Ears

Author: Denise Partlow

Instagram: @modernk9 Carolinas

Did you know that dogs can hear 4x times better than humans? This will probably explain why the second you pull out of a chip bag, your dog will come running from 100 yards away.

Well, it may not be that simple. For some sounds, a dog’s hearing can be 100x greater and for other sounds there may not be much of a difference at all.

Dogs have a higher hearing frequency than humans so there are some sounds that they can detect that we cannot.

Sound is caused by air vibrations. The more vibrations per second, the higher the sound frequency. For example a dog whistle makes a very high frequency sound, which means there’s more vibrations per second, too many for our human ears to hear. Humans cannot hear sounds that vibrate at greater than 20,000 vibrations per second. Dogs however can hear up to 65,000.

A dog’s average hearing range is usually around 67-65,000 vibrations per second or Hertz (Hz). A human’s range is 20-20,000Hz.

Being able to hear a higher pitch is helpful for hunting prey. It allows them to hear the tiny animals squeaking, such as mice, voles, and rats, as well as the crackling noises they make when they move along the ground. That’s why, even in the quiet hours of the night, your dog might become alert. They can hear the high-frequency noises made by electronic devices as well as termites in your walls.

And if that wasn’t cool enough, it is believed that due to their sensitivity to higher-pitched sounds, they can also predict earthquakes!

The shape of a dog‘s ear helps to amplify sounds. They have a long ear canal, much longer than ours, and with the help of their 18 ear muscles, they can tilt and rotate their ears to help localize the sound so they can hear it more accurately and from farther away.

Lastly, just like humans, dogs can lose their hearing with age or from other illnesses. However, the ability to hear high pitch sounds is usually the last to go, so even if your dog no longer hears you when you are talking, they may still be able to hear something higher pitched like a whistle.

#dogears #dogsense #doghearing