with the dogs and that's how it all started .

Dr Edward 2:40

Okay , so you said that your music is being played in a lot of shelters , so what sort of changes has it made , you know ? What sort of data can you tell us about how bringing this music into the shelters has helped these anxious , traumatized rescue dogs that are waiting for new homes ?

Lisa Spector 2:59

So I'm going to tell a personal story around that and then I'll tell the data around it . I , about one year into this , I got a call from a shelter manager in Ohio and he said Lisa , he was in tears and he said the reason I'm crying is because this is the first time I've been able to pick up the phone and have a conversation in my 20 years here , because it's always been too noisy with dogs barking , and so it quietes the dogs , it quietes the visitors and visitors then stay longer and then increases adoption rates . But he said I have to tell you about this dog , trello . He's been here in a year like really stressed , and he's listening to your music and he finally got adopted because the people really saw who he really was once he chilled out .

Lisa Spector 3:43

And this is based on research . I did with a veterinary neurologist , dr Susan Wagner , that she tested a variety of my recordings and other classical music . It was based on a research study by Debra Wells , an Irish behaviorist who had done a study in 2001 testing a control group with no sound classical pop , heavy metal and jazz . The challenge with testing classical I've been playing classical piano since I was seven . I know dogs , you know , go towards the piano , even deaf dogs .

Lisa Spector 4:16

They like the vibrations . But classical music is such an enormously broad term .

Dr Edward 4:21

Oh God there's , so it's like a universe of music , yeah .

Lisa Spector 4:25

And people think , oh , I know , I'll just put my classical station or my classical app on . Well , that might be playing the 1812 overture , with cannons coming out of the start .

Dr Edward 4:35

That's not going to come in the past .

Lisa Spector 4:37

Right , it's such a huge variety of could be 140 piece orchestra with Berlio symphony , fantastique , or it could be solo guitar , could be solo flute or violin , which is high frequency which charges the canine error system . So in the research study back in 2005 , I believe that I worked with a sound researcher and then Dr Susan Wagner . We were testing a variety of classical music and found the perfect prescription of classical that really worked to calm the dogs , to get them to settle down , to get them to stop barking , to get them to stop panting and pacing . And then the second study was in a home where people knew what their dogs anxiety issues were . So we tested a wide variety of sound phobia , hyperactivity , excessive barking , all the things .

Dr Edward 5:26

Yeah , because I've read a book , the Mozart Effect , which has kind of studied the effect of Mozart on humans , which seems to be quite profound too . So you're kind of trying to find a similar thread of more classical , piano based music that has the right kinds of frequencies and cadences that help animals really let go and relax .

Lisa Spector 5:43

Yeah , that's a good way to put it . Yes , although that Mozart Effect , well , it has been debunked .

Dr Edward 5:53

But we won't go there . That's another one I was going to say I'm not across the whole sound for animals thing . I'm a musician and I'm into sound but I haven't been studying that Although you know , I do listen to Mozart when I want to focus .

Lisa Spector 6:10

That's a whole other story .

Dr Edward 6:13

So let's dig into the meat and bones of what we're here to learn from Lisa today . So we're going to dig into some teaching points , and the first point that Lisa wants to expand upon with us today is the impact of music on pet well-being . So can you explain to us how music affects the mental , emotional state and physiology of our dogs , please ?

Lisa Spector 6:42

Sure . So when you think about it , your dogs have no control over their sound environment . Maybe if you have a really skilled , trained border callee that knows how to turn the steering on in place talk to Alexa , maybe . But the people control the pets' environmental sound and I always feel sorry for pets who are in a house where one room the TV is going , the other room the teenagers paying heavy metal and the other room there's a football game with screaming going on .

Lisa Spector 7:18

Well , we know that dogs will do anything to put themselves near us . They will put themselves in the middle of cacophony , which could limit and shorten their life because it causes stress , because their number one desire is to be with us and so it's our , I think , to really be a responsible pet parent , we have to really control that environment so that when they're just getting one sound source at a time , control the volume of it . I don't know if I'm just lucky , but since maybe I don't know , but since I really became these 20 years , since I become somewhere , every senior dog I've had has not lost any hearing .

Dr Edward 7:56

Oh , really that's interesting too .

Lisa Spector 7:58

Because I like to think it's because I'm like the sound police , I'm like really careful with what they're introduced to . Not that I don't . Sometimes I love Zumba and I love to play it , sometimes too loud if I want to energize and it's not on a caffeine at four in the afternoon here , but I don't put my dog . I don't subject my dog to that if it's too loud .

