You are walking your pup on a quiet day, and the sound of a skateboard suddenly echoes down the road. The next thing you know, your well-behaved dog will freeze, lower its tail, and take off in the other direction in a fluster. This is not an unusual experience for many dog owners. As human beings, we may not register the sound of the skateboard on the road, but the world is a very different place for dogs in terms of what they hear. The key to comprehending the experience of dogs is in understanding the hearing of dogs.
How Sensitive Are Dogs’ Ears Compared to Those of Humans?
But to fully understand why your dog responds to sounds that you don’t give two cents about, you first need to consider how hearing works for dogs. It should be known that the hearing a dog has is a vital function for it to be alerted to its prey or predators before it sights it in the distance. While humans hear waves that range from 20Hz to 20,000Hz, dogs hear waves that range from 40Hz to 60,000Hz.
This means that your dog is living in an acoustic landscape that is far more complex and confusing to your dog than your own. Your dog can hear the pitch of the hum of the computer and other electronics, the scrambling of the mouse behind the wall, and the blaring of the siren from miles away. When your dog reacts to “nothing,” they are usually reacting to something that is certainly audible to them but beyond the range of your own human hearing.
Common Causes of Spooking in Dogs
An environment in which your dog may react like this includes outdoor eating places like cafés or restaurants, as well as a park or a street fair. Also common is asking how your dog would behave in such a way when they were comfortable with the level of noise in your house but go into a panic from the rubbing of a chair on the floor at the restaurant. The answer may be in a phenomenon called trigger stacking.
Trigger stacking is what happens when a number of stressors accrue in connection with a particular time. In a busy café, the dog in the premise is dealing with unknown smells of other people, visual stimulus of moving vehicles, and physical restriction in the form of a harness. The dog is stressed despite appearing calm. Then, of course, is the final straw in the form of a sudden noise in the café, perhaps a clattered tray or a burst of laughter.
How Can You Help a Noise-Sensitive Dog?
When it comes to sound-related anxiety in dogs, it is imperative that one be proactively involved and patient. If a dog has sound-related anxiety, there is no better way of dealing with this problem than through desensitization and counter-conditioning. Using the right equipment is equally important, such as the best harness for a corgi.
To begin this process, you must first begin exposing your dog to the feared sound at a very low level and also treat it to high-value rewards in terms of treats. It is also highly essential that you support your dog during a social encounter. If your dog seems tense, breathing heavily, and with his head scanning for possible danger, you should remove them from the situation before they physically and emotionally react to it.
It would be a pity if your dog is scared of something, and you expose them to a situation where they have to “confront their fears.” A “safe room” can be created by you for your dog, which would be devoid of thunderstorms and fireworks, and white noise machines could be used to eliminate any fearful noises.
To Help Your Dog Find Its Calm
It is difficult having a noise-sensitive dog, but once you can put yourself in the shoes of the dog and see what is happening from the dog’s point of view, then the situation is completely different. It is not being obstinate or melodramatic; it is receiving a certain kind of stimulation that is highly biological.
To rectify the situation and get the dog to feel more secure, the dog’s behavior in regard to hearing will give insight into how dogs react, and then the dog’s environment can be changed. Additionally, if the dog’s noise phobia impacts its life, then the help of a veterinary behaviorist can help!