You can find many different music playlists for dogs and cats online. Do they actually help animals relax?

When Serenity Strull, a photo editor at the BBC, rescued her dog Margot, she knew right away that the three-year-old pitbull mix struggled with anxiety.

“The shelter labelled her as shy and good with kids, but nervous and unsure about other dogs,” says Strull. Margot had been on Prozac, but it was causing seizures, so they decided to keep her off it.

Once she got Margot home, Strull quickly learned her dog’s biggest trigger was being left alone. She consulted various trainers and doctors and tried several different calming techniques to no avail. Finally, one thing worked: playing classical music or other instrumental tracks that didn’t have intense percussion.

One of Margot’s trainers recommended Through a Dog’s Ear, a series of slow-tempo, predominantly piano compositions designed to help reduce stress in dogs. It was created by Joshua Leeds, a psychoacoustic expert (who studies how sound is perceived), and Susan Wagner, a veterinary neurologist, who have studied the effects of this music on dogs. They observed over 150 dogs in private homes and kennels and found that more than 70% of kennel dogs and 80% of dogs in homes exhibited fewer anxiety symptoms (including pacing, trembling, and panting) after listening to predominantly piano music.