Dogs are music fans, too.

In a study conducted by the University of Glasgow in partnership with the Scottish SPCA, they found that piping music into dogs’ kennels to see if it had a positive effect on behavior. From the five types of music tested: soft rock, Motown, pop, reggae, and classical, reggae emerged as the clear victor. The study will be printed in Physiology and Behavior.

Professor Neil Evans, one of the researchers on the team said of the results, “Overall, the response to different genres was mixed highlighting the possibility that like humans, our canine friends have their own individual music preferences.”

Despite that possibility, he added that reggae and soft rock showed the highest positive changes in behavior.

A previous study showed that classical music was shown to reduce stress in kenneled dogs, but the dogs also showed rapid habituation to this form of auditory enrichment. Based on the changes observed over the course of the study, researchers think this effect of habituation could be reduced by increased the variety of auditory enrichment.

As a result of the study, the Scottish SPCA plans to ensure all their centers have the ability to pipe music in to kenneled dogs and are developing a dog friendly playlist for that purpose.

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