Are you or your dog struggling to unwind in the evening? If you sleep in the same room as your dog, it’s important that you both get a good night’s rest so one doesn’t disturb the other.

Relaxing music for dogs and other sleep sounds can help your dog by reducing stress and anxiety.

Before you play music and use the sound tools available on BetterSleep, talk to your vet to make sure your dog doesn't have any treatable health issues preventing sleep.

Do Dogs Get Insomnia?

Insomnia is not typical in dogs. If your dog has trouble sleeping, there could be an underlying health issue. Be sure to see your vet to rule out any serious problems that they can treat.

Potential issues that might make it more difficult for a dog to sleep include diabetes or kidney disease, which causes frequent urination, itchiness caused by fleas or allergies, or painful arthritis. An older dog might have dementia, which can also interfere with sleep.

If there isn’t an underlying health concern, your dog might simply be anxious or have too much pent-up energy. The latter is easy to understand and fix with more exercise. Anxiety is trickier, just like with humans.

A dog’s anxiety could be triggered by any number of things:

Scary Things

Dogs get anxious when fearful, and there are many different situations, objects, and even people that can trigger fear. Anxiety at night might be related to new sounds or scary sounds coming from outside, unusual smells, or a new object in the bedroom.

Big Changes

Stress also causes anxiety, and for some dogs, big life changes are very stressful. Moving to a new home, getting a new roommate, losing another pet, and other major changes can trigger anxiety.

Separation

Many dogs struggle with separation anxiety, which is caused by being apart from their person or family. This might affect your sleep if your partner is away for a period of time or travels frequently for work.

Some dogs are inherently anxious or have anxiety that you can’t attach to any specific trigger. In these cases, you might not be able to fix the source of anxiety, but you can help your dog relax and sleep.

Safe Ways to Help Your Dog Sleep

If your dog can’t sleep, neither can you, so it will benefit you both if you can help them relax and sleep through the night. Start by seeing your vet to investigate the possibility of an underlying health condition.

Playing music or calming sounds is one way to soothe both of you and reduce anxiety. Use music and sounds for dogs as part of an overall relaxing bedtime routine. Dogs thrive on routines, so if you tie relaxation to bedtime, eventually they will understand that going to bed is a happy, calm time.

Other strategies that can help include getting more exercise. Take your dog out for a couple of walks per day and engage in vigorous play sessions. Intellectual stimulation also helps, so try puzzle feeders during down times in the day.

Does Relaxing Music Work For Dogs?

If your dog is healthy and gets lots of exercise but still struggles to sleep, music and certain sounds are natural methods for improving sleep for both of you.

You may already know about all the research that proves the positive effects of soothing sounds and lullabies to improve human sleep.

But what about dogs? Can canine lullabies and other calming music help improve their sleep? People do study this, and yes, music calms dogs if you choose the right type.

Music to Soothe Shelter Dogs

A shelter environment is a great place to test anxiety-relief strategies. The shelter environment can be very stressful for most dogs.

A study from Colorado State University found that music playing for dogs living in these stressful situations worked to calm them. The researchers used classical music for 45 minutes and recorded observations every five minutes. The dogs showed visible signs of increased calm.

Dogs Prefer Music to Human Voices

Dogs love people and rely on them, so you might think that listening to a voice would be relaxing. It might be, but according to research, it's not as good as music for calming a dog.

Researchers at Seoul National University left dogs alone in an office to measure stress levels. All dogs showed anxiety as their owners left them, but some relaxed sooner than others.

The researchers piped in either classical music or an audiobook (or nothing at all) to calm the stressed dogs. Those that were given classical music calmed down significantly sooner than those provided with an audiobook or no sounds.

While scientists don’t fully understand why soothing lullabies have a calming effect on animals, one thing is certain — the effect is there! Soothing music seems to lower cortisol levels in both humans and animals, which helps improve relaxation. This, in turn, promotes better sleep.

How to Choose Calming Music for Dogs

If you want to help your dog relax while sleeping in the same room as you, it’s important to pick sounds that have a beneficial effect on both dogs and humans.

People are unique, and some even respond well to high-energy music simply as a matter of preference. The best music to help you sleep may not help dogs in the same way.

For instance, the Colorado State study found that while classical music soothed shelter dogs, heavy metal keyed them up more. Music type matters.

Avoid Lyrics

An older study from 2002 suggests that classical music is particularly relaxing for dogs. This seems to be due to the 50-66 bpm tempo found in this type of music.

This means you don’t have to listen to classical music if that’s not something you enjoy. Just make sure you choose sounds that are low in tempo and not too distracting for your pup.

The same survey that determined dogs relax to Ed Sheeran found that acoustic and instrumental sounds are best for keeping dogs calm.

Music Specifically for Dogs Isn't Necessary

Calming dog music doesn't require a special mix, according to research. Specially designed music to calm dogs has the same effect as any selected classical music.

Researchers compared classical music to a mix called "Through a Dog's Ear." They found that the mix provided no additional benefits. If you want to play calming music specific to dogs, it could help, but you don't need it.

Try a BetterSleep Playlist

BetterSleep's music library includes many pieces and playlists that the bill, including:

• Soft piano
• Orchestral music
• Spa music
• Songs designed for deep sleep

Soothing Sounds for Puppies and Dogs

Music might not be the only way for you and your dog to sleep better. If you find music distracting, try sleep sounds.

Drown Out Background Noise

This can be especially helpful if your dog is stressed by certain noises in the environment. White noise or other sounds can help drown out these sounds that either prevent your dog from going to sleep or that wake them up throughout the night.

Use Special Soothing Frequencies

Consider adding isochronic tones or Solfeggio frequencies to your music mix. Binaural beats won’t work if you want both you and your dog to hear the sounds, since they require headphones, but these other tones might help.

Research into the benefits of these frequencies for humans is minimal but does show promise. Certain tones can induce relaxation or even slow your brain waves to promote sleep.

There is no research on dogs, but also no reason to assume it wouldn't also help your furry friends. BetterSleep allows you to combine calming music with these special tones to see if you get an added benefit.

With BetterSleep, you can create and customize a sound mix using hundreds of different sounds, songs, frequencies, meditations, and more. Try it for free to create the perfect soundtrack you and your dog can fall asleep to.