About ten years ago, my husband and I added a badly abused shepherd mix to our assortment of cocker spaniels. Hoover (named after our vacuum cleaner and her uncanny ability to suck just about any foodstuff off a carpet) was desperately frightened of people, but LOVED harp music. In fact, it was the only thing that would bring her out of hiding for a long time. The first time we boarded her to go on vacation, the kennel called us to say that Hoover had been crying for two days straight and was inconsolable. I told them to go to the local music store and buy a harp CD to play for her. Sure enough, she settled right down. So did all the other dogs, I’m told, so the kennel now has several they keep in heavy rotation, LOL! Hoover insists on sleeping in the harp room at night, sprawled out in such a way as to touch as many of them with her body as she can. Rearranging the harps or keeping one out overnight means she doesn’t sleep well. Happily, she has overcome her fear of people entirely, and now occasionally *leans* on the harps as I play, audibly grunting with pleasure at the noise and vibrations. One of my spaniels, Basil, gets SO excited when I tune bass notes! He comes running from wherever he is, wagging his whole body ecstatically. Only the bass notes, though. He’s a Bass Man Only, I guess.
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