Lisa Spector’s Blog Featured Posts Comments are closed. Is Mother’s Day for Dog-Moms? Mother’s Day is not the easiest of holidays for me. I have no human children and have never been called “mom.” No one has ever said, “Happy Mother’s Day mom, I love you!” But, can we be mothers to species other than humans? Continue reading → Paws Crossed for a Trip to BarkWorld There’s a great conference and expo called Barkworld . I’m dying to attend because I’m positive it will help me with one of my goals: helping homeless dogs find their forever homes. Let me explain..... Continue reading → Earth Day with My Dogs It's Earth Day and I'm once again reminded of all that I have to learn from my dogs. They are masters at connecting with the Earth. Sanchez and Gina prompt me to take regular breaks from work and get outdoors for walks, meals, naps, and even to... Continue reading → Music to Inspire Human Creativity I am a sound sensitive human. When I walk into a restaurant, if the sonic environment is too loud, I often leave or ask to be seated in a quiet area. Just like a dog, I can easily go into sensory overload and shut down when I am in an environment with sound sources coming from multiple areas. You won’t find me in .... Continue reading → Celebrating 5,000 Facebook Fans!!! We are having a big virtual party. At exactly 4:22 PM PDT yesterday, 5,000 fans had "Liked" the Through a Dog's Ear Facebook page!!! It felt monumental. I remember my resistance to starting a Facebook page. It was June 2009, and I was techno-phobic. But, that feeling changed when Continue reading → It Works So Good! Can I Have My Money Back? At Through a Dog's Ear we receive the most interesting calls and emails from customers. I am not making this up. The following is actual feedback from consumers. In one case, the purchaser almost asked for her money back, which we would have honored with our 30-Day Money Back Guarantee. Customer 1: My dog used to get Continue reading → An International Day As I reflect on the day's events, it occurred to me that it was quite the international day. I reside in the San Francisco Bay Area and work from home, but I enjoy connecting with dog lovers all over the world on a regular basis. This morning, I enjoyed a delightful recorded radio interview with Continue reading → A Day of Silence with Dogs I am recovering from a sore throat and am giving my vocal chords a day of complete rest. Walks today have been speechless, including off-leash walks. In all honestly, there has been an occasional, dare I say it....... whisper. Continue reading → I’ll Choose Door Number …??? It is often said that when one door closes, another opens. When I said good-bye to my music school, I wasn't sure what doors would open, I just trusted there were magnificent gifts behind all the doors. Continue reading → Is Your Pet Your Sweetheart? In a poll taken of 3,000 British dog and cat owners, 19 percent stated that they would rather have a pet than be involved in a romantic partnership. For 81 percent of the dog owners polled, it would be an instant deal breaker if their date didn’t like their pet. And 79 percent polled stated that they wouldn’t give up their pet for a romantic partner. Continue reading → Stress Busters for Pets, as Seen on Good Morning America We live in a world of sensory overload. Human made sounds are constantly buzzing, beeping, dinging, and ringing. Each sound represents something that is calling our attention. And if we treat ourselves well, we have mechanisms for providing our bodies and souls with de-stressing techniques such as yoga, meditation, drinking green tea, etc. But, how about our pets? Continue reading → Interception While the 49ers and Giants were in overtime Sunday night, the greatest interception of all time happened in my own living room, when I was playing retrieve with Gina. I was upstairs in my loft .... Continue reading → Top 10 Relationship Tips for Men ~ From an Agility Dog 10. All good things come from your partner. Nothing is as rewarding as being with her. 9. Communication. Communication. Communication. Let her know... Continue reading → To Blog or Not To Blog I am a pet blogger! I wasn't when I started my blog in 2009, or at least I didn't feel like one. But, I listened to some good advice and just started writing and publishing weekly. Looking back, I'm very glad that I started writing blogs before anyone was reading them. It gave me the skills that I needed.... Continue reading → Reflections of a Very Dog Year New Year's Eve was really special this year. I performed an intimate concert in my living room to a lovely group of local music lovers. Sanchez and Gina soaked up all of the attention and, once they greeted all of the guests, slept comfortably in their dog beds near the piano. I couldn't think ... Continue reading → The Dog Who Ate Santa Gina is really a good dog. I'm sure she didn't purposely eat Santa. She just started chewing on him, and all of his padding must have just been too tempting. I love it that Gina goes nuts over tug toys. While it may appear that she is the villain in this crime... Continue reading → Homeless Dogs are Real Winners of 2011 TaDE Word Game Through a Dog's Ear recently held our 2nd annual word game. The seven day event involved participants unscrambling a daily word, while downloading a free music track from one of our nine recordings. The object of the game ... Continue reading → Be Santa for Homeless Pets First thing every morning, I write on an index card, “By combining my passion for music with my love of dogs, I improve the lives of dogs and people worldwide.” As a concert pianist, Juilliard graduate, and devout dog lover, it is a statement I am deeply grateful to write. It guides my daily decisions and manifests itself in Through a Dog’s Ear, the first music clinically demonstrated to calm the canine nervous system. Last December, I was contacted by... Continue reading → Advice from a Dog After reading “Advice from a Dog” on a beautiful card by Ilan Shamir of Your True Nature, I started thinking about everything my dogs have taught me. I have two “career change” dogs from Guide Dogs for the Blind. Sanchez is an 8-year-old Yellow Lab. If Sanchez had a tag line... Continue reading → Feeling Dog Blessed after Thanksgiving It's been a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, filled with lots of dog activity and time with Sanchez and Gina. As I write this, I'm enjoying the sounds of Sanchez's snoring in the background and Gina lying comfortably by his side. The picture above... Continue reading → Silent Meditation Walk with Dogs I just looked at all the gorgeous pictures from Camp Unleashed. It was my first experience as local director of their newest camp, Camp Unleashed Sequoia Lake in California, and I'm ready to return. I loved connecting with dog lovers, their beloved canines, and watching the dogs play together off-leash, while... Continue reading → The Creation of the Canine Noise Phobia Series I had the pleasure of meeting Victoria Stilwell in January 2011 at Clicker Expo. She had previously played Through a Dog's Ear music on It's Me or the Dog and it successfully helped the dogs get and stay calm. So I was eager ... Continue reading → How My MacBook Taught my Dog to Retrieve A PC computer crash (again) inspired me to unexpectedly buy my first Mac. Well, that and enormous influence from my business partners and friends that are Mac fans. It's been a very welcome change and much more significant in my life than just buying a new computer. I'm noticing that it's also inspiring me to let go of much of my past that no longer serves me, including some old ways of dog training. Continue reading → The Jewish New Year with GOD Spelled Backwards When I took on my new position as Local Director of Camp Unleashed, I didn't realize it was scheduled on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Founder Annie Brody and I are both Jewish and we were shocked that neither of us had noticed, but, as Annie says, "Dog is my religion." Continue reading → Benefits of Adopting a “Less Adoptable” Pet Petfinder declared this past week of Sept. 19-25 as Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet-Week. Let's make every week "Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week." Continue reading → Hiding Behind my Dogs I love my dogs. Sanchez and Gina are part of my family and are with me a lot. They are extremely well socialized and I take them everywhere that allows dogs. I love our life together! However, I've also recently been noticing that I often hide behind them. Continue reading → More Dog Beds than Dogs! I was feeling pretty sad about canceling my trip to BlogPaws due to hurricane Irene. So it was time for some good shopping therapy. After recently having a Feng Shui consultant update my home environment, I've had my eye out for affordable dog beds that match my blogging sofa. Continue reading → Top 10 Ways of Knowing You Are A Pet Blogger Here's a teaser: 10. You buy a new sofa specifically for the intent of inspiring you to write more blogs. You then call it your blogging sofa and can't write any other place. Continue reading → Fireworks? What Fireworks? “I put the CD in at around 9:00 knowing the fireworks would be starting around 9:30. So down the basement, with Music to Calm your Canine Volume 1 playing, it couldn’t have been better! Thank you, Thank you! Three great nights of togetherness with beatiful background music and no shaking.” Continue reading → 10 Safety Tips for Dogs During Fireworks 10 Tips for providing a safe July 4th for your Canine Household. Continue reading → The Dog