No, I don’t mean you should record thunder! Record your customization Masking noise For dogs who are afraid of lightning, fireworks, or other sudden or low-frequency noise.
In me Webinar and articleI’ll talk about the type of sound masking that works best. From a biophysics perspective, the best multipurpose masking noise is brown or other random noise, fans, motorized appliances, and many bass and drum music. Lower frequencies can mask higher frequency sounds, but the reverse does not work (Kinsler et al., 1999, p. 318–320). That’s why I always recommend low frequencies unless they’re scared of the dog.
It should go beyond physics considerations and be customized for individual dogs. For example, recordings of taiko drums are great for masking booms, but as such, they can cause dogs. The way to proceed with that is to think about what is available in your home that your dog is already OK. You can record these known sounds. Especially when they are duration sounds that contain low frequencies. An appliance your dog is used to is ideal.
What did I record?
I was in a hurry to deal with Lewis’ newly emerged fear, so I found that the fan noise and random noise (brown, pink, white, etc.) were even. They create ham, foods, or rumbles, but the instantaneous noise is not outstanding. See the waveform below the image at the top of this post. If the masking background is uniform noise, it means that sudden ambient noise is outstanding.
Lewis noticed that there is a home noise that makes Lewis okay with both the background hum/rumble and the occasional, more sudden noise. That’s my dryer. See the top waveform of the first image. I’ve recommended the “dryer sports shoes” trick in the past (not original to me). I’ve never tried it on Lewis. Because I think it’s too close to his trigger. That might be the perfect solution for some dogs. However, regular clothes are perfect for Lewis. He hears it every two or three days without any problems. The uniform sound of the motor and the periodic sound of the drums rotate, pounding the occasional noise of the heavy clothing. In the waveform image above, various spikes on the top line represent the sample and crank.
My washing machine is also quite helpful. If you know that there are storms and fireworks coming, plan your laundry bags as a bonus to your masking team.
But we can’t do the laundry every time we get a frightening noise, not around this area where there are so many storms. And I don’t want to spend any energy on unnecessary use. So now, when we get unexpected lightning, the first thing I do is to throw some random clothing into my dryer and turn it on in an air-dry environment. But only because of the time it takes to set up my small system. after that I play long recordings already made with a Bluetooth speaker dryer with a subwoofer.
It still smirks at me, hearing the sound of laundry from the laundry room when the appliances are not on. And now my recordings are part of my plan for any loud noise event.
Create and play your own recordings
I don’t share my recordings for public use as it will be a foreign sound for all dogs who don’t live in my home.
However, you can make your own recordings of a dryer or other appliance that your dog is used to.
- If possible, use a smartphone app that allows you to record and export in WAV or AIFF format. But the mp3 format is better than nothing.
- Once the rest of the house is quiet, make a 20-30 minute recording. If you are recording a dryer, make sure there are plenty of different items out there.
- If you have saved the file Sound editing softwarefade the sound in and turn it on, but it’s not abrupt. Otherwise, you can start quietly whenever you play the volume control.
- Play it on a good speaker and make sure it doesn’t scare your dog. Start at a low level at a distance and gradually change to the appropriate volume. Ideally, he doesn’t even pay attention to it.
- If your dog is doing well, set the sound file to one of your devices to allow looping, or place multiple recordings in a playlist that can be autoplayed.
When playing recordings, use speakers that contain low frequencies. Do not play with the internal handheld speakers. They are notorious for their bad at delivering low frequencies. Send sound to wireless speakers with a good bass. I don’t want to attach the devices I use every day to speakers every day, so I use my old tablet to play the sound files. You can get an unpleasant surprise and scare your dog like that.
This is the following link The speaker I have. It is difficult to convey the difference between the dryer itself and the recording from the next room. And while Lewis can probably convey the difference, the recording doesn’t bother him and is a convenient addition to the masking environment.
A healthy comparison
This is an auditory demonstration showing the difference in homogeneous brown noise and the sound of a dryer with its raised and cranks. Sounds in order: 1) Brown noise. 2) Recording my dryer. 3) The two were combined. Double or triple the masking sauce is a great idea if your dog is all okay with them (separately and together).
How useful is masking?
Masking is a management technique. It’s not perfect. Because there is no sound we can generate at home, and we can hide the biggest thunder and boom of fireworks without any fear. However, masking makes it easier to hear the far-off boom and can blend in with the medium boom in the background. On lucky days when the storm is not approaching, masking can effectively protect your dog. On even worse days, you can at least dent the overall exposure.
To directly address our dog fear, evidence suggests that medicine, ad hoc counter conditioning, and relaxation training are our best tools (Riemer, 2020 & 2023).
Copyright 2025 Irene Anderson
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reference
- Kinsler, L. E., Frey, AR., Coppens, A. B., & Sanders, J. V. (1999). The Basics of Sound (4th Edition). Wiley.
- Reamer, S. (2020). Effectiveness of treatment for the fear of fireworks in dogs. Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 3761-70.
- Riemer, S. (2023). Treatment and prevention of dog noise horror – a review of current evidence from practitioners. animal, 13(23), 3664.
