It’s not necessarily the most mentally challenging thing in the world to listen to, and they won’t be learning any new tricks while you’re away - handy as that would be.
Spotify themselves describe it as “a beautiful audience experience designed to calm and reassure your dogs, with specially commissioned music and soothing voices.” Speaking of voices, there are two episodes out at the moment - voiced by Jessica Raine (Jericho, Call the Midwife, Wolf Hall..) and Ralph Ineson (Game of Thrones, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, The Capture..). Quite the cast for such a niche audience!
That said, there doesn’t seem to be all that much talking going on beyond the first few minutes - though admittedly I skipped through the five-hour long episodes. In the opening sequence to episode two, Ineson’s deep voice can be heard saying:
“Don’t worry if someone knocks at the door or puts something through the letterbox, whatever it is can wait until I get back - and that won’t be long. And then we’ll have lovely cuddles, won’t we?”
Listening to it with human ears it’s not easy to know whether to be soothed or unsettled. The thought of Dagmer Cleftjaw ominously promising to come back for a cuddle.. is not necessarily the most relaxing.
But perhaps there is something to it. Our dog went through a bit of a destructive phase when he was younger, and leaving him with a few episodes of my own podcast playing in the corner seemed to help. The podcast is also far less unsettling than Dog TV, which I discovered in Post’s TV offering a year or two back (and have since been unable to find again, so perhaps it’s gone). There’s only so many times you can hear a soothing voice say “good boy” while showing images of a rolling green meadow or babbling brook before it takes a toll on your mental well-being.
If you want to give it a listen, you’ll find it through the links section below.
Opinion - Martin Jonsson: There is no shame in consulting a dog trainer
Spotify: My dog’s favourite Podcast
