Skoda UK creates playlist to help dogs' travel anxiety

A new playlist has been created that will keep your dog happy in the car. Photo: Škoda UK

Škoda UK and Dog Behaviourist and Nutritionist, Anna Webb, have partnered to create a playlist of songs scientifically proven to ease car travel anxiety in dogs, entitled Happy Hounds, available on Spotify now.

The playlist was created after research from Škoda revealed six out of 10 dogs become anxious in cars. It also emerged that 75% of dog owning drivers have been distracted on streets, lanes, and motorways by the behaviour of their anxious dog.

Dogs can become anxious in cars for many reasons including the space being unfamiliar, hearing unusual sounds from the road and weather, the temperature being too warm in the car, previous bad experiences, and motion sickness.

Webb, a leading Dog Behaviourist and Nutritionist for over 20 years, also revealed her top mindfulness tips to guide listeners on how to help their canines enjoy car journeys. These are available to download on Spotify now by searching Top Tips for Happy Hounds with Anna Webb and Škoda.

Webb’s tips include ensuring your dog is comfortable in its harness before entering the car, starting with the music volume low at first and keeping the car under 20 degrees Celsius.

She advises that the beats per minute of a song is key to keeping dogs calm on long journeys.

“Emulating the heartbeat is thought by science to offer a calming effect. Small dogs and puppies normally have heart rates of 120 to 160 beats per minute. These songs work as they are not heavy metal or similar genres which are known to disturb sleep patterns in dogs.

“I included some reggae songs on the upper end of the BPM as it’s proven dogs like reggae, so these will work well for smaller dogs as their heartbeat is faster than bigger dogs.”

My 11-year-old dog, Lily, still has travel anxiety, so I'm off to download the playlist now, before our next drive.