The ears they’re not just the dog’s favorite place to be petted! I am the organ in charge of a sense that is highly developed in dogs.
The first thing to know is that Fido’s ear is very important for communicating with humans: in fact, we relate to our four-legged friends mainly by talking to them. Let’s find out all abouthearing of dogs.
Fido’s ear is made up of three elements:
- external ear: from the auricle (the ears we see and love so much) to the eardrum membrane;
- middle ear: inside which there is a chain of three very small bones, called respectively hammer, anvil and stirrup;
- inner earwhere there are two important organs that carry out the functions of the ear: the vestibule, responsible for controlling balance and stillness, and the cochlea which has a purely auditory function.
There are basically two anatomical differences between the ear of a two-legged dog and a canine one:
- the shape of the auricle (which even with the naked eye can be recognized as being different!);
- the shape of the ear canalwhich in dogs is much deeper and has an L shape presenting a vertical part followed by a horizontal one, while in humans it is horizontal.
However, what seem like minimal differences translate into one ability to perceive sounds completely different and much more powerful than the human one!
The hearing of dogs compared to humans
To better understand the differences in hearing of dogs compared to humans, let’s make a brief description of the sound.
It springs from vibration of a body that propagates through a medium, which can be air, or any other solid, liquid or gaseous substance. These vibrations then produce a series of compressions and expansions (swingsmolecules that give rise to sound waves. There frequency the latter is measured by calculating the number of oscillations per second, and is defined by the unit of measurement Hertz.
In particular i sharp soundshigh as those of a whistle, hiss or violin sound, have high frequency (the oscillations per second are quite numerous); if we talk about grave sounds and basses, such as that of electric bass or distant thunder, the oscillations per second will be less frequent and therefore we will have a low frequency.
How much do dogs feel compared to humans?
At this point, we can reveal the dog’s amazing hearing ability! Frequency-wise, Fido can perceive sounds up to 40 thousand Hertzwhich allows him to perceive the ultrasound (imperceptible to us), while the human ear stops at just 20,000 Hertz.
How far can a dog hear?
And that’s not all! Even when it comes to the intensity of the sound, our 4-legged friends beat us: they manage to perceive a sound at four times greater distance compared to us bipeds.
Finally dogs can orient your ears one independently of the other, to better understand the exact origin of the sound!
The hearing of dogs according to the breed
Pointed, soft and hanging ears: each dog breed has a specific auricle for its own purpose, for simplicity we will distinguish two main types.
Ears that stand upright
Typical of dogs such as German Shepherds and Maremma Shepherds, they have an auricle that has evolved in order to better capture sound waves.
Its high and straight position allows the dog to be sensitive to every slightest noise, which is precisely what characterizes guard dog breeds.
Ears long and hanging
Typical of hunting dogs (although not all) and some types of Hounds, they have a surprising function to say the least!
The evolution of the hunting dog allowed him to develop pinnae that covered the entire ear in order to concentrate all his attention on the olfactory tracks: it is as if the dog were wearing insulating headphones to concentrate more on his nose! And not only!
Breeds such as the Bloodhound have such a long auricle that when the dog bends its head to sniff, the ears form a sort of funnel which has the function of retaining the odor molecules and preventing their dispersion.
What are the noises that annoy dogs?
In the light of all this we can therefore understand how much for a dog the sounds we produce and which for us humans may appear medium high, are instead for dogs deafening.
Horns, fireworks, loud music with powerful bass, the simple intercom and doorbell, are all sounds that strongly disturb the hearing of dogs, instilling in them emotions ranging fromrestlessness at the fear.
Another reflection we can make concerns our way of communicating with them: being human we give more importance to meaning of our words than theirs intonation.
Well, for Fido it’s the opposite: not being able to understand all our words, he will steal much more information about what we want to tell him, from the intonation of our voceeven when we say his name!
For example, if we want to invite him to play, a strong and ringing tone will be ideal, while if we want to reassure him, we will have to speak to him in a low and sweet voice.