I have been told for years that dogs possess a natural phenomenon called Auditory Exclusion. I'm sure most are aware of what this is..if not, it is a function of the brain that causes the hearing to basically shut down during extremely stressfull situations ie: being involved in a gunfight and never hearng the shots. It is a form of tunnel vision when put under stress.

Does anyone know or have heard of any studies in this particular area? I have no idea how they could research this as dogs cannot talk. Just something that has been nagging at me for awhile. I can hear the comedians now <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

My wife says I have it when she asks me to do something for her. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Seriously, as one with ADD, I can understand being so focused on something that I become totally oblivious to everything else. It happens all the time with me. My kids even call me the absent minded professor. I't not necessarily a stress situation for me. I would think the same could happen to dogs. How often do we see dogs that are so ball crazy they cant learn a thing when the ball is in sight.

Bob,

I agree. My concern is, do the dogs suffer hearing damage? Maybe auditory exclusion is the wrong term. It has been explained that when a sound reaches a certain decible level the dogs hearing is somehow blocked to prevent damage. The closest thing I can relate it to would be..those newfangled hearing muff protection that are electronic and shut off sound at a certain decible level.

Well besides that tunel hearing thingey, which explaines some things while dog is aroused <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />, i am shure dogs are capable to fade out some sounds and concentrate better on others. Or adjust to environment. ie. i had GSD that would sleep next to loudspeaker during party - that might be really painfull for such sensitive hearing like dogs if she could not dumpen it somehow.

As for hearing loss, my thinking would be that if dog does not have time to adjust for sound (however this time might be short) it could happen. Sudden explosion or something like that.

Just thinking outloud here. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I would not think that there was no damage involved. I knew a lot of hard of hearing bird dogs. Our coon hounds didn't have it so bad, we used 22's. I have not seen what you are talking about in a long time. I do remember trying to get fancy and teach the call off with a dog who was about 6 and had never done that exercise. It went really bad. I sooo did not exist. I believe the term for it is Tachapsychia, if you are looking for a study.

Jeff, Thanks. The reason I bring this up is because we had to qualify with our firearms yesterday. Being a K9 handler, it is strongly suggested that we qualify with the dog at heel. The biggest problem is keeping the dog from eating the guy next to me. Of course the dogs have no hearing protection and they only seem to be focused on the other shooters and not so much the noise as being a problem. I guess its going to be one of those life mysteries.

Howard

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The reason I bring this up is because we had to qualify with our firearms yesterday. Being a K9 handler, it is strongly suggested that we qualify with the dog at heel.

I'd suggest that you only need to do this once or twice a year, unless there's some problem that requires more work. I'd bet that there's some damage being done to the dog's hearing and that will help to minimize it. I've seen some people put cotton into the dog's ears, thinking that it will help. But knowing what I do about cotton NOT stopping the damage to our ears, I'd doubt that it's giving the dogs any protection either.

Howard ,

I'm very doubtful about this auditory exclusion . I can only tell you that from my experiance with hunting dogs they will sometimes suffer hearing loss from exposure to gunfire . Most of the time the hearing loss shows up later in the dogs life . Usually when they are too old to work . My last Lab had several hundred 12 gauge shotgun rounds fired near him as a duck/goose dog . Most while in the close quarters of a blind or goose pit . He is 11 years old now and just starting to show signs of hearing loss .

From most of the people I have talked to about this that seems to be the norm . " Yes , there is hearing loss but it usually shows up late in the dogs life . "

My last K9 had lots of rounds fired near him in the last 3 years of his career. Mostly working along side the SWAT Team and along side me working on his gunfire tolerance . It wasn't easy at first . He died suddenly (lifelong stomach problems)but at 7 years old he showed no signs of hearing loss . My second K9 also has been working with the SWAT team for 3 years now and shows no sign of hearing loss .

I've seen alot of handlers try to put cotton in there dogs ears and most of the time the dog simply shakes his head and it comes flying out.

1 of my fellow SWAT K9 Handlers bought some foamy material at a hardware store . It's very similar if not the same as the soft ear plugs we use for hearing protection . He was able to cut it up into big enough pieces to put in his dog's ears . It didn't seem to bother the dog at all. I tried it on my first dog and he tolerated it well also . If you would like I could find out what it was . Just let me know .

Jim.... if you could let us know what that material was it would be great.

The only thing I can think of is that since they hear so much better than we do to begin with this could be a factor. testing would be necessary. Also maybe that the damage occurs at the frequency of gun fire and not elsewhere along the auditory band. (is that a word?) Just thinking out loud.