Can Dogs Hear Coyotes?

Dogs are known for their exceptional hearing, but can they hear everything that humans do? It is hard to know just what our dogs can hear. What we do know is that dogs have more sensitive ears than humans and can hear sounds in ranges that humans cannot detect.

Both humans and dogs slowly lose some of their ability to hear, but dogs always have better hearing than humans. This is due to the anatomy of their ears.

To answer the question, “can dogs hear coyotes?”, the simple answer is yes, but just how far away can dogs hear a coyote?

When dogs hear things, they often do things like wag their tails or perk up their ears. Humans think that these little quirks are adorable, but to your dog, these things are showing you what they are thinking. If your dog hears a coyote barking, howling, or yipping—hopefully from a distance—you will probably see their ears perk up and possibly respond with a similar noise.

If you are out walking, you may notice that your dog pulls at the leash or bounds around with excitement when it hears a noise that catches its attention. You can also see them alert at noises or start to wag their tail. Have you noticed that your dog suddenly stops what they're doing and tilts its head or barks? That is probably because they can hear something that you can’t. Their sensitive ears allow them to hear so much more than we can hear. A lot of that has to do with the anatomy of their ears.

Let’s learn more about how dogs can hear as well as they do!

Both part of the canine family, coyotes howl and bark much like dogs do. Just like your dog can hear when other dogs are making noise, they hear coyotes. If your dog is close enough to a coyote, they are sure to hear them howling, barking, or yipping in the distance. You don’t want to be too close to the coyotes, however, because they can be dangerous—especially for small dogs.

Dogs have great senses of hearing and smell. So, even though their eyesight isn’t great, they probably tend to be more aware of their surroundings than you are. Have you noticed that your dog seems to look around at things that aren’t there? That’s probably due to the fact that they are hearing something that is too far away for you to hear. Maybe they hear a noise that is a frequency that isn’t within the human range.

Dogs have exceptional hearing. While we may be able to hear a sound from 20 feet away, a dog can hear the sound 80 feet away. They can hear around four times better than humans can.

In addition, they can hear different pitches of sound than humans can. Average humans can hear sounds in the range of 20 hertz to 20,000 hertz. A dog, however, can hear sounds ranging from 40 to 60,000 hertz.

We know how well dogs can hear, but how do they do it? It has everything to do with the anatomy of their ears. First, dogs have 18 muscles in their ears. These muscles allow them to move their ears in different directions to better hear sounds around them. 

Plus, the shape of their ears helps amplify sounds—especially dogs with upright ears. These differences between a dog’s ear and a human’s ear allow dogs to localize a sound and hear it better from further away. For these reasons, dogs are more sensitive to loud noises.

Dogs can hear a wider range of sounds than humans can, and from further distances, which is why we know that dogs can hear coyotes when they are within an appropriate range.

The sensitivity of your dog’s ears can cause a few problems. First, dogs are often frightened or pained by loud noises. Noises that don’t bother humans can be very painful to your pooch, who can hear four times better than you can. Remember that you need to be conscious of this fact when you bring a dog to certain places. You may want to take precautions like leashing your pet or putting them in a carrier, so they don’t get frightened and try to run off.

Regardless of whether or not your dog is easily frightened, you may want to often have your dog in a carrier or on a leash, because if they hear another dog bark or another sound that interests them, they may also try to run away. Your dog’s safety should be your number one priority, so just make sure that they aren’t able to run into traffic or somewhere that you can’t find them.

The sensitivity in a dog’s ear and their openness also makes them prone to ear infections. It is important that you keep your dog’s ears clean to prevent ear infections, which can be painful, much like ear infections in humans.

One thing to remember when it comes to puppies is that if they don’t appear to be hearing things after about three weeks old, they should be tested for deafness. If your dog is deaf, they will have certain challenges, but can live a very normal life. You will need to train them with hand signs instead of verbal cues. They will also need you to be more watchful of them when they are outdoors near other animals and cars, because they can’t hear what is going on around them.