I have read that dogs can hear a larger range of sound frequencies than humans - thus the dog whistle. This apparently explains dogs’ fear of vacuum cleaners, which must produce a supersonic whine. But is there much point for this talent in nature? It’s not like they have evolved to avoid roaming packs of hoovers, is it? …Or is it?
To eat stuff that squeaks.
Genetically, dogs are wolves. Super-hearing evolved in wolves in the wild and was passed down to modern domestic dogs. They may not need it, but there’s no reason for it to go away.
So the ability to hear high frequencies is just part of having all round good hearing then? How disappointing… don’t they at least try hunting bats, or something?
I’ve heard that cats too have this kind of hearing ability, and that they can “speak” to each other in frequencies we can’t hear. I wonder how true that is.
At least they are more likely candidates for hunting things that squeak!
I’ve wondered that myself. I have a dog, and she seems to be able to hear other dogs when I cannot.
If she’s laying in the living room with her back to the TV, occasionally when a dog is featured in the show, she’ll suddenly start as if she heard something, and wheel around to face the screen.
She does the same thing with bears when they’re featured in nature documentaries. I’ve actually seen her come skidding into the room to stare raptly at the screen, one ear cocked up.
Cats and other mammals hold no interest for her, only canines and bears. Considering that dogs and bears had a common ancestor, maybe they have some kind of common ultra/sub sonic communication system.
Mice and many other small creatures (not just bats) make squeeks and rustles and scratching noises that are outside human hearing range. Animals that eat small creatures certainly would have an advantage if they could hear those noises.
Lots of dogs are still used for hunting.
Pointers for sure need their superior ears (and noses) to hunt. I’d suspect retrievers would need their ears to get them going in the right direction to get a flailing half-dead animal too.
Herding dogs and other dogs used for animal protection would need to be able to hear predators sneaking up.
Well, whatever the source of this behaviour is, it’s not hearing things you can’t. The speakers on your television don’t produce any sound above 20kHz, and probably they don’t even go that high.
It’s also doubtful that the microphones used to record the program had a frequency response in the ultrasonic range.
In fact, there’s a long chain of audio equipment between you and that bear — from that of the people recording the documentary to those editing it to those broadcasting it . If any piece of that equipment filters out ultrasonic signals (and most probably do), then there’ll be nothing ultrasonic about the sound your dog hears from the TV.
Dogs and cats also share a common ancestor, as do bears and cats. Likewise dogs and people, dogs and lizards, and dogs and ladybugs.
Of course, the most recent common ancestor of dogs and bears might be much closer in time than any of those others. The “Tree of Life” does suggest that dogs and bears, both from Caniformia, are more closely related to each other than either of them is to cats, which are in Feliformia, a category of the same tier.
For what it’s worth, in my house we have a cat who takes an interest in bears whenever they appear on TV. I don’t know whether it’s the sight or the sound of them that captivates him, but there you go.