Sponsored by Pet Acoustics, Pet Hearing Awareness Week is September 20-24, 2021. Pet Acoustics makes music scientifically designed to naturally soothe stress behaviors and it’s the music we play every day throughout Barkaritaville Pet Resort. We’re proud to celebrate pet hearing every day of every week!
About Pet Acoustics at Barkaritaville Pet Resort
Pet Acoustics was founded by sound behaviorist Janet Marlow, internationally known for her contribution to the understanding of pet hearing sensitivities and how sound and music and music affect the behavior of dogs, cats, horses and birds. Psychoacoustics is the perception of sound and the physiological response to sound—it’s also one of the most overlooked triggers of animal behavior.
Animal hypervigilant behavior is triggered by high and low frequencies whether indoors or outdoors. Through a proprietary process, Pet Acoustics eliminates ultra-high and sub-low frequencies in the designed music, resulting in a comfort listening zone for pets. Pet Acoustics has been researched, studied, and tested. Results are measurable and repeatable. The latest clinical study, released in March 2021, proved Pet Acoustics music calms cats.
Pet Acoustics’ innovative products have helped thousands of pets worldwide solve stress-induced behaviors. The products are clinically tested and approved by veterinarians. As part of our mindful approach to pet care, Barkaritaville Pet Resort is proud to play soothing Pet Acoustics music throughout our pet care resorts in both San Antonio and Corpus Christi.
Pet hearing tips
Recently, in a runup to Pet Hearing Awareness Week, Janet Marlow in her “We’re All Ears!” podcast shared pet care tips about pet hearing. You can listen to the half-hour podcast here for tips on how to home-test your pet’s hearing (as well as tips on how to mitigate noise and sound in animal rescue shelters). We’ve also pulled together some pet hearing highlights, below, to help you understand and assess your pet’s hearing.
Puppies are born deaf. Hearing is one of the last of a puppy’s senses to fully develop. In fact, puppies can’t hear until they’re about three weeks old. But as AKC notes, “once their hearing kicks in, they hear about four times better than most people, including hearing a wider range of frequencies.”
Hearing versus listening. If you can’t reconcile why your dog can’t hear you yelling to stop barking at the squirrel but can hear you removing a cheese wrapper from the other side of the house, you may have more of a training issue. If you’re in the San Antonio area, our professional dog trainer can help with that!
Simple test at home. A friend of Barkaritaville learned the senior dog she had just adopted was deaf when she accidentally dropped a glass just behind him. The large glass landed with a loud shatter and he never budged. Just sat there still waiting for his afternoon cookie. Thankfully, there are easier, less potentially dangerous ways to test your dog’s hearing. Using the same principle, but without the shattering glass, you can test your dog’s hearing by standing in a location where they can hear you but can’t see you. Try a loud clap or whistle and see if they respond.
Common causes of hearing loss in pets. The most common cause of hearing loss in pets is Age Related Hearing Loss (ARHL), which is a gradual and progressive hearing loss that affects most humans, too. Other causes in pets include heredity, infection, trauma, or a blocked ear canal. More than 30 breeds of dogs are predisposed to deafness including Dalmatians, German Shepherds, Boston Terriers, and Cocker Spaniels. As always, if you have any concerns, consult your veterinarian.
At Barkaritaville Pet Resort we care about all aspects of your pet’s well-being, including hearing! We are proud to incorporate Pet Acoustics to help gently soothe and relax our guests while they’re in our care.
