Music therapy, heated beds: it's a Madrid police dog's life

The police dogs in Madrid will be able to rest on heated beds.

Police dogs in Madrid will be treated to heated beds and stress-busting music therapy sessions when their newly upgraded kennels open this week.

The 22 dogs are due to move back into their home after a three-month renovation aimed at improving their health and well-being, the city's municipal police said.

The redesigned building has its own veterinary clinic and a bathing and personal care centre, as well as a grass play area and shaded patio where the animals can keep cool in the summer months.

An audio system has been installed for the music therapy sessions, using a technique called the Mozart Effect, which the police said they had found to reduce stress in the dogs.

Each animal will be played classical music at intervals throughout the day, with the treatment tailored to their individual needs as well as their field of police work.

While all the dogs are trained as detectors, they are dedicated to particular specialities, sniffing out either explosives, narcotics or counterfeit money, while others are assigned to rescue operations.

Following a day's work the dogs will now be able to rest in newly-improved kennels with heated beds - part of a climate-control system which a police spokesman said would yield energy savings of up to 80 per cent.

A 2017 study by the University of Glasgow found that dogs' stress levels are reduced when they listen to music, with reggae, soft rock and classical music yielding better results over pop and Motown - though the research team said individual animals responded differently to each genre.

Previous studies have suggested they are not fans of heavy metal.