We all know that dogs have incredible hearing. But if a dog can hear four times the distance of a human with normal hearing, how does a speaker playing an action movie or your favourite song on repeat affect your fur kid?
Well, it’s a difficult question to answer, as it does depend on a wide range of factors. Every dogis unique, and while a gun being fired for five minutes straight during your eleventh viewing of Die Hard may not affect your dog, another dog that’s afraid of loud noises, such as fireworks, may feel differently.
There’s also the question of music. Dogs can hear frequencies that we cannot, and while theinstrumental portions of a song may not affect your pet, there are several other potentially irritating sounds in the background that you simply can’t hear. A dog can hear sounds up to 50,000 Hz, which is double that of a human at 20,000 Hz. So, if you feel like a particular sound is a bit much for you or your pet, chances are that you’re completely correct.
HOW DOGS HEAR SOUNDS
Despite the more impressive range of a dog’s hearing capabilities, the way we hear sounds is actually quite similar. Soundwaves cause the eardrums to vibrate and results in movement of the bones in the middle of the ear. The vibrations then make their way to the cochlea within the inner ear. As with humans, dogs’ ears are naturally very sensitive, and prolonged exposure to loud music and other strong sounds can of course be harmful, and the same can be said for people who walk around blasting music into earphones all day long.
While there are little to no reports online of dogs being injured due to loud music or movies, there are thousands of cases annually where trauma and injury had occurred due to fireworks and gunshots. So, if your dog does seem edgy, or if your dog tends to bark when a particular song or scene is playing, you may want to turn down the volume. This is especially important for young and elderly dogs.
TV FOR DOGS
If you’ve ever noticed your dog staring intently at the TV screen, you’ve probably wondered if they’re actually getting anything from it, or if they’re just staring out of boredom. TV has come a long way in a very short time, and technical specifications have been upgraded substantially with faster refresh rates, better colours, and higher resolutions. As we’ve changed in the way we watch television, so have our pets. It turns out that for a very long time, dogs were unable to see a picture displayed on a TV at all. Back when we were all huddled around CRT or “bubble” TVs, the screen resolution was so small or pixelated that the image was more or less impossible to see, especially when considering that a dog can actually see a screen refreshing in real time. If you’ve ever looked at a TV screen through an old digital camera, you’d have noticed that there are lines going up the screen constantly; this is how your dog would see the screen. This has all changed with the jump to HD and the subsequent leap to higher resolutions like FHD and even 4K! “There’s been a shift in technology,and now, because televisions are digital, dogs can see what is on the screen,” says renowned dog expert Victoria Stillwell.
So, is watching TV okay for your dog? Well, the short answer is yes. As with humans, sitting around all day watching TV is not healthy, nor is it a replacement for play and companionship. However, even with a pet sitter, or a friend to play with, dogs can still get bored. This can result in destructive behaviour. Watching something stimulating on TV can actually help with that. So long as your pooch isn’t a couch potato, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with letting your pet watch The Bachelor with you.
CHOOSING A CHANNEL
In 2012 Ron Levi and Guy Martinovsky founded DogTV, a channel specifically catered to dogs. DogTV has since proven itself to be highly stimulating for most dogs, with programming finetuned to best fit a dog’s visual and auditory perception. There are also tons of YouTube content tailor-made for dogs that you can leave on a playlist before you go to work in the morning.