Greater sensitivity needed about how dogs respond to certain sounds.
| | | | | | Common Household Noises May Severely Stress Your Dog | | | Greater sensitivity needed about how dogs respond to certain sounds. | | | Microwave beeps, the chirps of a smoke alarm system when a battery is dying, cell phone noises, alarm clocks going off…these high-pitched sounds are just some of the noises commonly heard in your home that may leave your dog feeling extremely unnerved. Even noises with lower frequencies — the tumbling of a clothes dryer, a fan, a dishwasher — stress a number of dogs. Such are the findings of researchers at the University of California, Davis, who surveyed almost 400 people with dogs about their pets' reactions to household sounds. In other words, it's not just sudden booms like fireworks and thunder that can get some dogs going. The investigators also found that those with pets may miss the subtle cues that a dog feels fear or discomfort when hearing certain noises, which include coming close to their human family members, lip licking, pacing, ear tucking, yawning, or simply retreating. Many dogs with fear of household noises bark, too, which might not be taken as a sign of stress since dogs bark for so many reasons. The investigators viewed more than 60 videos and other online compilations that showed people's reactions to dogs' often nuanced expressions of anxiety about household noises. Many missed their dogs' behavioral cues signaling emotional discomfort outright, but about one in five people actually expressed amusement at dogs' reactions upon hearing certain noises. A learning curve for people You don't have to choose between your microwave or your pet. And no one is going to get rid of their cell phone or their smoke alarms. But because dogs who live with us in our homes are unable to control their level of exposure to the various sounds our appliances make, we can at least make an effort to understand that our pets' welfare and sense of well being may be at stake when it comes to certain noises. We can check to see if the noises bother them and try to comfort them when they hear things they find troublesome or perhaps confine them to a space in the house where the disturbing noise may be less audible. | | | | | | | | | | |
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