Voices of Deaf Dogs ? Many are special.
Observations of deaf dogs demonstrated that there are two (2) kinds of "voices" of deaf dogs.
I. The most important in our opinion is the "Deaf Dog Bark -DD BARK" which can be heard and understood by other deaf dogs, ordinary dogs and most humans. The DDBARK is typically very abrupt with pitches ranging from low to very high, painfully loud to human ears and capable of making the hair on a dog's back and ears vibrate, as well as vibrating the pages of an opened paperback book. This uses the ability of dogs to detect (hear) mechanical vibrations (sound) by feeling and understanding the meaning of vibtation-tickles felt by body parts other than their inner-ear as humans do. Reference: Coren, 2004, and Strain 2011.
This is NOT a bark that an ordinary dog is likely to ever decide to use to demand the attention of another dog or a human, and it is technically possible for it to cause hearing damage to a human very close to the barking dog. Humans can do the DDBARK after experiencing it, which we proved with our deaf Border Collie. It is possible for a musically adept human to learn to modulate a DDBARK to specifically be the dog's name (if the name is maybe less than six letters long). Our deaf dog's mother who has ordinary human-like inner-ear hearing uses the DDBARK to summon or to scold her deaf daughter.
[new information update December 2012]
II. Deaf dog voices for amusement and for social signals, from instinct, Deaf dogs make all the traditional dog sounds - barks, howls, whines, chirps, crying, ---. Some deaf dogs also can make sounds quite different from the usual sounds of ordinary dogs of their breed. "Yodeling" is common.
Their sometimes very musical voices we call “deaf-dogs’ Songs.” If the cries of whales at sea are “Whale- songs” why aren’t musical cries of deaf dogs at home and in their yards “Deaf-dog songs”?
We invite anyone to describe the “voices” of their deaf dogs. Our white deaf dog in summer gleefully yodeled while dashing through the lawn sprinkler sprays. An owner of deaf dogs and other dogs can describe how the voices are sometimes different. Maybe there are special deaf-dog songs they use when they’re confused, anxious or ‘lost’ and far from familiar things? If deaf dogs don’t have blues songs, a kind human might write one for them.
A deaf Border Collie and a deaf Great Dane (See Review page: "Amazing Gracie" -a dog's tale) both were heard to make 'lowing' or sort of mooing sounds when they decided not to bark like an ordinary dog.
Owners and scientists studied dogs' voices. Voices of ordinary dogs were described by scientists [Coren,2004; Miklosi, 2007; Coppingers, 2000]. Many or most deaf dogs voices added their own "phrases", to their breed’s traditional barks, whines, and growls..
Scientists in Hungary in 2010 researched the voices of ordinary dogs. They were pleased to learn that differences can be found of deaf dogs’ voices compared to the ordinary dogs who live with people. Unfortunately in Europe it was impossible to find enough owners of deaf dogs to assist. Already ten years ago US owners of deaf dogs were collecting observations and sharing on the Internet. Maybe some day scientists can use those Internet archives?
Women and children are best able to detect high pitch sounds, - - dog-voices can go well higher than most persons can hear. Dogs newly deaf are likely to do a lot of barking, yodeling, perhaps screeching, and ‘mumbling’ while napping unless interrupted by humans. Continued barking and yodeling can be funny or unpleasant for humans, but for the dog’s sake it is kindest if their humans slowly urge the dog to use fewer and quieter bits.
University researchers to get permanent accurate records used expensive equipment that can “hear” even for the extreme ultrasonic pitches that people mostly can’t hear.
Because of the scarcity of deaf dogs among the US 77 millions of ordinary dogs in 2010, information practically can only be obtained with the help of owners of deaf dogs. Dr S Coren, 2004, discussed that sort of difficulty in his book “How dogs think”, and asked help from trainers. The deaf-dogs-community likely has the best information, because we share observations on behavior and abilities, and what aids our dogs with their people to a good life.
