Tilt, rotate and funnel

All gundog breeds may have floppy ears but they are equipped with hearing many times more sensitive than ours, says David Tomlinson

ONE FEATURE common to every breed of gundog is floppy ears. Spaniel ears flop considerably more than those of, say, labradors or German shorthaired pointers, but all the gundogs have ears that flap downwards, unlike such breeds as German shepherds, greyhounds and Pomeranians.

It’s a physical feature that we take for granted, but it’s the result of selective breeding that took place centuries ago. We humans like floppy-eared dogs, as it gives them a friendlier, less intimidating look.

However, it’s notable that all wild canids, without exception, have pointed ears. Ears that prick rather than flop are more efficient, which is why wolves and jackals have evolved with them.

If you watch a wolf (do so on Youtube), you will note that the animal is continually turning its ears in different directions to pick up sounds from every source, something a gundog cannot do. However, gundogs do prick their ears when they hear a noise. If they think it deserves investigation, they will usually turn their head towards it to hear it better.

We humans have a very limited ability to move our ears and most of us can barely twitch them. There are a mere six muscles controlling our ears, none of which is particularly effective. In contrast, a dog has 18 ear muscles, allowing it to tilt, rotate and funnel the sound into the inner ear more effectively. In addition, the canine ear canal is longer than ours. Muscles allow it to finely tune the position of this ear canal so that it can localise a sound, hear it more accurately and from farther away.

Not only do dogs have much more sensitive hearing than us, they also have the ability to pick up a sound four times further away than we can. In addition, they can hear much higher frequencies, which explains why the silent dog whistle can be so effective.

It’s worth remembering how sensitive your dog’s ears are when you are training. There’s no need to blow a whistle loudly as the dog will pick up even the softest of whistles at remarkably long ranges. However, we all have a natural inclination to blow a whistle louder and louder the further away a dog is, assuming from its lack

“It’s worth remembering how sensitive your dog’s ears are when you are training”

of reaction that it hasn’t heard us. It has, of course, but it’s simply choosing to ignore it.

I was reminded recently of how far-carrying a dog whistle is. I was out walking with my sprocker, Emma, in a local wood. My wife, Jan, having met a friend, was walking our other spaniel, Rowan, on a different route.