A Dog’s Sense Of Hearing
A Dog’s Sense Of Hearing
Anyone who has spent any time around dogs is well aware of their heightened sense of hearing. Dogs seem to not only hear a specific sound better than humans can, but also seem to be able to pinpoint the origin of the sound faster and better than their human masters. Why is that?
Dogs hear sounds as low as the 16 to 20 Hz frequency range as compared to humans who normally hear in the range of 20 to 70 Hz range. There is also a physical difference in a dog’s ear that allows for their ability to quick decipher where a particular sound is coming from. Most breeds of dogs have eighteen or more muscles that can rotate, tilt, raise, or lower their ears; this enables them to hone in on a sound in a way that humans are not anatomically equipped to.
Another factor that can vary a dog’s hearing from breed-to-breed is ear shape. Dogs who have ears shaped more closely to the ear shape of a wolf or fox tend to have better hearing than dogs that possess floppy ears or ears covered with long fur.