Lisa Spector 8:22

They're in a separate room , they have a bone , they've got their own sound environment . So I'm really careful about that sound environment in terms of music and I think we all can be more aware , not only of our own musical sound and I'll get in a minute to other sounds in the pet household but just with music . Being aware of knowing your dog will really danger him or herself by wanting to be near you and put themself in a cacophony of sound and it would cause me , like I'm not as sensitive hearing as my dog and it would cause me so much stress .

Dr Edward 8:56

Yes , so you know , if people do want to listen to kinds of quality of music that are less relaxed about loud volume , do you want to think about headphones rather than speakers ?

Lisa Spector 9:06

Yeah , exactly yeah , and I do that at times too when it's like , okay , I don't want her to hear this . And I have a dog who is not sound sensitive . She's 14 year old , 14 year young , very healthy black lab . But she's more sound sensitive than she used to be , as most senior dogs . As they get older , Generally you know behaviors . Newer behaviors show up , Middle-aged to later , and so one of them is I know she's not sound fullback by any means , but I noticed she's just more unalert if she hears something that's an unusual sound . So I'm also really aware of tea kettle listening and beats from the Instant Pot and the washing machine and all those things we'll get into .

Dr Edward 9:48

We'll get into that in a little bit , when we get into the whole sound survey in the second half of this podcast episode . So we've got this whole thing about sound , and sound sensitivity is a pretty common type of anxiety in dogs , isn't it ?

Lisa Spector 10:07

Yeah , so there was a study in 2020 , see the 2020 or 2021 , and it was . I'm going to interject for a second and say when I started this 20 years ago , there were so many less studies and one of them showed that one . In those years , when I launched my first album in 2008 for dogs , one out of seven dogs exhibited anxiety issue . In 2020 , 71.5% of dogs showed anxiety issues and of that , 71% , 42 or 43 around there showed sound phobias . So here's the thing .

Dr Edward 10:49

Hi yeah .

Lisa Spector 10:51

Yeah , yeah , they are very . They're hearing is is so much . Their hearing range is so much greater than ours . So you have to assume in your , in your pet household , that there's so much more sound sensitive to , to all of those sounds that you may be , that may be invisible and you're not hearing yourself .

Lisa Spector 11:12

But , when you really are aware of that . I like to . This is just my own terminology . I describe sound phobic . As you are aware , when your dog is sound phobic , there's fireworks , your dog goes hiding under the bed , you know . Thunderstorm jumps in the bathtub , coward shakes . That's very obvious . That's one category and my terminology , sound sensitivity , which is where a lot of the dogs lie is , is less obvious . It's a lot less obvious because it's more subtle . They're always on alert . They can't you know what's the sound outside . They can't relax . And you you might think , oh , it's so cute . He's going to the window and barking . You know that's stress . So there's different levels of that .

Dr Edward 12:03

So sound can have a profoundly positive impact on your pets , but also have a profoundly negative impact . So I think that's the take home from this first teaching point , and the second one is the importance of the sound we're going to talk about , why you need to take a sound survey and why diminishing household noises that might be outside your perceptual ability for your hearing , because dogs and cats hear a much higher range of frequencies and a much lower range of frequencies in us , and not only that , they're much more sensitive , they can hear much quieter sounds than us as well . They've got a tremendously greater sensory awareness when it comes to sound than us . So the importance of this what is the true importance of a sound survey for your pets ?

Lisa Spector 12:51

The truest importance is to de-stress your pet anyway again , and really taking control of the sounds that you can diminish and delete really can make a profound impact . And also , sometimes you might be thinking the issue is one thing and it's another . So let's say you have a washing machine and dryer that's in the garage and you contact a behaviorist because your dog all the sudden is afraid to go in the garage , like this is so strange .

Lisa Spector 13:23

All the CYZ . What happened in the garage ? Well , one time it only takes one time your dog was walking by the dryer and the clothes were done and the beep went off and your dog went ballistic and something is scary in the garage and he's never going to go walking in the garage and it's wintertime and you need to go to the vet with your dog and he won't get in the car because he's in the garage . So , just the littlest things can really compound .

Dr Edward 13:50

Okay , so , and diminishing household noises what kinds of things ? If you're working one-on-one with someone to help them with this , what kinds of things . What kind of changes have you seen people make in terms of what do they do to reduce , find and reduce these kinds of sounds ?

