Dogs and musical instruments

[smallbutgreat]

Does anyone else have a dog that likes to accompany musical instruments?

Our dog comes rushing whenever my daughter practises her trumpet, sits beside her, throws her nose up in the air and starts to sing and howl. It's by turn extremely funny and rather disconcerting.

I have always thought the dog was basically happy (in fact that she enjoyed the trumpet practice more than we did). She acts just the same with the tin whistle (possibly indeed her favourite, although less frequently played in our house) and the saxophone.

However someone has just rebuked me, insisting that the dog must be experiencing pain and that musical instruments are unsuited to a dog's hearing range. Any views on what to do?

 

[Cop-Pop]

My dogs don't but my old cat used to loive it when I played the violin and piano (she would play it to herself if we left the lid up) and my current cats put the radio on and sing to it. If I'm singing at home they come running to me and curl up on my lap - hope thats a good thing!!

 

[Oneofthepack]

I saw a programme years ago with Dr Roger Mugford the dog behaviourist telling someone off for this as he says they do it because it resonates against their eardrums causing discomfort. If you think that a dogs hearing is many many times more sensitive than ours it makes sense that they would find certain pitches annoying.

My next door neighbours dog used to howl at the music for Antiques Roadshow which she found very funny but I found it quite difficult to watch.....the dog, not Antiques Roadshow!

 

[smallbutgreat]

You may well be right, and that is why I asked the question. However, what I do not understand is why the dog will run down four flights of stairs to join the musician and sit beside them when they start playing.

If the noise was really distressing her, I'd expect her to run away rather than seek the music. Also, she is generally a very assertive and dominant dog, who usually takes action if she doesn't like something, but she does absolutely nothing to try to deter them from playing.