Does anyone have experience with white noise for calming a dog?

[tritonx]

My 18 month pup is in recuperation from surgery and confined to his crate. It's a difficult thing to do to a young dog, but necessary. I had a carpenter coming to my house to look at a broken gate and just before I went out, I asked Siri to play white noise on the home pod. Usually when I go outside without him, he barks for a while and gets agitated. I watched Jamie from my phone connected to the puppy cam in my kitchen and he was peacefully lying with his head on his paws. Does anyone have experience with white noise for dogs? I hope it's something I can use that is effective and safe to calm the little guy and not just a one off effect.

[bizzylizzy]

Hi! Sorry to hear poor little Jamie‘s confined to crate, I know from experience what a nightmare that is!
I don’t have any experience with white noise although after reading somewhere that classical music helps calm dogs, I did used to have it in the background while I was getting Humphrey used to the grooming table and it did seem to help.
Most positive dog training is based on association, so I could well imagine you could continue to use the white music as a calming signal, by playing  it when  he‘s naturally relaxed and happy? It certainly can’t do any harm to try.
It‘d be interesting to know how you get on with it, it may help others dealing with separation anxiety.
Lots of  for the little patient, hope he‘s out and about before too long. Do keep us updated!
 

[Finvarra]

Fascinating! Wonder if that would help,dogs with separation anxiety?
Best wishes to Jamie.

[tritonx]

Hi! Sorry to hear poor little Jamie‘s confined to crate, I know from experience what a nightmare that is!
I don’t have any experience with white noise although after reading somewhere that classical music helps calm dogs, I did used to have it in the background while I was getting Humphrey used to the grooming table and it did seem to help.
Most positive dog training is based on association, so I could well imagine you could continue to use the white music as a calming signal, by playing  it when  he‘s naturally relaxed and happy? It certainly can’t do any harm to try.
It‘d be interesting to know how you get on with it, it may help others dealing with separation anxiety.
Lots of  for the little patient, hope he‘s out and about before too long. Do keep us updated!
 

Thanks for your kind comment. The recuperation is long, at least two months of very restricted exercise (for an 18 month high energy/excitable pup!). He's still in the first week post surgery and acts as though it never happened. Good in one way, but hell on trying to keep him from injuring the surgical leg. He's still in a cone and this morning was scratching at the cone because of itchy ear with his bad leg  His calmness when I left him to go outside and talk to someone on the property which normally he would react to was notable with the white noise on. I don't know whether it was coincidental or a true effect. Last night I put on a meditation loop for sleep which is nicer than the static sound of the white noise, but I'll continue with white noise to see if it really is effective. Such a difficult process, this post orthopaedic surgery on a young dog. But best to get it done and fading into the past.

[tritonx]

Fascinating! Wonder if that would help,dogs with separation anxiety?
Best wishes to Jamie.

I've read that it can help as it (is supposed to) obscure triggering sounds. But not sure on the emotional side of separation anxiety. It's worth a try though. I'm going to keep using it to see what happens in different trigger situations. Luckily Jamie is normally quite good with me leaving him in his pen when I go out for a drive, but barks when I go outside in the garden. Possibly it's because he's all right when I leave through the garage, but knows I'm still around and not accessible when I go out through the front or back door. I also read that trazodone can be used in advance of anxiety producing events. Don't know if it works for separation anxiety.