Lisa Spector 14:08

There's a lot we can do . So what I invite listeners to do is to take a sound survey .

Noise Pollution and Music for Canine Anxiety

Lisa Spector 14:13

Sit in the middle of your household and living home and so forth , with your sofa . You can have your pet in your lap and take a notepad for like 20 minutes and just sit and just listen to the outside sounds . There won't be a car rolling by , a motorcycle thunderstorm . Listen to the inside sound . Is there buzzing from the Bluetooth ?

Lisa Spector 14:32

I keep my Bluetooth off and I'm not using it . Is there a blizzard from the Bluetooth ? Overhead lights ? The refrigerator , just dryer , the washing machine , the Instant Pot , all the things , because as we advance with technology , we also get more overloaded with technology , beeps and sounds . Yeah , so I have my phone on quiet 100% of the time . I don't have alerts . I don't want my dog or me to be , you know , to those . I don't know what that would do To her like constantly binging , you know , every time I get a text . So my phone is on . It's a visual reminder for me . It's not actually I have all notifications off almost all the time , but whatever is on is a visual , and so you're going to start to notice sounds you've never heard . And the good news with these appliances is very often times we there's particularly newer appliances very often times there is a control that we can turn off that sound as an alert . Who needs to know ?

Dr Edward 15:37

when the dishes are dry , like who cares ? Not only that , a lot of these appliances if they're plugged in , there's a hum from the transformers and things . If they're turned on at the wall , there's another layer of silent sound pollution that is filling your animal's sensory awareness . So turning things , everything off at the wall and you're not using it , I think , is another way . Yeah , that can be helpful 100% , yes , 100% , yeah .

Lisa Spector 16:03

And so with that conversation we could even turn off Wi-Fi at night time . We're not using it , but whatever you can to diminish , so you're going to be aware of those sounds during the sound surveys because I guarantee you you're going to hear sounds you've never noticed before , and then you're going to see what you can diminish and delete Some of them . You can just lower the volume on Haven't . I cook with Instant Pot all the time . Haven't found a way to delete that beep , so I keep it more at a distance from her . So you know , and generally I don't have her hang out in the kitchen , so that helps too .

Dr Edward 16:37

Yeah , and another thing that I'm hearing is that you know you can do a sound survey for what you hear , but you also need to be aware of all these supersonic and subsonic kind of hums and buzzes and sounds that technology makes , that they don't try to minimize because it's outside the range of human hearing .

Lisa Spector 16:57

Right and it's a process . So I'm not saying do all of this , listen and then change everything today . You just do a little bit at a time , really adds up and really really does make a difference . And you might do it , you know , one day , and then do a sound survey again in a few weeks and see what you hear then , because you're going to be training your ear and you're going to be hearing more sounds .

Dr Edward 17:18

Beautiful . So can you share with us a little bit about how music can be used preventatively and as a treatment for canine anxiety ? What , what , what . How does it work ? What do you ?

Lisa Spector 17:34

do , sure . So the music I play , I'm a pianist , so I Okay , Wow , okay , the music that works to calm the canine nervous system makes so much sense when I explain it this way when you are saying good night to your dog and you're in a calm state and good girl , good night , you instinctively , without thinking about it , you drop your voice , you speak in long what we call in terms of legato , smooth sounds , without even thinking about it . If your dog is about to cross the street and a car is coming , the last thing you're going to do is say , phytohyr , you're going to go .

Dr Edward 18:12

I'm not going to do it now , it's my dog's right here Because you're a dog , you're going to go with More drop , high frequency yeah , not only high frequency but staccato , what we call music , from staccato , short terms .

Lisa Spector 18:24

That's why whistles work to get your dog's attention . So they're high and you blow a whistle short that gets your attention . I run agility she's retired now but I have a two-time championship dog and in agility she loves tunnels . So when I don't want her to get in the tunnel I call her at a high frequency gee here , short staccato . So that's what I do with . I do the opposite of that with music . I go into the low frequencies . Long legato lines , no surprise patterns . If I play Beethoven , which has typically a lot of surprising forte , loud sounds and riffs , I leave those out because I want patterns of consistency . I don't want anything that would surprise dogs Cycling through .

Dr Edward 19:10

It's nice and easy and you can sink into it and relax . Yeah .

