Interview: Lisa Spector from Through a Dog’s Ear

Since I use the Through a Dog’s Ear music extensively for my canine massages (Harmony Animal Massage), I was very pleased to be able to connect with Lisa Spector recently and interview her for Your Holistic Dog. Lisa Spector is a concert pianist, Juilliard graduate, and canine music expert. By combining her passion for music with her love of dogs, she co-created Through a Dog’s Ear, the first music clinically demonstrated to relieve anxiety issues in dogs. Lisa is the pianist on the Through a Dog’s Ear music series. As a co-founder of BioAcoustic Research & Development, Lisa held a principal role in the groundbreaking music and canine research conducted with 150 dogs in 2004-06.

Your Holistic Dog:  Tell us how you first became involved in the Through a Dog’s Ear project.

Lisa Spector: The idea came to me back in 2003 when I was a volunteer puppy raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind. I had attended a seminar by sound researcher, Joshua Leeds, on psychoacoustics – the study of how sound affects the human nervous system. I had my five month old guide dog puppy with me and started wondering if the same music of Joshua’s that was being used in neuro-developmental centers around the world would help to calm dogs and relieve their anxiety issues. I approached Joshua with the idea and we collaborated on what has since become Through a Dog’s Ear.

YHD:  In the BioAcoustic Research and Development (BARD) Canine Research Study you participated in with sound researcher Joshua Leeds and Dr. Susan Wagner, DVM, it was found that classical music with slower tempos and simpler arrangements created the greatest calming effects on dogs in shelters and home environments. What sort of feedback have you personally received from dog lovers and professionals who have used these CDs?

LS:  As interesting and informative as the research was, all of the uses of TaDE since then that have come in from dog lovers and professionals has just been amazing. I hear from dog trainers all the time that use the music very successfully in classes with reactive and fearful dogs. It not only helps calm the dogs, but also the people. It’s been helping in calming thunder-phobic dogs during thunderstorms and sound-phobic dogs during fireworks. It’s been really helpful for dogs in rehab after surgery, even very young, active dogs who have to stay still after a sports-related injury. A trainer emailed me yesterday and said that her obedience/rally club started playing TaDE at trials and everyone kept commenting on how calm the people and dogs were.

YHD:  Through a Dog’s Ear is involved in a Shelter Program where CDs are donated to shelters and dog rescues. Explain how this works.

LS:  Phase one of our shelter music program involves us sending Music to Calm your Canine Companion Vol. 1 and 2 to shelters. We ask for $5 for to cover our shipping and handling cost. That music is played in the shelter or foster homes of rescue organizations. Our publisher, Sounds True, donated 2,500 CDs that get sent home with the adopters and their newly adopted dogs. We have already given out most of those CDs, but are hoping to get corporate sponsorship so we can continue and expand that program.

YHD:  What other dog-related projects do you have on the go?

LS:  We are looking to work cross-species and will be expanding on that soon. We are also partnering with a highly respected trainer and will be announcing some very cutting edge training CDs later this year. I also recently became the new local director of Camp Unleashed in California. Camp Unleashed is a get-away for people and their dogs, in a gorgeous, natural setting, where dogs get to be free of a leash, hike with other dogs and people, and take a wide variety of classes (agility, treibball, freestyle, doga). And people get to learn about canine nutrition, canine holistic health practices, participate in Barks & Crafts, or just hang out at the lake with their dog.

For more information on this music series, visit Through a Dog’s Ear. Lisa Spector is also a pet blogger for Care2.com, an online community of over 16 million members making a difference in animal welfare and the lives of pets, and her blogs have been seen on the front page of Digg. In addition, she is a guest blogger expert on Positively.com and Dog Star Daily. Lisa shares her home and her heart with Sanchez and Gina, both career change Labradors from Guide Dogs for the Blind.

(Photo courtesy of Lisa Spector)