Does your dog come running to you when it hears a can of food being opened? Does it seem to notice even the smallest sounds coming from across the room or from the other side of the house? Does it even start barking just before someone rings your doorbell? It’s no secret that dogs have amazing hearing. Read on to find out more about the remarkable nature of a dog’s hearing and to find out just how far they can actually hear.
In general, dogs have four to five times better hearing than the average person. Your dog, for instance, will be able to hear the same truck coming down the street from four or five blocks away if you can hear it coming from one block away. That is a big difference.
However, breed differences in hearing ability allow some dogs to have slightly better hearing than others. The best hearing abilities are typically found in larger dog breeds with upright ears, while dogs with smaller ears or ears that hang downward may have less sensitive hearing.
Signs that a Dog’s Hearing is Stronger than Humans’
Compared to humans, dogs can hear a wider variety of sounds with much greater strength. Dogs can actually hear sounds with a frequency range of 40 to 60,000 hertz. Human hearing, on the other hand, ranges from 20 to 20,000 hertz. So, this makes dogs much better at hearing than humans. They can hear a wider range of frequencies. This enhances their hearing, enabling them to detect louder noises than humans.
Your dog will alert you if loud noises occur. Dogs are more sensitive to extremely loud noises because of their keen hearing. Your dog is much more aware of the noise when a large delivery truck approaches.
Many dogs will respond defensively and fearfully to loud noises like thunderstorms or fireworks. During loud storms, dogs may hide or shake. They typically bark, jump up, circle around, or even cower. They will act in accordance with their breed and personality type, and they will do anything to indicate impending danger.
Similar behaviors like barking and jumping up occur when a dog hears an approaching truck or other interesting noise. Some smaller dogs will even attempt to climb up on a higher perch to see what is happening.
When your dog hears something strange, you might notice some of the following signs:
Other indications that your dog may hear sounds you cannot include the following:
Dogs come from a long line of ancestors who have utilized their hearing abilities to aid them in navigating this vast world. Dogs have evolved for over 15,000 years. In fact, the very first dogs were evolved from wolves.
Separately, humans and dogs were wandering the wilderness. However, over time a unique bond formed. Humans started throwing their leftovers over their shoulders. They threw away the food items they were unable to consume. Wolves discovered this leftover food.
Wolves started to change their personalities to fit in with the group and be more approachable to humans. In exchange for their kindness, wolves assisted humans in hunting and provided protection for the neighborhood. The wolves that were closest to humans continued to breed over time. Over the course of many generations, wolves started to behave and look more like dogs, which are friendly, perceptive, and helpful.
Dogs’ ability to develop their hearing has evolved over thousands of years. They use their capacity for hearing such high frequencies to determine the source of sounds. They can determine which direction a sound is coming from based on which of their ears is closest to it because of how they place their ears. They then locate the sound’s source by going in the direction of the sound.
It’s interesting to note that puppies who are born deaf take about three weeks to develop hearing. Their hearing has fully developed by the time they are just a few months old, and they can hear four times as far as humans and recognize a wider range of sounds.
Due to the design of their ears, dogs have better hearing than humans. Humans only have six muscles in their ears, whereas they have eighteen muscles. As a result, dogs can adjust the position, height, and angle of their ears to suit their hearing needs.
Dogs have much more advanced hearing than humans do due to their wide hearing range and capacity to control their ears in specific ways.
Turns out, dogs’ sense of hearing is as much more sensitive than ours—by up to four times more sensitive!
It makes sense why Fido heard the neighbor if he was only a block away. This superpower comes with some special considerations for your pup.
As humans, we all know the hazards of loud noises. We wouldn’t attend a loud concert without earplugs or stand next to a jack hammer (although some of us might… but I digress). Hearing loss due to loud noise is well documented. In fact, it is so well-documented that the CDC has established federal guidelines to prevent it. It only makes sense that we take steps to prevent hearing loss in our dogs if there are such guidelines in place for humans.
Any type of noise can result in hearing loss from loud noises. The noise may be prolonged, as during a concert, or it may be brief, as during gunfire.
Sound Localization
Humans can locate sounds more precisely than dogs can. According to Mills (1958), the so-called minimum audible angle for humans is 1° or less in our strongest zone and frequency. For dogs, a 4° angle is the minimum audible angle (Fay and Wilber, 1989, p. 519).
Psychologist Dr. Stanley Coren (2005, p. 47) notes that one of the first abilities dogs lose if they become deaf is the ability to locate sound.
FAQ
How loud is too loud for dogs?
Joshua Leeds, CEO of BioAcoustic Research Inc., discusses the dangers of noise levels above 85 decibels. , would opine that sounds louder than 85 dB are too loud for dogs to hear because they may develop hearing loss as a result (source).
Do loud noises hurt dogs ears?
Like in people, dogs’ middle and inner ears are sensitive structures that can be harmed by loud noises. According to Foss, damage to the cochlea’s hair cells, which vibrate in response to sound waves, is the main cause of noise-induced hearing loss.
How far away can a dog hear a sound?
Although those are some of the dog breeds with the best hearing abilities, all dogs have excellent hearing—much better than human beings. No matter what breed of dog they are, the majority of them can hear sounds up to a mile away.
Do dogs actually hear louder?
Fido heard the neighbor when he was a block away because it turns out that dogs’ sense of hearing is up to four times more sensitive than ours. This superpower comes with some special considerations for your pup. As humans, we all know the hazards of loud noises.