Lisa Spector 19:15

Yes , and that's why , generally , just putting on classical is the first step , but I wouldn't leave it there . That's because you might be playing classical that doesn't have the low frequencies and doesn't have the legato sounds , and we know that classical music is one moment fast and loud and the other moment slow and soft , and it constantly changes . If you're ever having a car and having a conversation , that's classical you're constantly adjusting the volume .

Dr Edward 19:44

Yeah , more dynamic range , exactly , Exactly . And the pop music which has been compressed or flattened . It all sounds pretty much the same . Exactly yeah , so with the whole music that you play , that you've created , are you on Spotify ?

Lisa Spector 20:02

I am on Spotify , yes , so my album is Doggonecom . Or Look for Lisa Spector .

Dr Edward 20:07

Doggonecom , and they can look for Lisa Spector too , and Doggonecom and I'll get you the streaming link to that too .

Dr Edward 20:15

Yeah , but I just want to say to everyone please listen on Spotify , but go and buy the album from Lisa , because Lisa only gets about 1 millionth of a cent every time you stream it . It's really no income at all . And if you want to reward Lisa for all the beautiful creative energy she's put into recording this album for your dogs , go to our website . I don't know if you're on Bandcamp or any of those other ones where you get kind of actually paid for the music .

Lisa Spector 20:40

I might download it , so I'm going to add to that . So thank you for saying that . I really appreciate it . I will tell you , though , if you stream this music Spotify , apple , amazon , all of them and you play it when you're out to prevent and treat separation anxiety , and you're playing it all the time there's penny-down . That adds up too right .

Dr Edward 21:03

That adds up to less income , so it's a win-win . You go out , you leave the beautiful coming music for your animals going the whole time that you're out , and Lisa gets a few pennies every week , which is kind of nuts .

Dr Edward 21:16

We're going to dip in now to what we do in the middle of our full episodes . Every time , we have a little self-care interlude , because I personally believe , and from my experience in life , that self-care is the one thing that will help you heal and transform your life more than anything else . So for you , lisa , what's your most important self-care practice ? What can you share with these beautiful humans and , of course , their animals around ? Self-care .

Lisa Spector 21:43

Not surprisingly , it's music .

Dr Edward 21:46

There you go .

Lisa Spector 21:46

So music is my sanity , Music is my self-care . I've got my whole routine . I've got what I play on the piano in the morning . I've got what I listen to with Gina , my dog , that's coming for me and it's a very meditative practice . I've got music . That's my focus music . I've got my focus playlist . I've got my creativity playlist .

Dr Edward 22:10

So you get a whole different kinds of textures and music to help you modulate your mood , motivate you , that sort of thing .

Lisa Spector 22:17

Yeah , and even though I stream all my music , I know that an album is generally 45 minutes to an hour , so if I have a project , it's like I'm in that chair until that album is over .

Dr Edward 22:28

And , by the way , if you're streaming , go into Spotify and change your settings to the highest quality streaming . It'll make a very significant difference to the impact the music has on you , because the quality won't be degraded .

Lisa Spector 22:41

Right , yes , and also watch the volume . So one of the things that happens often . I'm so proud that my music is played in 1,500 shelters , but often times I go into those shelters and it's too loud , which is not good for dogs , and people say , well , what volume ? Well , whatever volume , you would be comfortable if you were listening all day ? Let's say , and then lower it a little bit , because they're more sensitive than we are . So be careful of the volume .

Dr Edward 23:07

Maybe 10% , and the thing is that you'll reset your comfortable listening volume over time . If you've been loving really loud music and you turn it down after a week or two , suddenly be going , oh , that sounds at a good loudness for me . So yeah , there's kind of the frequencies that can upset dogs , but excess volume is stressful for them too .

Lisa Spector 23:26

Exactly .

Dr Edward 23:27

Yeah , right Now we're going to get into where we or not we but Lisa is going to be talking to you about how you can take action , what you can do to make a difference for your animals . Now , we've already really kind of covered the sound survey thing . I don't think we need to dig into that again , but I do encourage you to actually take half an hour and get there with your journal and really , and don't just listen to this podcast , because this podcast is not just for listening , it's also for acting upon , and you won't make any difference in your animals life if you just listen to this and go oh wow , that sounds survey thing sounds like a great idea , but you don't actually do it . But one thing that Lisa wants to inspire you to do is to integrate music into your daily routines . So how do you , how do you teach people to do this ?

