It is December, which means our favorite (and least favorite) Christmas tunes are blasting from every car radio and drugstore speaker. We all have opinions about which songs get us in the holiday spirit and which make us long for January. What you might not have considered is that your dog has opinions too. A team of music analysts compiled a ranking of the most and least stressful Christmas songs for dogs, and the results are worth a look before you cue up your holiday playlist.
What the research says about dogs and music
Studies have found that the right music can genuinely calm a dog. In one study, dogs behaved noticeably more calmly during grooming sessions while classical music played, while heavy metal made them more anxious. The sweet spot is a tempo of roughly 50 to 60 beats per minute (BPM), especially with low percussive elements. Music with those qualities has been shown to lower cortisol, the stress hormone, in dogs.
Popular music, on the whole, tends to have a neutral effect on canine behavior, and no one has precisely measured how dogs respond to Christmas music specifically. But given what we know about dogs preferring a slower tempo, here are the holiday songs most and least likely to rattle your pup, ranked by BPM.
The high-tempo tracks most likely to wind a dog up
These are the fastest of the popular holiday hits, ranked by beats per minute from the low 160s up past 200. None of them are “bad,” but if your dog is noise-sensitive, this is the end of the playlist to keep quiet:
- “Where Are You Christmas?” by Faith Hill, 168 BPM. Cindy Lou Who’s big ballad moves faster than it feels, and a resting dog reads that tempo as agitation.
- “We Wish You the Merriest” by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Fred Waring, 169 BPM. Bing keeps his spot on the playlist; it’s the dog who relocates.
- “Holiday Road” by Kesha, 170 BPM. A deep cut for your December playlist; to your dog, just tempo without the nostalgia.
- “Driving Home for Christmas” by Chris Rea, 180 BPM. A cruising tempo for you is a pacing tempo for them.
- “Please Come Home for Christmas” by the Eagles, 183 BPM. A ’70s throwback you may love more than your dog does.
- “Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 12/24” by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, 186 BPM. That energetic medley might get you head-banging, but it will likely stress your pet.
- “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande, 192 BPM. Fandom is not hereditary; save the pop initiation for one of her ballads.
- “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams, 202 BPM. The most wonderful time, at close to the least restful tempo on the list.
- “Mele Kalikimaka” by The Andrews Sisters, 203 BPM. Jaunty and sunny for you, a lot to handle for them.
- “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens, 203 BPM. An act called Shakin’ delivers exactly what it advertises, which is the problem.
- “Last Christmas” by Wham!, 206 BPM. The fastest of the bunch, and the single most likely to jangle a dog’s nerves. It is a beloved favorite, so if you cannot skip it, try it at a lower volume, or half speed.
The calmer tracks to reach for instead
This is the more useful list, because it tells you what to actually play. None of the popular hits land in the ideal 50-to-60-BPM calming range, but these slow, gentle songs come much closer, and they are the ones to cue up when your dog is in the room:
- “O Holy Night” by Ravyn Lenae, 84 BPM. Warm, unhurried, and close enough to the calming range for shared listening.
- “The Prayer” by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, 82 BPM. Two voices, one slow, soothing track.
- “Here Comes Santa Claus” by Gene Autry, 80 BPM. Easy to sing along to at a mellow pace.
- “Sleigh Ride” by The Ronettes, 77 BPM. Snuggly in the best way.
- “Christmas Time Is Here” by Vince Guaraldi, 75 BPM. The Charlie Brown jazz standard, slow and warm.
- “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole, 73 BPM. “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,” at a heartbeat’s pace.
- “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee, 67 BPM. Proof a slow tempo can still feel festive.
- “Carol of the Bells” from the Home Alone soundtrack, 47 BPM. The single most relaxing pick here, and comfortably inside the calming range.
What to do with this information
None of this means you have to cancel your holiday playlist. It mostly means being thoughtful about volume and setting. If your dog already gets anxious around noise, the fast, high-energy tracks above are worth keeping at a lower volume, or saving for the car when your dog is home. When your pup is in the room, lean toward slower, gentler songs and classical pieces, which the research suggests can actually help them relax. And give an anxious dog a quiet retreat to escape to when the music, and the holiday chaos, ramps up.
What’s new since this was written
The science connecting music to canine stress keeps building, and the practical guidance has gotten more nuanced. Newer work suggests dogs may habituate to a single genre over time, so rotating calming playlists, rather than looping the same classical album, may keep the soothing effect fresh. There are now streaming playlists designed specifically to relax dogs, often built around that 50-to-60-BPM range with minimal percussion. The core takeaway holds: tempo and volume matter more than the holiday theme, so a slow, soft song will serve your dog better than a frantic one, no matter how festive.
References
- Bowman, A., et al. “The Effects of Auditory Stimulation on Kenneled Dogs.” Physiology & Behavior, vol. 143, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.02.035
- Kogan, Lori R., et al. “Behavioral Effects of Auditory Stimulation on Kenneled Dogs.” Journal of Veterinary Behavior, vol. 7, no. 5, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2011.11.002
