You may have heard about dog owners leaving the radio or television playing softly in the background to help ease the silence when a dog is left alone in the house. Some dog owners believe that the constant hum of white noise can help ease a dog’s anxiety because your dog will not be left with total quietness.
However, is this necessary? And do dogs like white noise? Some dogs like white noise and can benefit from it to reduce anxiety levels.
This article has all the information you need to know on whether white noise has any benefit for your canine companion.
What Is White Noise for Dogs?
White noise can be described as a static sound that contains the audible frequencies you would hear in a vibration. As humans, you would be unable to detect the exact sounds that you are hearing, but you will be able to pick up on the low vibrations produced from the sound. White noise is a type of noise that is produced when a bunch of different frequencies of sound are combined so that your dog can hear it. White noise exists in a range of different frequencies to mask other sounds and help prevent complete silence in your dog’s environment.
Dogs have better hearing than us and can hear sounds that are as quiet as 5–25 dB. White noise is thought to have some benefits when it comes to calming down dogs because it contains tones that a canine’s ear can hear.
How Does White Noise Help Dogs?
Many different factors can contribute to a dog’s anxiety, however, many dog owners seem to find that noise is a major contributor. That being said, white noise might be able to calm dogs who are restless because they have no sounds in their environment, especially when they are left alone for long periods.
The belief that white noise can help calm anxious dogs down has led to the creation of white noise machines. These machines can be used for both humans and dogs alike, but some dog owners are using these machines to play a background noise while their dog is left alone, especially if they have a particularly anxious dog.
A white noise machine produces what’s called “pink noise” (random noise that has equal energy per octave), a much softer sound with frequencies that are not distinguishable, which seems to be more pleasant to a dog’s ears. The same effects as white noise are heard when pink noise is being played through these machines. These machines are created to calm dogs down and they can be used to help them fall asleep, and keep them company when the house or environment is quiet, and when they are feeling anxious.
Do Dogs Like White Noise?
There have been some studies that have proven that dogs can benefit from white and pink noise. It is widely known that dogs have better hearing than humans do, so they can hear and focus on white noise. It is possible that they can get some calming benefits from hearing white noises either from a machine or a different source such as a television, a YouTube playlist, or a radio.
A study conducted in 2017 found that some forms of music, along with white and pink noise can be a form of sedative for dogs. The truth behind this is that because your dog is audibly focusing on the white noise they will hear less of other noises or complete silence in their environment. This can help to drown out loud environmental sounds that could otherwise cause a dog to feel anxious or it can help promote a state of relaxation.
White noise can help to produce enough background sounds that can put your dog into a deep and calming sleep, or help prevent them from waking up from other loud sounds that may disturb them if they were sleeping in a completely silent room.
To further help you understand if your dog may like white noise, a study that was conducted in 2018 showed that background noise and music helped to lower the cortisol levels in rabbits, which has helped dog owners believe that anxious dogs may be calmed and become less frightened if white or pink noise is playing in the background and can potentially help to lower stress caused by their anxiety.
Summary
Some dogs may like white noise, and it seems to have some benefits for overly anxious dogs who do not like being in a completely quiet environment or need a combination of frequencies to drown out louder sounds while they are sleeping. Aside from white noise possibly being beneficial for dogs, it has also shown to be helpful in humans and other smaller animals too.
If you find that you have a restless canine that becomes anxious when left alone in a quiet house or if you think white noise will help benefit their sleeping habits, you can try white noise playlists found on the web or invest in a white noise machine for dogs. You can also try leaving the television or radio playing softly in the background to see if it has any effect on your dog.
Featured Image Credit: dogboxstudio, Shutterstock