Lisa Spector 24:19

Yeah , so our dogs love routines , our cats need routines . Like , consistency is number one , as we know with cats and with dogs . They know their routines , they know when they get fed , they know where they get fed , they know when you put on your sneakers . You're going to stem from all the things . You can integrate music the same way . So I love to take time after dinner or you know closer to bedtime and really just cuddle my dog , massage her , do some body work and listen to the music together . And when you start to make that routine , I will tell you . I just moved houses , like two days ago , and I forgot that routine . And Gina , I mean there was anxiety around just moving for her .

Lisa Spector 25:08

She was unsettled and I almost forgot Lisa you've got your music .

Lisa Spector 25:13

So I just sat with her on the bed and I massaged her and I played the music and she just instantly settled down because that's part of our normal routine and I just forgot it in the process of moving . So your dogs will pick up on that routine and it will help you just as much as it will help your dog , so you can really build that into a routine together . It's just like anything walking your dog and being your dog and care and body work and all the things . Just add this in also .

Dr Edward 25:42

So you got to music your dog every day , not just walk them .

Speaker 25:47

Exactly , you can music your dog , yeah , no , at least you're tired , yeah .

Dr Edward 25:52

And you mentioned playing music as a prescription , like a medicine , like a dose of medicine , can ? You explain a little bit about that , please .

Lisa Spector 25:59

Sure , well , veterinarians recommend it for prescriptively , like half an hour a day , preventively . So not only for treatment , because it does treat separation , anxiety , sound phobias , even aggression and all the things , but you can also use it preventively . So prescriptively means really it builds on this concept of creating a ritual . You know with your dog that you're setting a time and that's a prescription that you know for half an hour you're listening to this together and it I've just seen it work so many times . You know over and over and how every dog is different , but some it's pretty quick , like one music track sometimes .

Dr Edward 26:42

Do you have a few more stories you could share with us about animals that have been impacted by your music and changes that have been seen after using ?

Lisa Spector 26:49

music . I have profound stories that I almost can't believe . So when I was originally released the first recording that I made for dogs in 2008 , and I forget the exact years , but remember the whole Michael Vick story with his fighting dogs that were all in the states , it was a big deal . So we had a whole ring of fighting dogs and they got rescued and where many of them were tried to be rehabilitated many more . And I got a call from Susan , who had Little Red , one of the Michael Vick fighting dogs , and she called me and she said Lisa , you should see Little Red , I've been playing your music and for the first time ever , she opened her belly to me and trusted me and let me rub her belly while your music was playing . That's why my Julliard degree has gone to the dogs , because that's worth it . To me , that's better than Carnegie Hall to me . I couldn't even believe it . It was such a profound story and then that kept your company the rest of her life .

Dr Edward 28:05

That is a big impact . That is a big change in an animal that's gone through hideous trauma from some pretty unsavory humans , which is sad , but that's a beautiful story .

The Power of Music for Pets

Dr Edward 28:21

The other thing you wanted to talk about is music being a thing . What do you mean by that ?

Lisa Spector 28:26

So what I mean by music being a thing is that music is invisible , so we forget it's a thing , meaning it's a tool . So you can condition your dog , even to this day . She's 14 and when I'm she's looking or bowl or something , I'll still pat her head and do things that you did as a puppy to condition her . This means when you're patting her head and she's doing her favorite thing , looking her bowl with some pumpkin or whatever it is that this means that this is a good thing . You can use music the same way too , so you can use it as a classical conditioning response . That that is a thing , it's in your toolbox , it's just invisible . So , dogs , I'll give you an example .

Lisa Spector 29:11

When I adopted Gina , I had Sanchez , which my rest in peace dog now . He was a seven year old yellow lab . He actually was a dog I talked about at the beginning of the show with my music school . He didn't make it , so I got to adopt him and he lived a happy 14 years with me . And when he was seven , I adopted Gina and she was one and I was playing the piano and literally Sanchez told Gina in his own way oh she's playing music , she's playing the piano . I mean , I'm of course putting in English words , but I'm , she's playing the piano , now's our time to settle and go to her bed , and every day forward from there , I play the piano . Gina goes to bed . So it's a thing , it's just invisible .

Dr Edward 30:01

And what I would say , that is that if you are proactive and you play the music many times and the animal relaxes every time you play the music , then if they get a stressful trigger and you play the music , they're going to go . Oh , I can relax .