Lady This past weekend, I attended a local “Yappy Hour”, a growing popular term for a happy hour that welcomes dogs, usually in an outdoor setting. Gina spent the time retrieving balls and Sanchez was very content with his eyes glued to the food table, waiting for any morsel of food to drop to the ground to claim. I enjoyed meeting many new people and their dogs. One woman referred to me as “The Dog Lady”, as I was supplying her with information on Camp Unleashed (where I am the local director of a new branch in California), information on ACE Dog Sports – the fabulous agility school where I train, and Through a Dog’s Ear, music clinically demonstrated to relieve canine anxiety issues. The Yappy Hour took place in my hometown of Half Moon Bay, California, where I recently sold a music school that I owned here for 14 years. I was talking about my upcoming Elegant Dinner Concert celebrating American Music, and have an identity as “The Piano Lady” to many long-term locals. However, I was instantly known as “The Dog Lady” to a new friend. How did that happen? For one thing, probably by combining my love of … Continue reading → Surviving Pet Loss In the acknowledgments for Calm your Canine Companion Vol. 1, I wrote, “In memory of my beloved soul-dog, Byron. You remain forever in my heart.” While recording, I kept the above picture of Byron on the piano. I’ve been thinking a lot about him lately. Byron’s eight year memorial is tomorrow and he really inspired my enormous love of dogs. I wrote the letter below just hours before he passed away at the ripe age of almost 14, on May 28, 2003. Dearest Byron, Words can’t possibly express what a treasure and gift you have been in my life. 12 1/2 years ago I wrote an affirmation that brought you into my life. I posted it on my bedroom mirror and read it every day. Six months later, in June of 1991, I learned that a 21-month-old Golden Retriever named Byron needed a new home. I’ll never forget the first time I saw you. You were wet because you had been playing on the beach and your entire focus was on retrieving the stick. Once the stick was gone though and I walked you to your new home, you acted as if you just loved me instantly. Barry said we … Continue reading → Can One Person Make a Difference? I regularly communicate with a multitude of people who make a difference in the lives of animals. Many conversations leave me in awe of how much people do to help animals. Sometimes it is part of their profession and other times it is through dedicated volunteer hours. Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking to Jim St. Clair at Knox County Animal Shelter in Mt. Vernon, OH. It was our second conversation and it is very clear that this man really loves “his dogs”, as he lovingly refers to the dogs at his shelter. Through a Dog’s Ear provides music that has been clinically demonstrated to calm the canine nervous system to shelters and rescue organizations at our cost. Our publisher, Sounds True, donated CD’s that go home with adopters and their new dogs.  Jim is a musician and knows the importance of playing music on a good sound system. So he reached out to his community and they donated the $1,000 needed to install good sound equipment for the dogs. Since they started playing Through a Dog’s Ear music, barking that used to be non-stop all day has diminished to a rare bark here and there. During our … Continue reading → Are Senior Dogs More Sound Sensitive? As I approach the big 50, I notice that I don’t have the same tolerance for loud environments that I did 20 or even 10 years ago. You rarely find me in Costo, clubs, or even loud restaurants anymore. Partly due to the crowds, but mostly due to the loud sound environment. I go into sensory overload and shut down quickly, meaning I can’t focus, feel stressed, my body tenses, and I’m quickly looking for the exit sign to a quieter environment where I can breathe peacefully. Similarly, if I’ve had a very stressful day, I want to come home and either have complete silence (except for the sounds of the wildlife in my remote home setting), or turn on music with simple sounds, such as the music from Through a Dog’s Ear. Currently, I have two dogs, both Labrador Retrievers. Sanchez is nearly eight years old and Gina is approaching 2 years. When I observe them, I notice that Sanchez doesn’t have the same tolerance for noise that he used to when he was younger. Growing up as a puppy in training for Guide Dogs for the Blind, he was socialized a great deal in public places and exposed to … Continue reading → I Have a Dream…. Puppy dreaming to Music to Calm your Canine Companion It is Martin Luther King Day, and I woke up this morning thinking about his “I have a dream” speech. It inspired me to think about my real life dreams… I have a dream that Through a