Dog Sense of Hearing

Dog’s sense of hearing has an almost equally important role within their world. Not only do dogs have a highly developed sense of hearing that can hear a wide range of sounds, but they also have the ability to pinpoint the exact origin of the sound, discriminate between sounds and make an accurate interpretation of the sound, and decided whether it is threatening or non-threatening. As dog‘s ears are able to move in different directions, it is easier for dogs to pinpoint the exact location of a sound’s origin. The frequencies that dogs can perceive and hear are almost twice that of humans and they can pick up and distinguish sounds at roughly 4 times the range of humans. For example, a sound that you can hear at 20 meters a dog can detect pinpoint and interpret at 80 meters. Dogs have specially designed inner ears that allow them to have this incredible ability and their ears operate almost like radars. Not only do dogs hear the sounds but also perceive the height and depth of the sounds that they hear. Dogs also have the ability to hear ultra-high frequencies that humans cannot, and many professional Dog handlers and trainers use this ability to their advantage by teaching them and training them to respond to different commands given on whistles that produce ultra-high frequency sounds. It is possible that often when dogs are barking it is because they are responding to a sound or “message” that they heard at an ultra-high frequency, which we were not able to detect. Dogs have the ability to pick out strange sounds from a cacophony of sounds and noises, quickly going on the alert to prepare for the possibility of a threat. Dogs are also very sensitive to complete silence also taking this as a warning sign of impending threat. This sensitivity to silence is found in almost all wild animals.
With their incredible ability to hear and distinguish sounds, dogs can pick up the sound of their master’s footsteps or car while still far away.