Lisa Spector 30:15

Exactly 100% , and you want to be careful with your timing because , let's say , it's separation anxiety . What you don't want to do is put on your shoes , pick up your keys , put on the music , because then it's like okay , now it's time to settle . Okay , now it's time to stress .

Dr Edward 30:27

You want to try to be a trigger for anxiety rather than a conditioning for relaxation .

Lisa Spector 30:33

Yeah , Exactly , mix up the times . You added an hour before you go . Yet you know , just mix it up always .

Dr Edward 30:41

Yes , and now we're coming to probably the most exciting part of this podcast , in that Lisa is going to play us some live music for maybe about five minutes or so of deeply relaxing beautiful dog on calm music . So we're just waiting for Lisa's sitting at her piano . I mean , you guys can't see that because we're on audio , but I'm on video with Lisa so I can see she's just about to turn around and meet the piano .

Lisa Spector 31:11

So I thank you . I'm going to talk a tiny bit about it first and then I'll play it . So this is my podcast theme for my Zen pad and it's the first track on my album dog on calm . And the reason why is because this is an arrangement I made for left hand only . There's three reasons I play music for left hand only . The whole album is not , but it's very base centered I talked to it in the early episode is that lower frequencies calm the canine nervous system , so my left hand plays lower frequencies in this case . It started when I broke my hand several years ago and wasn't my hand , was in a cast , so that's when I rearranged this . Gina , my dog , thinks that , so my right hand is free to pet her while I'm playing left hand .

Dr Edward 31:51

Well , that is a fringe benefit for her .

Lisa Spector 31:55

Exactly , but the real reason is because lower frequencies calm the canine nervous system and the human nervous system . So when you're listening to this , this is a great time to have your dog nearby and listen together and notice your response as well as your dogs . Do you just take a few deep breaths and do you know that you start your heart rate starts to slow , or does your dog start to breathe a little deeper , relax a little more ? Just notice this . It's about two and a half minutes and you'll recognize the melody . I think it's from the Vivaldi Four Seasons , which is played normally by Violin , a high frequency , beautiful instrument and string orchestra . But we don't want the high frequency , so it's the left hand lower piano , beautiful .

Dr Edward 32:50

Just getting microphones rearranged and positioned here , yeah , about to get some beautiful music . Well , that was a bit lovely . Now for all of you listening , you'll notice the sound quality changed a little bit into the piano bit because I had to turn the echo cancellation off . It was still on and it was just affecting the sound quality a little bit . But you'll notice that you got more of the lower frequencies after that change and you might notice that differently . Your body responded with more of that lower frequencies , and maybe even your pets . If you're listening to this again , You'll notice that when the lower frequencies became more obvious , everything wants to let go and relax more .

Lisa Spector 36:11

And I don't know if you could see that Gina came up right when it was like she heard what I said . My right hand was free to pet her .

Dr Edward 36:18

That's kind of cool , awesome . Well , what else do you have to share with us today ? What else do you have to wrap this up for the next little while ? What other wisdom can you share with us around the beauty of music and how it affects our pets and ourselves ?

Lisa Spector 36:44

So people often ask me what composer does . Do dogs prefer ?

Dr Edward 36:52

Ah , that's a good question .

Lisa Spector 36:54

Yeah , I've only met one dog my entire life who had a preference of composers . I'll talk about that in a second . But it's not about the composer , it's about everything I talked about with the prescription of music the lower frequencies , the little gato lines . However , I do invite listeners to really pay attention to what your dog likes . Your dog might like Rakey , that's at a soft volume . Your dog might like Frank Sinatra , I don't know . But really really notice what your dog likes Because , again , they don't have control . They don't turn on , they don't talk to Alexa or serious , how I'm more music to play . So that's under your control . So really observe and also notice not only what they like , but notice where do they go when the music is on . Do they go towards the speakers , towards the source of the sound , away from it ? Never make them go near the sound like this there . You want to give them their choice of where they want to be in relation to that sound .

Lisa Spector 38:04

It's you know it's combination of sounds , as you , we know sound , smell , flight , all the things . But and you know sound , sound is that , after smell , is their second most prevalent sense , and so it's a really in addition to the sound survey , really be a notice , notice of where they are in relation to the sound . I do want to tell that story , is ? It's just so entertaining .

Dr Edward 38:26

We would love to hear this .

