Auditory Sensitivity in Humans Vs. Dogs

You've probably watched and wondered as Daisy tilted her head and adjusted her ears, picking up some sound that was beyond your range. It's well-known that dogs have excellent hearing. Daisy's superior hearing makes an excellent alarm system, which is great for both of you.

  1. Human Ears

    • Humans don't do too badly when it comes to hearing; the human ear can hear sounds waves with frequencies ranging between 20 and 20,000 hertz. When you hear something, your outer ear passes the sound through the auditory canal to the eardrum. The sound passes through the eardrum to three bones in the inner ear: the malleus, incus and stapes. These bones pick up and pass vibrations to the cochlea, a small, snail-shaped structure in the inner ear. When vibrations enter the cochlea, tiny hairs are stimulated, sending impulses to the brain, which lets you know what you're hearing.

    Canine Ears

    • Arguably, Daisy's ears are a bit cuter, partly due to her earflap, also called the pinna. She has an external ear canal, a middle ear and inner ear. She has more than 18 muscles at the base of her outer ear, allowing her to position her ear much as a satellite dish moves around. A dog's ear canal is longer than a human's, serving as a great funnel for sound. Like you and me, Daisy also has an eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea. Her cochlea makes almost a full turn more than a human cochlea, contributing to her sharper hearing.

    Who Hears Better

    • Daisy has a greater range of hearing than you do. Dogs can't hear frequencies quite as low as humans; their hearing range starts around 60 hertz, but goes up to about 45,000 hertz. Humans hear best around 2,000 hertz and a dog's optimal range is at 8,000 hertz, which is why they're more responsive to higher pitched sounds.

    Hearing for Survival

    • No one knows for sure why Daisy's ears are so much more sensitive than yours, but the theory is her wild relatives rely on their keen hearing for survival. Canine hearing helps packs of dogs communicate across distances, helps them listen for prey and alerts them to potential predators. Humans don't need those skills quite as much, so our immobile ears, often covered by hair, work just fine. Daisy needs those mobile receptors to pick up auditory clues she misses otherwise.