Sherri

Ears

There are a lot of different types of ears in dogs. From big long floppy ones, short floppy, half up, folded over, all the way up, big and small. Ears are an extremely important part of communication; all dogs communicate with their ears. Some being easier to read than others; depending on the size, shape and individual dog. While the ears say a lot about how a dog is feeling; you have to look at the rest of the body for more details.

Ears up - attentive and relaxed.

Ears up and forward - attentive, listening intently, aggressive.

Airplane ears - Very relaxed, unsure.

Ears back - fearful, submissive.

Ears pinned back - extreme fear or submissive.

Ears are just one piece of the puzzle; although they are a large piece of the puzzle in communication. The entire body is used for communicating so you must look at the ears, tail body and situation to fully understand what is going on.

Cleaning

Depending on what type of ears and coat your dog has; will factor in on how much maintenance is going to be required to keep them working at their best. If you have a big furry type breed or mix, you may need to have a look inside and see if you need to pluck some of the hair out (or have someone do it for you). That said, each dog is an individual so no two furry ears are going to be the same.

If you do have to pluck some hair out of your dogs ears, less is more. Airflow is the goal, plucking just enough to allow air to get into the ear. You may also have to look at the inside of the inner flap of the ear and the hair around the upper neck to see if it is also blocking airflow and trim accordingly.

Plucking a dog’s ears clean or bald can be a huge cause of ear infections. When the hair is all pulled out at one time it can open the skin up; making it prone to getting bacteria in there, causing infection. So just a little at a time works best to keep constant airflow. If you have a professional groomer for your dog; make sure that they don’t pluck the ear completely clean. This is such a common problem that many guardians don’t know and it is quite painful for your dog.

If you have a smooth coat dog or one that does not grow hair in their ears; you still have to have a look around in there. Get to know what your dog’s ears look like normally. They can get very dirty with a build up of guck inside or infection. Sometimes a wipe out with a natural ear wipe is all that is needed.

Hearing

Most dogs have amazing hearing. In fact dogs can hear high frequency three times more than we can. They can hear low frequency about the same as we do but when it is high frequency; things that we can’t hear, they can clearly hear. This means that they are hearing a lot more noise and sound around them than we are.

A dogs hearing is so much better than ours because it comes from their ancestors. There was a great need to find prey; even small prey which makes high frequency sounds. Because a dog can hear high frequency that we cannot; they are able to locate sounds with phenomenal ability.

Dogs have eighteen muscles in their ears that help to turn their ear so that they can easily maneuver them to locate sound. This is something that most canine guardians can witness on a daily basis. They can also turn and hear with each ear independently which allows them to pinpoint sound with precision.

Dogs with stand up erect ears can hear better than those with floppy ears. Makes sense if you think about it. It’s like hanging a piece of leather over their ear. If they have hair or fur inside the ears (discussed above) then that can impair their hearing as well. The longer the ear flap (pinna) the more impairment for hearing. Something to consider.

Eyes

Dogs have very different eyes than we do. The two big distinctions are their photoreceptors; which allow them to see better than us at night but they don’t have the full color range that we humans do. They have fewer color detecting cones and more light reflecting rods. Dogs also have a tapetum in the back of their retina that allows light a second chance at interpretation. This is what causes the glowing effect when you take a photo of your dog’s eyes when you use a flash.

Myth: Dogs are color blind.

Dogs are not color blind. They see color in muted tones compared to how we see color. The reason they see in muted tones is that they have 2 color detecting cones in their retina, we have 3. Dogs do not have the cone that distinguishes green and red; much like a color blind human with the same cone missing. This means that any shade of red or green are simply seen as a grayish or brownish. But they can see yellow and blue muted. So they see color, just not like we do.

They also have light reflectors in their retina called rods which only work with light and do not take in color like cones do. They have far more light rods than humans do; which enables them to see in dim light or darkness far beyond what we can see. The rods also allow dogs to detect motion much better than we can. So when we go out at night and can’t see; our dog’s light reflecting rods allow them to see.

Canines typically have a wider range of vision than we do. Their eyes are set more to the side and angled out. So the more angled a dog’s eyes are per breed, the better peripheral vision they have. That said because our eyes are set on the front of our face creating an overlapping of our line of vision; we can see better at a distance than our dogs can.

Third eyelid

What? Probably one of the most unknown things about our dog’s eyes is that they have a third eyelid. This extra eyelid is located between the eyelids and the eyeball in the inner corner. Typically you don’t even notice that it is there unless there is a problem with it or your dog has droopy type eyes. I have seen many dogs who have droopy eyelids; making their third eyelid quite visible.

The function of the third eyelid is to protect the eye from damage, scratches etc. It also creates 50% of our dogs tears and it helps to flush debris out of the eye. We often notice the third eyelid when our dogs are just starting to fall asleep. The third eyelid normally comes across the eye as your dog starts to fall asleep and remains there while they sleep.

Third eyelid blog

Nose

Dogs have very different noses compared to ours. They take a breath in through their nostril and out through the slits on the side of their nose. This enables them to scent trace (sniff) pretty much continuously. The furless part of the nose is called the Rhinarium or as most people call it, nose. Science says that our dog’s nose is 10,000 - 100,000 times more acute than ours. They have approximately 300,000,000 olfactory receptors in their nose, we only have about 6,000,000. The section of their brain dedicated to analyzing scent is 40 times larger than our own.

When air enters the dog’s nose, it is directed to two different pathways through a tissue flap right inside their nose. One pathway is to the olfaction, where about an 8th of the breath is sent to the olfactory receptors where the chemical in the breath is assessed and then sent to the brain for analysis (in a nutshell). The rest of the air is sent for respiration use.

Canines can also move each nostril separately during scenting; which is something that we cannot do. This enables them to move in on where particular scents are coming from more accurately. Something that is imperative if you are a wild canid having to hunt for your own dinner. Our dogs have maintained this amazing ability from their ancestors.

Our dogs also have a second olfactory organ known as the Jacobson organ which is specifically used for picking up mating possibility pheromones. We are not capable of this, nor do we have the Jacobson organ. The pheromones do not get crossed with the other olfactory odor analyzing system because each is directly wired to the brain for analyzing precise signals perfectly.

Pretty amazing.

Their need to Sniff

Our dogs need to sniff, it is in their DNA to smell things in their environment. When I see a guardinan who is not allowing their dog to sniff on a walk; I know that they don’t know how important it is. Sniffing is how they read messages while out on walks (peemail). Our dogs analyze the environment around them by sniffing; it helps them to destress and relax and is extremely enriching for them. Too often our walks are simply a check mark for walking the dog. When our dog joins us for a walk; a good percentage should be for them.

Allowing them to sniff for at least 1/2 of your walk will be beneficial later in the day. Sniffing uses a great deal of brain power; especially when you go to a new or different area. Many people walk out the door and around the same block, day in, day out. Boring. Boring for you and boring for your dog. You should have a handful of different areas where you take your dog for some sniffing action. If you go to a large park that has many trails, utilize a different trail on each visit.

When you do take your dog out, use a long leash (not an extension leash). A long 8-10’ biothane leash is a great tool for sniffaris (the indulgent behavior of sniffing). You can reel them in if needed or let them have a little freedom when it is safe to do so. Let them choose the way as long as their choice is a safe one.

Sniffing is an extremely important part of being a dog.