{"id":39246,"date":"2017-08-07T10:26:51","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T10:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=39246"},"modified":"2017-08-07T10:26:51","modified_gmt":"2017-08-07T10:26:51","slug":"smart-pet-audible-wants-fido-to-listen-to-jane-austen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/technology\/smart-pet-audible-wants-fido-to-listen-to-jane-austen.html","title":{"rendered":"Smart pet? Audible wants Fido to listen to Jane Austen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Smart pet? Audible wants Fido to listen to Jane Austen<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

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You think your dog is pretty smart. But is your pet smart enough to digest Jane Austen?<\/span><\/p>\n

The folks behind Audible, the Amazon-owned company and largest seller of narrated books, want your dog to listen to Pride and Prejudice and other classic literature. The company is teaming up with famed Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan on an aptly named new service called Audible For Dogs.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pitch to pet owners isn\u2019t to turn Fido into a canine scholar but rather to keep him calm and happy when you leave for work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always looking for ways where people don\u2019t feel guilty, worried, (or) stressed when they leave their dogs alone,\u201d Millan told USA TODAY.<\/span><\/p>\n

Millan says the separation anxiety your pet feels can result in bad behavior: incessant barking that disturbs neighbors, destruction of furniture or pee in the wrong place. Or you dog could just end up downright depressed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDogs are social animals, so they need to engage with someone,\u201d he says. With Audible, \u201cpeople can feel that the dog has company.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While most dog owners will indeed go to great lengths to ensure the happiness of their four-legged family members, you can\u2019t help but approach Audible For Dogs with a healthy dose of skepticism. So is Audible barking up the wrong tree?<\/span><\/p>\n

One immediate question: Why not just play music, or turn on the radio or TV when you leave the house?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the consistency of a tone that allows the dog to stay in that (relaxed) frame of mind,\u201d is Millan\u2019s answer. It\u2019s why meditation works, he says, and it is why Audible works.<\/span><\/p>\n

Audible cites a 2015 academic study at Hartpury College in the U.K. that showed that listening to audiobooks rather than music reduced stress in the animals. In follow-up research conducted with 100 dog participants through Millan\u2019s Dog Psychology Center, 76% of dog owners who played audiobooks for their dogs reported an increase in calm, relaxed behavior in their pets over a four-week period.<\/span><\/p>\n

Millan recommends you exercise your dog and get them in a relaxed state before you play an audiobook. If possible he also advises owners to listen with their dogs at first and to experiment with different titles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Millan and the team at Audible are curating audiobooks from an Audible catalog with more than 350,000 titles and audio programs. He says you should choose a book narrated by a person of the same gender as their primary master, played at average volume on an in-home listening device such as the Alexa-driven Echo device, which conveniently, Audible\u2019s parent Amazon sells.<\/span><\/p>\n

Audible of course has additional motivation for the launch of Audible For Dogs: namely the potential to attract new users.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea that not only does this introduce dogs to listening but introduces their owners as well is exciting to me,\u201d says Audible Chief Content Officer Andy Gaies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Audible doesn\u2019t disclose how many millions of subscribers it has, but Gaies points out that half the people who tried Audible in the past year, had never listened to an audiobook before.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though you can purchase Audible titles on an a la carte basis, the primary way users tap into Audible content is through a monthly $14.95 subscription, which includes one credit per month that can be applied to any audiobook, regardless of price, plus other discounts. The books recommended for dogs are priced the same as other Audible titles. As part of Audible’s initial trial, you can download one audiobook for free. The company has set up an Audile For Dogs landing page.<\/span><\/p>\n

Audible wouldn\u2019t reveal what it is paying Millan, but says the partnership is ongoing. Millan has recorded videos explaining the canine appeal behind a rotating set of curated titles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Launch titles include Austen\u2019s Pride and Prejudice performed by Rosamund Pike, Trevor Noah\u2019s Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood performed by Noah, W. Bruce Cameron\u2019s A Dog\u2019s Purpose performed by William Dufris, Garth Stein\u2019s The Art of Racing in the Rain performed by Christopher Evan Welch, Maria Goodavage\u2019s Soldier Dogs: The Untold Story of America\u2019s Canine Heroes performed by Nicole Vilencia, and Kenneth Grahame\u2019s The Wind in the Willows performed by Shelly Frasier.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYour dog will never wax poetic about Rosamund Pike\u2019s nuanced performance of Pride and Prejudice, but you will return home to a calmer, happier best friend,\u201d Gaies says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Millan also recorded an original audio book for the service called Cesar Millan\u2019s Guide to Bringing Home a Shelter Dog, which you can download for free. Through the end of the year, Audible will donate a dime per download of the title to Long Island\u2019s North Shore Animal League America, the world’s largest no-kill rescue and adoption organization, up to a total donation of $250,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gaies concedes the offering of Audible For Dogs is a little unconventional. We\u2019re \u201cfocusing on why this is real and why this isn\u2019t just a mistimed April Fools\u2019 joke,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the fun spirit of this\u2014people ask me, `so what makes you nervous about launch?\u2019 And I tell people it\u2019s the reaction from the cat community\u2014they\u2019re going to tell us, `why not us?\u2019 The truth is there is no plan to launch Audible For Cats anytime in the near future. \u201c<\/span><\/p>\n

Source-\u00a0https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/tech\/2017\/08\/06\/audible-teams-up-cesar-millan-calm-dogs\/539529001\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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