They Made Melodies For Man's Best Friend

By: Mary Anne Janco - Philadelphia Inquirer - December 17, 2000

Two men engineered two CDs just for dogs. Their first mix is under consideration for a Grammy nomination.

Judging by the thumping of her tail, Snowball, the perky white Maltese, dug the rhythm of the Just Dogs Holiday Favorites CD. Even Cocoa, the miniature poodle, cocked her head. And Ralph, the Akita, barked right along with the instrumental, "Jingle Tails."

Armand "The Hound" Rabuttinio, who was named world's fastest dog trainer in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1984, had slipped in the CD to calm the dogs as they waited for their owners in the grooming area of the Just Dogs pet shop, owned by Rich "The Barker" Parker, in Boothwyn.

"Watch," Rabuttinio said as the holiday jingles started. "They all react a little different. They have their favorites."

The holiday mix is the second CD for Just Dogs Records (Web site: www.justdogsrecords.com). With such tunes as "Rock 'N Roll Over" and "Beggin' for Bones Blues," the first collaboration by Parker and Rabuttinio, Just Dogs Favorite Melodies: 2010, is under consideration for a Grammy nomination. Yes, a Grammy.

No barks, howls or yips on this instrumental CD. It's all remixed music, with hidden sounds, specifically engineered to make the dogs tune in, Rabuttinio said. The two entered their CD in the remixed, nonclassical category. It will be up against rap and pop sounds created for people, Parker said.

Submitting a CD for nomination is the first step in the screening process, said Mark Schultz, executive director of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Recording Academy. The Grammy nominations will be announced Jan. 3.

Making Grammy history was not the goal of this CD, said Rabuttinio, who owns four dogs and has a soft spot for those abandoned because their owners say they don't listen to commands.

The CDs, which sell for $14.95, are not only for a dog's listening pleasure. They get the dog's attention for more effective training, Rabuttinio said.

The CDs contain different frequencies and tones made digitally in the studio that only the dog hears. When the owner plays the CD during a training sequence, the dog has an easier time focusing and responding, Rabuttinio said. And in the dog's mind, the sound and association with the owner and activity last after the music stops, he said.

Thomas Timmins of Berwyn, who has trained field dogs for years, said he tried the holiday CD with a yellow Labrador Retriever, and "there's no question, it does the job. The dog can relate to it."

Jan Moorhead of Boothwyn, who breeds Pomeranians, said: "It's amazing how he's put those frequencies together for the dog's ears."

"The magic spell for us was the Christmas one," she said. When she played the holiday CD, the Pomeranians, who "like to talk to you," got real quiet, she said.

In 1984, Rabuttinio, 48, formerly of Aston, who lives in Rural Pennsylvania and outside Swedesboro, N.J., taught basic commands to 132 dogs in nine hours to earn the world record. He held the record until 1992, when the category was discontinued.

Rabuttinio, who started training dogs in the late 1970's, became frustrated by trainers who told dog owners with badly behaved pets to go home because they were disrupting the class.

The dog's hearing is the fastest and best way to reach the dog's learning center, the brain, he said. "We made the CD to work with any training style," he said. An instruction brochure is included.

And rather than stick with one style of music, there's rock, country and jazz - to appeal to all dogs, Rabuttinio and Parker said.

It took awhile to get just the right sounds and frequencies, said Parker, 42, of Norwood, who used his technical background to tweak the tunes. And, as the brochure says, each CD was played for a number of "doggie audiences" - including those Rabuttinio was training and pooches at a grooming salon.

As for naming the tunes, "we listened to the music and thought of the different things dogs do on their own," Rabuttinio said. Hence, "Jumpin' Up Jazz" on the Favorite Melodies CD and "Puppies at Play" on the holiday CD.

"We wanted to open up a new genre of pet music," said Rabuttinio, who noted that it took many years for rock and roll music to gain recognition in the Grammy process.

"Up until this CD, no entertainment was directed toward them," said Rabuttinio, who was back in the studio recently creating a massage CD for dogs. "They're too much part of the family not to be having entertainment."