Dog’s Ear music is heard by over a million dogs in 2011, and improves their lives and those of their people. Additionally, over a million dogs in shelters find their forever homes because TaDE music calmed and quieted them. I believe in that dream so strongly that I am letting go of an identity I have been holding onto for 14 years to create the space for that dream to come to life. On November 1, 1996 I opened the doors to Lisa Spector’s Music School. Over the past 14 years, I have been very blessed to receive the support of a wonderful community eager to add music to their lives and those of their children. The school grew out of my love of teaching. It began with one piano in one room where I was the sole piano teacher. Now 14 plus years later, the school offers lessons in piano, voice, flute, guitar, … Continue reading → If Toto and Dorothy had Listened to Through a Dog’s Ear Music on their way to Oz! From 2004 to 2005, Through a Dog’s Ear music was tested on over 150 dogs with many common anxiety issues – separation anxiety, sound phobias (including fireworks), excessive barking, digging, etc. Since Through a Dog’s Ear launched to the public in 2008, people have been testing it on their own dogs with a huge variety of anxiety issues, beyond our original testing. To be completely honest, even I was shocked when I read this comment on Facebook from Dogtopia of Bayonne, New Jersey’s co-owner Donna Marie Ostrowski… “Music to Calm your Canine Companion really helped the dogs during that really bad tornado and thunderstorm that hit us on Thursday night too. Can’t wait to get the gorgeous new counter top display for our lobby at Dogtopia.”  While Through a Dog’s Ear music has helped many dogs during thunderstorms, this was the first report I heard of it keeping dogs calm during a tornado! We also didn’t specifically test on dogs with an absence of one of their senses. A blind dog seems to have a continued immediate relaxation response to Through a Dogs’ Ear music. Jude Tuttleby, owner of Life Lessons on Leash in Australia, posted this on Facebook, “I … Continue reading → Traveling Without My Dog Dog Bar in Chatham, MA. I am writing this on my return from a wonderful vacation on Cape Cod, where I visited  my sister and her family. I live outside of San Francisco, where daily walks with Sanchez along the coastal trail overlooking the ocean are a common occurrence. Swimming in the cold water is not. I am part fish (or mermaid?) and loved swimming in the warm Atlantic Ocean and ponds (that I would have called lakes) daily.  As readers know, I love my dog.  Would I have wanted him with me on this vacation? The honest answer is no. Right before I left for the trip, I posted on Facebook that I was having a very hard time leaving without Sanchez. I even cried several tears on the flight out. I couldn’t stop thinking about him until I spoke to his dog sitter when I arrived in Boston and heard he was fine. Once that occurred, I was able to stay focused on my vacation and not worry about him. There are two reasons that I didn’t want him with me on this trip. I spent most of my time at a beach where dogs are not allowed … Continue reading → Our Dog is Like American Express. We Don’t Leave Home Without Her! Sanchez in Apple Store, Hillsdale, CA I chuckled when I heard the above response about American Express when I asked my cousin, Josh Glick, about his adorable Golden Retriever, Chloe. It was funny because it’s also so true in my life with Sanchez. He goes almost everywhere with me, much more so than I’ve done with any dog in the past. I’m not sure if it’s because so many public places near me are dog friendly, or because he grew up as a Guide Dogs for the Blind puppy in training and he was bred and raised to be calm in social settgings. In his Guide Dog puppy training days, he even went to indoor restaurants and San Francisco Symphony concerts. Honestly, it’s pretty rare that he’s left at home alone, probably about once a week. Sanchez prefers an active social life of going to work with me and greeting students at my music school, going on errands with me (I think half of the town knows him by now), and just riding in the car to go anywhere. A variety of local venues (in Half Moon Bay, CA) have treats for him – my bank, the UPS store, and … Continue reading → Why Do Dogs Howl? Interview with Joshua Leeds Dogs everywhere have been howling to the theme song from Law and Order. It was so viral, that Dogster blogger, Maria Goodavage provided a link to 28 of them with just one click. While people think it is very entertaining, it appears that these dogs are very stressed by the sounds they are hearing. I asked sound researcher Joshua Leeds, co-author of the book Through a Dog’s Ear, for his input on this not so laughing matter. Continue reading → Back to top