Interesting thread Howard your old one titled "Auditory Exclusion in Dogs" though that threads replies were inconclusive to your original question posted in it.
Charlie's link to the Mutt Muffs is actually is quite enlightening. This qoute makes a lot of sense to me about how dogs actually hear.
Quote: "muttmuffswww"
Based on the materials used, the estimated decibel reduction is between 21 and 24, assuming proper fit and a good seal against your pup's head. That's 21-24 dB reduction in the human hearing range of 20,000 cycles per second, which is the only range that we have data for. Our canine friends can hear much higher frequencies (in the range of 43,000 cycles per second).
Those same high frequencies that the dogs hear and we don't, are the same frequencies that turbines and other internal combustion engines emit as well. I know that in humans the higher frequencies are the ones that die first when someone is getting progressive hearing damage. So common sense tells me it should be the same with dogs.
Those exposed to higher frequencies would cause a different type of hearing loss than a percussive type of noise like a firearm for example.
Lindsay Janes Webboard User Reg: 10-24-2005
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Quote: Geoff Empey
Having bad hearing loss myself from being exposed to loud noise from firearms, Rock concerts, large turbines and other heavy machinery when I was younger.
I do French Ring training where we use a blank gun in some of the exercises. I also read with great interest Michael West's post on the Medevac Helo training that he and his MWD did recently.
I can't help but wonder how or if Dogs exposed to loud noises like helos, gunfire, rides on Ski-doos out to SAR sites etc fare with hearing loss and how that could effect their performance in working ability maybe it is a non issue for some dogs situations. But I'm sure it could be a issue for others.
Does anybody have any stats for safe exposure limits to noise for canines? Or could we just use the same guidelines that are prescribed for humans?
Maybe it is time for you to learn sign language so we can chit-chat about dogs. Just kidding. I'm sure some dogs can go a little bit deaf if they are exposed to loud noises for a long time. I really don't know.
"It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right"
Maybe it is time for you to learn sign language so we can chit-chat about dogs. Just kidding. I'm sure some dogs can go a little bit deaf if they are exposed to loud noises for a long time. I really don't know.
Or maybe just teach the dog how to use my Blackberry she is a Malinois after all!
I don't know Lindsay it still interests me how hearing loss would effect a working dog or not. Doesn't seem that there is any info out there on the subject. If there was I know somebody here would know.
I think I'm going to follow through by contacting the Mutt Muff people that Charlie linked us to. Hopefully they will have some concrete info for us to use.
Connie Sutherland Moderator Reg: 07-13-2005
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Quote: Geoff Empey
I don't know Lindsay it still interests me how hearing loss would effect a working dog or not. Doesn't seem that there is any info out there on the subject.
There is lot's of reading there for sure Connie. I knew about white dogs being prone to inherited deafness as a friend of my mothers when I was a kid had a Dalmation that was stone deaf. He was a sweet dog but you never could walk up to him without him seeing you approach as you were at risk to get bit.
The reading I've done so far points to that 'yes' dogs can be effected the same way for hearing loss as humans. So exposure to the same things gunfire, off road vehicles, turbines etc. Anything that would damage our ears damages our dogs. No wonder in some of the older threads linked to in this thread where the LE K9 dogs went into avoidance using live ammo .. it had to hurt!
Lindsay Janes Webboard User Reg: 10-24-2005
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Loc: Tucson, Az
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Quote: Connie Sutherland
Quote: Geoff Empey
I don't know Lindsay it still interests me how hearing loss would effect a working dog or not. Doesn't seem that there is any info out there on the subject.
I have also read that repeated loud noises can actually cause a tumor in dogs (not cancerous) that causes deafness..... but where did I read that.....
I'm looking.
Wow, that is so interesting. I didn't know that they can get a tumor from hearing loud noises. I'm wondering how did they do hearing test on dogs and how loud can they stand?
I know an audiologist who had a few hearing clients who lied about their hearing loss. They said they're deaf so they think they can pass the hearing test. They do this to get money from the govt. She knew if they were lying because their ears would bleed.
"It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right"
Thanks Connie for getting that together for us. It's very informative and I think a lot of us will put it to good use.
The reason why I started the thread I was worried that some of us may be damaging our dogs ears without knowing if we are or not.
In our French Ring training my coach instructed me to tie my recall whistle to a shoe string and not use a metal clip because the 'klink' of the clip, some dogs will hear it even though we don't and they would/could anticipate the recall.
So saying that a PSD could in theory hear a bad guy who is hiding flip off a safety on a weapon. Or a MWD could hear a bad guy clipping wire trying to infiltrate a base etc. It just seems a waste that we utilize dogs in their jobs because the have such heightened senses compared to ours and then not meaning to or even knowing, damage one of those senses.
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Re: Working Dogs and hearing protection ..??
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Just kidding. I'm sure some dogs can go a little bit deaf if they are exposed to loud noises for a long time. I really don't know. 
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