Does Classical Music Calm Dogs at the Groomer? A Small Study's Big Claim
A 15-dog Polish pilot found calmer grooming with piano music. But the music sessions always came last, and the groomer did the scoring.
Written by thecanineledger
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In a Polish pilot study, 15 dogs were scored as calmer during drying, clipping and nail trimming when classical piano music played (Krupa et al., Animal Cognition 2025). The authors call music “a simple, effective, non-invasive enrichment method”.
While music is cheap and unlikely to do harm, this study can’t show it works. The sessions without music always came first, and the dogs’ own groomer did the scoring.
→ Reading Your Dog’s Stress Signals
1. The study
The dogs. Fifteen adult dogs, 10 males and 5 females, who were regular customers at one grooming salon.
The sessions. The dogs were groomed every two to three months, and each had three recorded sessions. The first had no music. The second and third had a piano piece by Beethoven or Chopin, played loud enough to mask salon noise.
The scoring. One experienced groomer rated each dog’s behaviour on a 5-point scale during bathing, drying, clipping and nail trimming.
Funding. The study received no external funding. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
2. What it found
Calmer with music. Overall, dogs scored as calmer in both music sessions during drying, clipping and nail trimming.
Mostly the males. The effect was clearest in males. In females, follow-up tests found no difference between individual sessions, which the authors put down to the small sample.
No difference between pieces. Beethoven and Chopin gave similar results.
Females calmer overall. Female dogs scored calmer than males in every procedure.
Our note: We give no practical advice, because the study can’t separate music from other changes.
→ Nail Trimming: Which Dogs Need It Most, and Why So Many Hate It
3. Why we’re cautious
Fixed order. The authors say the sessions “were conducted in a fixed order”, with no music first. Dogs may simply have got used to grooming over time.
The authors’ answer. They argue order probably didn’t matter, because the two music sessions didn’t differ. We don’t find that convincing: both music sessions came after the no-music one.
One scorer. A single scorer, the dogs’ own groomer, rated every dog. The music was audible, so the scorer could not have been blind to it.
Volume. The authors say the music may have been too loud for some dogs.
Our note: Our critique of the order argument, and our point that the scorer couldn’t have been blind, are our own reasoning.
Our note: We didn’t look for larger or controlled studies of music for dogs in kennels or clinics.
4. What the study can’t tell you
Whether music causes calm. Without a random order or a blinded scorer, the result could come from habit, the scorer’s expectations, or both.
Other settings. One salon, one groomer, 15 dogs.
A stats mismatch. The paper says it used a test “to compare mean scores”, but that test compares ranks, not means.
Our note: The statistical point is ours.
5. What we could not verify
| Commonly said | What we found |
|---|---|
| “Classical music calms dogs” | Not shown here. The design can’t separate music from getting used to grooming. |
| “Some composers work better” | Not found. The two pieces gave similar results. |
| “Music is harmless” | Probably, but not tested. The authors say it may have been too loud for some dogs. |
Sources
- Krupa W, Czyżowski P, Kaszycka K, Karpiński M, Liszka J. Classical cuts: a pilot study of classical music’s effects on dogs in grooming settings. Anim Cogn 2025: 15 dogs, one salon, fixed session order. No external funding
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