MUSIC FOR DOGS

No, not music about dogs - there have been plenty of classics in that catagory, from Elvis' historic "Old Shep" to George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" - but music for dogs. Dogs have been man's companions for millenia. Since when did we decided that they needed music? Well, according to Thai dog groomer and trainer Anupan Boonchuen, "music improve(s) the mood of dogs he grooms." And so he launched:

DogRadioThailand.com - "...The programming on dogradiothailand.com is mainly Thai pop music, but Boonchuen plans to expand offerings in which the disc jockey will "talk to the dogs in Thai," and canine listeners will be encouraged to respond. "If we play a slow song, we may have the DJ howl," he said, "because dogs howl, too, when they hear sad sounds."

Get with it, Thailand! You're way behind the kooky New Age crowd here in Los Angeles: "Songs To Make Dogs Happy" (listen here) "is the first qualitatively and quantitatively researched musical CD, based upon 200 canine participants' responses to what THEY would like to hear in songs! The Laurel Canyon Animal Company and Dr. Kim Ogden, a nationally known Intuitive Animal Communicator, worked together to create music dogs love to listen to!"

Scroll down The Laurel Canyon Animal Company's website and you'll also find music by, and for, parrots, cats, Koko the gorilla ("Most of the song lyrics are taken from conversations with Koko. She personally reviewed versions of each song before the recordings were finalized"), and...pink dolphins of the Amazon? "Music of the Pink Dolphins" required no less then three animal "communicators": "...a musical adventure directed and guided by the the Dolphins themselves...People who spend time with Dolphins experience an amplified sense of intuition, wisdom, compassion, peace and higher guidance." Ya think, say, eminem's music has ever been able to "attune your intuition"? Arf.