Music hath charms

When I saw the BBC article on music calming dogs (classical was better), I immediately thought of this: of course. That wouldn't count, though--"Slow tempo (50-60 beats per minute or less), simple compositions with low or no percussive elements are best."

Audiobooks might sound like they'd calm pets, especially with a soothing-voiced narrator, but the theory doesn't hold up in practice. A study Wells co-authored in 2022, which observed the reactions of 60 dogs to either classical music or audiobooks while their owners were briefly absent, found that audiobooks had little to no calming effect. Rather than sit or lie down as they did while listening to the music, most would just stare at the speaker emitting the audiobook recording.

They emphasized that there was a lot of variation, and your mileage with your pet might vary.