Music Has Gone to the Dogs

Calm your dog before competition—or anytime.

Lisa Spector will tell you that her “Juilliard degree has gone to the dogs,” and she couldn’t be more thrilled. The agility competitor and concert pianist from Half Moon Bay, Calif., has found a way to combine her musical talent with her passion for improving the lives of dogs.

“I first had the idea of creating music for dogs in 2003 when I was a volunteer puppy raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind and owned a music school in my community,” Lisa said. “I was experimenting with different classical music to help calm and focus the children in my class. I noticed that a certain prescription of classical music not only quieted my 4-year-old students in record time, but also consistently calmed my rambunctious 4-month-old puppy.”

The science behind dogs and music

To learn more about the dog/music connection, Lisa worked with a veterinary neurologist on a research study that helped launch her first company, Through a Dog’s Ear, where she created music for dogs and cats. “By the time I left the company in 2018, I had recorded 16 albums, and my recordings were played in veterinary clinics across the country, as well as in 1,500 shelters worldwide to help increase adoption rates,” she said.

Numerous studies have explored the effects of music on dogs in the shelter environment. Many show that classical music – especially at lower frequencies – provides a calming response. “The challenge is that classical music is such a broad term,” Lisa explained. “It refers to music written over a 600-year period and could be a solo instrument or a 140-piece orchestra, with a variety of tempi and dynamics. Not all classical music is created equal.”

The soothing tones of left-handed piano

Under her new company, My Zen Pet, Lisa’s mission now is to curate the right prescription of classical music with a steady, slow (but not too slow) tempo. Her latest album, Dog Gone Calm, Vol. 1, includes piano music written only for the left hand, which plays the lower frequencies. “If you think about the way we use our voices as handlers, when we want our dog’s attention fast on the agility field, we use a high-pitched short staccato sound. When we say, “Fido, good dog,” we use a lower voice with a long tone, known as legato to musicians. That’s what my left hand plays,” Lisa said.

Using only her left hand to play piano wasn’t a choice but rather a necessity for Lisa after a major hand injury in 2017. “After three surgeries for seven complicated fractures, I dove into music for left hand only,” she said. “It wasn’t easy, emotionally or physically. I didn’t see myself as a one-handed pianist, and it took at least half a year before those notes turned into music. But it gradually became easier when I realized music didn’t come from my hands; it comes from my heart.”

Dog agility was part of her recovery during that time as well. “Returning to the sport was very healing for me. Agility is the one time I never think about my hand, as it requires me to be completely present. The obstacles in front of me on an agility course were a reminder of the obstacles in my hand recovery. When I focused on one at a time while connecting with my dog, it was a reminder to do the same with my hand healing and connection to music,” she said. Lisa continues to compete in agility with her 12-year-old Lab, Gina.

International spotlight on music for pets

As Lisa’s piano playing is soothing pets worldwide, she’s finding herself back in the spotlight. NPR called her “The Pet Calming Maestro.” She’s been featured on The CBS Early Show, CBS Australia, Martha Stewart Living Radio and DogTV. She is the only classical pianist to reach Billboard’s Classical Top 20 Chart with pet music. She hosts My Zen Pet podcast, the first one with music for pet stress and guided meditations involving dogs. Her latest album (Dog Gone Calm, Vol. 1) is on all streaming channels — and, she added, “It’s great to play for dogs while crating at agility trials!”

She also recently created the Dog Gone Calm Club, helping dogs and their people de-stress with Dog Gone Calm music and shared Zen experiences that improve health, behavior and longevity on both ends of the leash.