Dogs can hear these high-pitched sounds primarily because of the way they evolved. Wild dogs hunted for a living, and their main prey were little rodents that make very high-pitched sounds. Back before our domestic dogs evolved, they would hear sounds that were high-pitched in order to hunt better.
Some modern dogs, like terriers, have maintained the ability to hear some of those really high-pitched sounds. That’s why terriers are so good at hunting rodents.
The dog whistle, which sounds silent to humans, produces sounds in the 50-kilohertz range that dogs can hear.
Dogs have better hearing than humans both because they can hear these high-frequency sounds, and they can hear sounds from farther away. This is because of the way their ears are designed. Their ears are made to cup and move sound in, similar to the way humans can put a hand up to their ear to hear better. Dogs can also move their ears around to hone in on sounds in different directions.
Humans can hear sounds in a range from about 20 hertz to 23 kilohertz at the upper range of their hearing ability. The hearing range of dogs is almost double that.
What does it mean if a person can hear a dog whistle?
I can, too. It’s called hypersensitive hearing. When you’re younger you’re more apt to being able to hear them (like that ringtone teens use in school because their teachers can’t hear it), as the range lowers as people age. Some of us just have such sensitive hearing, though, that we never lose that range.
Is it bad if you can hear a dog whistle?
Potential for Harm. Designed to be impossible for humans to hear, dog whistles aren’t inherently harmful for your animal — to an extent. … While a human can hear sounds around 23 kHz, dogs can hear sounds up to 45 kHz — a significantly higher frequency.