A Hearing Test for Fido

Many owners go to great lengths to ensure their pets are healthy and happy. Because many of our pets are a close part of the family, it is in the interest of both pets and owners to ensure pets have full, happy, and healthy lives. One way to maintain pet health is to ensure their hearing is strong and intact. Dog hearing is particularly sensitive, so it is important to make sure your puppy goes through a hearing test every year or so.

One way to conduct a hearing test on your dog is to first clean his or her ears out. Owners can do this easily with a cotton ball or cotton swab soaked in warm water. When the wax and dirt is removed from the dog's ear, owners can concentrate on debris found within the cartilage. It is vitally important that the cotton ball or swab is not placed deep within the dog's ear canal. Because doggy hearing is so sensitive, your pup may begin to recognize new sounds, voices, and tones when his or her ears are cleaned. After a test is administered, it is important for owners to pay particular attention to any changes in the dog's behavior.

Once both ears have been cleaned, owners can conduct a simple hearing test to check the hearing of the animal. A light clap behind the head of the dog and then checking for his or her response is one way to analyze the dog's audibility. Other owners choose to call his or her name from one end of the room. If the dog responds by looking in an opposite direction, there might be a hearing issue that requires a trip to the vet. A good vet will be able to recognize immediately if a dog's hearing is suffering or incomplete. Because partial and full deafness can occur in canines, a visit to the vet might be able to answer questions for owners concerning the hearing of their dog.

Other owners have chosen to take their puppies directly to the vet to request a BAER test. The BAER test stands for Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response and can be administered on canines, but it will not test the entire range of the dog's hearing. Nevertheless, the test is a simple way to determine partial or full deafness in dogs and the hearing test takes only about fifteen minutes to complete. While a basic test, the BAER can help determine the basic nature of a dog's hearing.

By ensuring the dog's hearing is healthy and complete, owners can be assured their dogs are living full and happy lives. Because it is up to all of us to ensure pets and animals have full and natural lives, regular check-ups and vet visits are necessary. These simple tests will help owners understand how well their dogs are responding to various levels or noise and should ultimately increase the bond between pet and owner.