Lisa Spector 38:28

Dalmatian and I was playing a concert . This was a good 20 years ago . I was playing a concert . I was playing the Greek piano concerto out of town . So I was staying with a family with two dogs and a parrot and they told me this was gonna happen . I couldn't believe it happened . So two things when I played Bach and Mozart , that Dalmatian left the room . Oh , it's never , well never , met a dog without preference . But when I played the opening of the Greek piano concert , which is high frequencies I don't want to do it here , but it's high frequency's chords Every single time that dog how old , and how old , and how old , and then the other dog , the , the smaller dog , will I would start barking because the Dalmatian was Howling , and then the parrot , which I'm in with , will , oh , shut up . It was so predictable , it was .

Dr Edward 39:29

That's interesting . And I'll tell you an interesting story about my cat , papati , little black panther domestic cat . She loves whistling . When I whistle a tune she will Heidel pop up and she'll come over and she'll be purring like mad and rubbing herself all over me . And she also loves it when my partner plays her harmonium . She kind of drapes herself over the harmonium . So I've never had an animal that had that kind of preference either , but she you know , you see , that she's just magnetically attracted . When I start whistling a tune she loves it .

Lisa Spector 40:01

That the sweetest thing yeah .

Dr Edward 40:04

It is yeah , okay , so we've come to the end of our podcast episode , but we haven't come to the end of you being able to learn more With Lisa , because with our podcast series with many of our speakers , we follow up with a two-hour intensive online workshop , which the title of the one that Lisa is going to be offering us , and it'll the workshop will come out about A week or two after the main episode goes live online . It'll be a live workshop , but it'll also be recorded and on demand . So if you're coming into our podcast ecosystem a little bit later and it's Episode that's been up for some time , you'll still be able to see the links through to the workshop when you can grab , grab a seat , enroll , come along and watch on demand or hopefully join us live . So , understanding and using sound to heal your pets the kinds of things that Lisa is going to cover in detail with some . You know resources to help you be able to do this in the right sort of ways understanding canine sensitivity to sound , how to do a sound survey followed by Detailed action steps to help a dog friendly canine household . Integrating music into daily routines but you know in more depth than we have spoken about in this , in this podcast that's going out free to the world sound therapy techniques for improved well-being for both ends of the leash and and an overview of Lisa's system that she's created to help you , help your pets , be calmer and happier , which is the my zen pet music system . So , talking about volume of Music medicine that you're giving your pets are talking about duration and Talking about consistency . There'll be some Understanding sensitivity , creating how to create a really good canine playlist , and you will also get the chance to ask questions .

Dr Edward 42:08

If you come to the live one . If you don't get the live one , you'll be able to hear all the questions from people who are they on the on-demand version and , of course , lisa's going to play some more live music on that . That recording that'll be on zoom so that you can actually see us and Interact and ask questions . So I'm really excited about that . If you , if you want to learn more , then Come along to that and you'll see all the details about how to do that in the Information that's . You know the text that goes with the podcast . We're really listening . So , lisa , are you excited to come along and teach some ? I ? Can't wait to do this with you .

Lisa Spector 42:44

I can't wait to do this with you . Yeah , I mean , it's my , it's my favorite thing . I love it .

Dr Edward 42:50

Beautiful . Well , thank you so much for being our guest today . It's been endlessly interesting , a lot of wisdom and a lot of really practical things that people can do to make a beautiful Difference for their pets .

Lisa Spector 43:00

Thank you very much . If I could just add , if people want a free PDF on how to use , stream this music and use it for particular anxiety issues and the volume and all the things you can go to my zen pet dot com four slash tips .

Dr Edward 43:15

And we will put that link in the text . That goes with the podcast as well . I'll get you to send that through to us , lisa , so we can pop it up . Lisa also has , you know , a lot of other things on that website , so I do go and explore , and at the end of the workshop We'll also be talking about Lisa's Membership , where you can get ongoing music for your pets and all sorts of cool things .

Lisa Spector 43:39

Fabulous , this was so fun . Thank you , Dr Edward .

Dr Edward 43:42

You're welcome . Thank you and goodbye for now to all of you . I hope you'll be back for our next episode and if you've got Any questions , you know come on . Come to Hollins . Your body balance comm . Love to hear from you . Love to hear what you thought of the podcast . Please , you know , join our community rate , review and share with your friends so that we get this information out to make the difference to more and more animals and people over time . Goodbye for now . Thank you so much for listening .