Why Dogs Are Sensitive to Strange Sounds

 Why Dogs Are Sensitive to Strange Sounds

Introduction

I was watching my family's dog, a feisty Chihuahua named Mr. Bojangles, when I heard an odd sound outside of the window. At first, I thought it might be something interesting—maybe a bird or a strange car. But then I realized that the noise wasn't coming from outside at all; it was coming from my dog! He had his head cocked to one side and was staring intently at the window where he'd heard the noise. Then he let out another long, low growl and barked again at some unseen enemy on the other side of the glass. As funny as it looked (see above!), this is actually totally normal behavior for dogs: they're highly sensitive to strange sounds (and sometimes even familiar ones!). Why are dogs so sensitive to noises? Let's take a look at what makes them extra-alert to auditory stimuli and why they react how they do when you hear those weird sounds!

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Dogs can hear and smell 1 million times more sensitive than humans.

You know that your dog loves hearing you get home from work or coming back to his favorite spot on the couch, but did you know why? Dogs have a much wider range of hearing than humans. They can hear frequencies that we can't, like high-pitched sounds like squeaky toys and tiny rustling noises such as paper being crumpled. In general, dogs can hear higher-pitched sounds than humans—the average human’s hearing tops out around 20 kHz (kilohertz), while a dog's starts at about 64 kHz and goes up to about 64 kHz! For some perspectives on how this compares:

• Dogs hear up to four times better than humans in the frequency range between 8 and 16 kHz. That means if you have an alarm clock that beeps every hour until midnight every night for five years straight (which would make for some epic sleep deprivation), then your alarm could go off without waking up your pup but would wake up any other humans sleeping in the house within a block radius.

• Your dog could hear someone sneaking into your bedroom through one of those tiny holes under the door—but no matter how hard they try, they won’t be able to open it because they don’t have opposable thumbs!

Some sounds can trigger a dog's fight-or-flight response.

Some sounds can trigger a dog's fight-or-flight response. A dog may be startled by a loud noise and leap away from it. He might be frightened by a new sound or confused about what it means.

Some sounds are difficult for dogs to interpret.

Dogs are not used to the sounds of a vacuum cleaner, which can be startling to them. Similarly, many dogs are frightened by the hiss of a hair dryer or the whirring sound of a blender.

Dogs may react differently to these sounds because they aren't expecting them and don't know what to make of them.

Some sounds can hurt a dog's sensitive ears.

If you've been around dogs for long enough, you've probably noticed that they're a bit more sensitive to certain sounds than humans. It's true: dogs have an acute sense of hearing. In fact, their auditory capabilities are on par with those of a human infant—and this means that some sounds can hurt your dog's sensitive ears.

A dog’s ear drum is thinner than yours — so much so that it’s possible for them to feel pain from loud noises similar to how you might experience discomfort if the volume were turned too high on the TV or music system at home. When exposed to loud noise, the delicate walls of your pet's ear can become inflamed and may even burst.

If this happens often enough (for example, if your dog lives in an area where he must hear traffic day in and day out), he may develop chronic ear infections as well as permanent damage to his inner ear structure over time.

Dogs' brains are wired differently than people's are.

Although humans are more intelligent than dogs, it's not because we have a larger cerebral cortex. The size of our cerebral cortex is the same as that of dogs. What makes us smarter is that we have more gray matter in our brains, and especially in the front part of our brain (where sensory information comes in). Our brains also have bigger frontal lobes and more white matter connecting them to each other—making us better able to control our behavior, coordinate many tasks simultaneously, and plan for the future.

It's clear from this comparison that dogs' minds work differently than ours do—and that their perception of sounds may be different too!

Many dogs are naturally alert and wary of new things.

Many dogs are naturally alert and wary of new things. When they meet a stranger, they may be unable to tell whether the person means them harm or not. Therefore, they will keep their distance until they’ve grown accustomed to any unfamiliar person.

These types of behaviors can lead some dogs to be fearful around people, especially when those people have been abusive in the past. The fear can also sometimes develop if your dog has had previous negative experiences that cause him or her to associate particular noises or situations with an unpleasant experience (such as being left alone in a cage).

The next time you see your dog cowering or reacting to a sound, keep in mind that he may just have better hearing than you do, or he may be confused by the sound or scared of it.

Dogs can hear sounds that are too high or low for human ears. When a dog hears a sound, he perceives it at its true frequency and decibel level, and it's often more intense than we realize. That's why dogs will cower when they hear strange noises, especially if they're loud ones like fireworks or firecrackers.

For example, humans can only perceive frequencies between 20 and 20,000 hertz (or cycles per second). Dogs can hear up to 60,000 hertz—more than twice as high as our own hearing range! Likewise, humans may not be able to hear very low frequencies at all; some animals can detect them with ease because of their large external ear flaps that help collect sound waves from all directions.

Conclusion

So the next time you hear your dog barking or growling at something, try to understand where he's coming from. It might help if you imagine how you would feel in his place!