Dog boarding: what a study on sixty dogs measured between lavender, music and pheromone
Published by Planète Pets · managing editor: Clément Lacaille · how our guides are written
Before a boarding stay, many owners wonder which product could genuinely help their dog cope better with the kennel environment. A study published in 2020 by Amaya, Paterson and Phillips in Animals tested three sensory approaches on shelter dogs (see the study, doi 10.3390/ani10040581). Our other guidance is gathered in the dog toys and enrichment section.
Contents · 5 sections
The protocol: sixty dogs, four groups, five days
Sixty dogs housed in a shelter were split into four groups: lavender, dog-appeasing pheromone (DAP), music, and a control with no stimulus. Each stimulus was played for three hours a day over five consecutive days, with standardised behavioural observation. The goal was to measure whether simple sensory enrichment could reduce the excitement signs typical of a shelter environment — excessive activity and frequent vocalisation.
All three stimuli cut vocalisation
Dogs exposed to any of the three stimuli — lavender, pheromone or music — vocalised less than those in the control group. This is the study's most consistent result, holding across all three interventions despite their very different mechanisms (smell, a species-specific pheromone, hearing).
Pheromone and music also increase lying down
On resting behaviour itself, two stimuli stand out: dogs exposed to the calming pheromone lay down more than the control group, and those exposed to music lay down more with their head down — a posture associated with fuller relaxation. Both groups also showed more resting behaviour overall than the control. Lavender alone did not replicate this effect on lying posture, even though it reduced vocalisation just like the other two stimuli.
What this means for a boarding kennel
A shelter is a more stressful environment than an ordinary boarding kennel, but the mechanism tested — reducing arousal with a simple, low-cost sensory stimulus — carries over. This approach complements, without replacing, the effect of gradual habituation to a kennel that we detail in our article on stress in dog boarding kennels: one acts on the immediate environment, the other on long-term familiarisation. Before booking a boarding stay, it is reasonable to ask whether the facility plays music or a calming pheromone diffuser in the kennels, or to bring along a blanket carrying the home's scent.
Frequently asked questions
Is lavender useless?
No: it reduces vocalisation just as much as the pheromone and the music. It simply showed no added effect on resting posture in this particular study.
Can several stimuli be combined?
The study tests each stimulus in isolation, not combined: nothing here shows that pairing music with pheromone multiplies the effect, even though the hypothesis is plausible.
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