Award-winning pet store Natural Cornish Pet has created a number of playlists to promote the positive effects of music on its team, pet owners and their animals.

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, the store set its team the task of coming up with playlists playlists for its warehouse, dog day care centre and the shop.

A 2017 study conducted by the Scottish SPCA and the University of Glasgow found that while classical music had an initial calming effect on dogs, after a few days they became bored. Instead, reggae and soft rock came out as the best genres for reducing stress, barking and heart rates.  

All the music chosen by Natural Cornish Pet, including a selection of reggae songs, has been loaded up onto a Spotify playlist and will be played throughout Mental Health Awareness month.

Katy Peck, co-founder of Natural Cornish Pet with Jordan Coombe, said: “Music is a great stress reliever and is well known for helping people through difficult times. We have all been there singing at the top of our lungs whilst driving home at the end of day. It helps, doesn’t it?

“It has also been recognised that owning a pets such as dogs are great facilitators; the connection they develop with their owners, coupled with exercise, getting outdoors and socialising with other pet owners, offer great benefit and can be a wonderful supplement to therapeutic interventions. It is also important to relieve your pet’s stress and anxieties which is where playing music to them plays its part.”

Natural Cornish Pet is based in St Erth, Cornwall, and is a winner of the PetQuip Pet Retailer of the Year.