Fortunately the basic observations can be described in words well enough to answer many key questions about which sounds are special just for deaf dogs, and when they voice (or sing) them.
I. The most important in our opinion is the "Deaf Dog Bark -DD BARK" which can be heard and understood by other deaf dogs, ordinary dogs and most humans. The DDBARK is typically very abrupt with pitches ranging from low to very high, painfully loud to human ears and capable of making the hair on a dog's back and ears vibrate, as well as vibrating the pages of an opened paperback book. This uses the ability of dogs to detect (hear) mechanical vibrations (sound) by feeling and understanding the meaning of vibtation-tickles felt by body parts other than their inner-ear as humans do. Reference: Coren, 2004, and Strain 2011.
This is NOT a bark that an ordinary dog is likely to ever decide to use to demand the attention of another dog or a human, and it is technically possible for it to cause hearing damage to a human very close to the barking dog. Humans can do the DDBARK after experiencing it, which we proved with our deaf Border Collie. It is possible for a musically adept human to learn to modulate a DDBARK to specifically be the dog's name (if the name is maybe less than six letters long). Our deaf dog's mother who has ordinary human-like inner-ear hearing uses the DDBARK to summon or to scold her deaf daughter.
[new information update December 2012]
II. Deaf dog voices for amusement and for social signals, from instinct, Deaf dogs make all the traditional dog sounds - barks, howls, whines, chirps, crying, ---. Some deaf dogs also can make sounds quite different from the usual sounds of ordinary dogs of their breed. "Yodeling" is common.
Their sometimes very musical voices we call “deaf-dogs’ Songs.” If the cries of whales at sea are “Whale- songs” why aren’t musical cries of deaf dogs at home and in their yards “Deaf-dog songs”?
We invite anyone to describe the “voices” of their deaf dogs. Our white deaf dog in summer gleefully yodeled while dashing through the lawn sprinkler sprays. An owner of deaf dogs and other dogs can describe how the voices are sometimes different. Maybe there are special deaf-dog songs they use when they’re confused, anxious or ‘lost’ and far from familiar things? If deaf dogs don’t have blues songs, a kind human might write one for them.
A deaf Border Collie and a deaf Great Dane (See Review page: "Amazing Gracie" -a dog's tale) both were heard to make 'lowing' or sort of mooing sounds when they decided not to bark like an ordinary dog.
Owners and scientists studied dogs' voices. Voices of ordinary dogs were described by scientists [Coren,2004; Miklosi, 2007; Coppingers, 2000]. Many or most deaf dogs voices added their own "phrases", to their breed’s traditional barks, whines, and growls..
Scientists in Hungary in 2010 researched the voices of ordinary dogs. They were pleased to learn that differences can be found of deaf dogs’ voices compared to the ordinary dogs who live with people. Unfortunately in Europe it was impossible to find enough owners of deaf dogs to assist. Already ten years ago US owners of deaf dogs were collecting observations and sharing on the Internet. Maybe some day scientists can use those Internet archives?
Women and children are best able to detect high pitch sounds, - - dog-voices can go well higher than most persons can hear. Dogs newly deaf are likely to do a lot of barking, yodeling, perhaps screeching, and ‘mumbling’ while napping unless interrupted by humans. Continued barking and yodeling can be funny or unpleasant for humans, but for the dog’s sake it is kindest if their humans slowly urge the dog to use fewer and quieter bits.
University researchers to get permanent accurate records used expensive equipment that can “hear” even for the extreme ultrasonic pitches that people mostly can’t hear.
Because of the scarcity of deaf dogs among the US 77 millions of ordinary dogs in 2010, information practically can only be obtained with the help of owners of deaf dogs. Dr S Coren, 2004, discussed that sort of difficulty in his book “How dogs think”, and asked help from trainers. The deaf-dogs-community likely has the best information, because we share observations on behavior and abilities, and what aids our dogs with their people to a good life.
Fortunately the basic observations can be described in words well enough to answer many key questions about which sounds are special just for deaf dogs, and when they voice (or sing) them.