I hear ya...

So I had a question.  Because Elroy's ears stand up on his head, does he hear better than me?   I decided to do some research on this.  You see, Elroy is always listening.  Always.  He goes outdoors and stares off down the road.  And listens.  He sits up suddenly in the middle of the room and he listens.  He walks over to a wall and listens.  Which freaks my human out because thoughts of mice immediately go through her mind.  It's been a small, almost non-existent season this year.  Traps have been set, but no evidence that the field mice have come to visit this winter.  Still - Elroy listens.  And the BEST part is when they are out at night or early in the morning before daybreak.  And he stops.  Stares into the woods and listens.  Honestly, I think he just does it sometimes to scare my human.  But no matter, it works!

I learned that dog ear positions have an advantage over human ears.  Human ears typically lie flat on the sides of their heads.  Unless you are one of Santa's elves.  Human ears, as a rule  don't usually have much movement.  Whereas we dogs have 18 muscles that allow us to move our ears in a variety of positions. Usually we pick up our ears when listening, and may put them down if afraid or ashamed.  Like after we have destroyed an oven mitt. Dogs hear higher frequencies than humans and are said to hear four times better than humans overall. 

It seems that humans have come up with a variety of different ways to describe dog ear shapes.  For example, Elroy has upright ears that are turned forward.  Some people call them upright or prick ears.  They are found on many Nordic breeds like the Samoyed and the Malamute.  Westies also have upright ears.

Then we have the bat ear.  Which is essentially an upright ear that is large in proportion to the head - like seen on a Corgi or French Bulldog.  Just like a bat. 

We have hooded ears - that are another variation of the upright ear.  The slight difference is that the ear curves in on either side - like a hood.  They are seen in the Basenji.

Who knew that there is something called a candle flame ear?! I guess it does LOOK like a candle flame - shaped wider at the bottom and pointed at the top.  The English toy terrier has these ears.

There are dogs with drop ears or pendant ears that hang down on the sides of their heads. Like seen in the  Bassett Hound.  And who knew that these were slightly different from the folded ear that hangs like a curtain - as seen in Blood Hounds. Those big floppy ears actually help them smell better!  Their long ears drag the ground, stirring up particles and scents.  Not to mention messy ears.

We have button ears that fold over to form a flap that hides the ear canal. The Jack Russel Terrier has these.  Apparently that folded over shape protected terriers' ears in tunnels!

Cocked ears or semi-prick ears are seen in Collies and in Border Collies.  They look just like the description - they stand up but fold down at the tip.

Then we have the Rose ear.  Does this vocabulary ever end?  They also stand up and fold kind of sideways.  They say if you look at the ear from above, it looks like a rose.   Maybe from 20 feet away.  Anyway, whippets have Rose ears.

And then we have filbert ears.  Because humans were running out of descriptors. They say the ears of the Bedlington Terrier look like the leaves of the Hazelnut tree.  Really.  That's EXACTLY what I thought they looked like.  Definitely not oak ears.

And finally (I think) we have V-shaped ears.  They are medium length v-shaped drop ears.  Like you see on a Vizsla. Clever. V for Vizsla....

So what about us PONs?  According to the FCI standard we have: "Hanging, set rather high, of medium size, heart-shaped, wide at base; the fore edge is close against the cheeks".  So there you have another word.  Heart shaped. I like that.  But I think I'll make up my own word.  PON ears?  PERFECT.  

But back to our initial question - does Elroy HEAR better? From what I read, dogs who have upright ears ARE believed to be more receptive to distant noises.  So maybe he IS more perceptive.  And that's what scientists think.  So in THEORY, Picards should hear better than PONs.  But this much I know, when my human opens the treat jar, Frodo and I beat Elroy every time.  So WHO has the better hearing after all?

Have a good one!