The Amazing Adventures of Archibald Esq.

The Low Down on Dog Ears

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Ears are important to dogs. Like that graffiti I found at the end of Camden’s Parkway — ‘I never leave home without my ears.’ (Much better ears than fears, awoof!)

Ears are important not least because us dogs are vain. I for one am particularly proud of my long floppy ears, though sometimes I find myself wishing they could be just a touch longer….

To your average dog, hearing is important. Very important. Maybe even more so than sight. And on a par with scent.

Dogs detect sounds as low as 16 to 20 Hz (compared to a range of 20 to 70 Hz for humans) and as high as 70,000 to 100,000 Hz (compared to 20,000 Hz for humans).

Not only this — dogs also have the ability to focus in on a sound by moving their ears! Dogs greater degree of ear mobility helps them quickly pinpoint the exact location of a sound.

The following are some of the different ear shapes.
Erect, pointed ears shaped like isosceles triangles: German Shepherd, Akita, Alaskan Malamute.
Erect, blunt-tipped ears shaped like equilateral triangles: Chow Chow.
Erect, bat ears, set high on the head: Boston Terrier, Welsh Corgi, French Bulldog.
Dropped ears, hanging folded: Weimaraner, Bloodhound, Dachshund.
Dropped ears, hanging flat: Poodle.
Rose ears (curled around): Whippet.

Eighteen or more muscles can tilt, rotate and raise or lower a dog’s ears. Dogs can identify a sound’s location much faster than a human, and can also hear sounds up to four times the distance that humans are able to.

All dogs share the basic anatomy of the ear — the outer ear or auricle, the ear canal, the eardrum, and the tympanic cavity. But dogs’ ears have different shapes and postures, which are taken as signifiers of different breeds.

Generally speaking dogs with more natural ear shapes, like those of wild canids like the fox, generally hear better than those with the floppier ears.

Because of the fineness of dogs’ hearing (as well as their sight) they have long been used as early warning systems to the lesser-endowed two leggeds. This continues today with the intensive training given to ‘Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.’

Dogs use a complex set of communication modes to navigate their social environment. In addition to the sense of hearing — fine tuned houndish ears! — dogs also perceive the world through complex chemical cues, such as pheromones. Pheromones, which affect the dogs’ endocrine system, are like air-borne hormones, that communicate powerful information on reproductive status, social status, and mood. Body language is also very important in dogs’ perception and communication.

Awoof! Archie

Adapted from The Reader’s Digest Illustrated Book of Dogs, 2nd ed., The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., Pleasantville, New York, 1993, pp. 36-37, and other sources.

Posted 14 Nov 07