Overview
Do you feel guilty every time you leave the house and leave your four-legged best friend home alone? Have you ever wondered what your favourite canine gets up to when you're out? Maybe you've just stepped inside one day to find that your pet has turned the television on and is sitting there staring it at. It happens.
Whichever category you fall into, making sure your doggo isn't bored when you're out can be an enormous source of stress for pet owners — but a new collection of audiobooks wants to help. Whether your woofer has shown a love for literature (bringing in the newspaper or munching on a few books, perhaps?) or just likes the sound of someone's voice, Audible for Dogs has been specially curated for pooches left on their lonesome.
It's inspired by a UK study that suggests that canines in kennels respond better to audiobooks than music, with the doggo-centric library featuring tales that have been "chosen for their calming narration and evenly paced narrative". And no, Marley and Me definitely isn't one of them.
That said, there are a number of dog-focused titles in the collection, such as Red Dog, Working Dog Heroes and The Spotted Dog — which, along with Tim Winton's Cloudstreet, form Audible for Dogs' Aussie Collection. Other books available include Pride and Prejudice, David Copperfield, Anne of Green Gables and The Great Gatsby as part of the Classics Collection, so you can expose your fluffy friend to the greats (and maybe even listen to a few with them).
Your four-legged bestie can also relax to Big Little Lies, Sherlock Holmes and The Lord of the Rings — and hopefully it won't start searching for precious things after the latter. The range of titles also comes with plenty of high-profile voices doing the narration, spanning everyone from Stephen Fry to Rachel McAdams to Jake Gyllenhaal.
Audible for Dogs' selection has been chosen by animal behaviourist Dr. Susan Hazel, as well as Aussie media personality and dog-lover Osher Günsberg — and if you buy one of its audiobooks between now and November 2, 2019, $1 from each purchase will go to the Sydney Dogs and Cats Home.
The two special doggy bundles each cost $19.95, while general Audible membership costs $16.45 per month.
For more information, visit the Audible for Dogs website.