Today I gave my dog a hearing test, and I am happy to report that he passed with flying colors.
We had just returned from our end-of-day walk around the block. Ray was a bit on the tired side because we had jog/walked the lake trail and then Tucker had come over for a play date. As we were walking across the grass to the front door, Ray suddenly stopped and refused to move. He slowly sank to the grass and passed out in a total flop. This is not too unusual for the hound. He pulls this move a lot, mostly when we are passing the house of someone he knows. It generally takes me five or ten minutes to get him going again. I gave it quick try, but Ray was being particularly stubborn, and I had things to do.
I unfastened the leash from his collar, left the dog lying in the front yard, and went inside. I figured I could watch him through the glass storm door, and since he was only about ten or twelve feet from the door, I could get to him pretty quickly if I had to. I had an idea about how to get him to move but I didn't know if it would work.
I went into the kitchen and got his food dish. I was watching Ray as I stood at the kitchen sink and put crunchies in his metal dog-food bowl.
No reaction.
I went to the refrigerator and got out his canned food (which I mix with his crunchies).
No reaction.
I opened the drawer to get a fork.
One ear twitched.
I popped off the plastic lid that was covering what remained of the canned food.
In less time than it takes to tell, Ray was standing at the front door, both ears fully deployed in Dumbo mode.
Taking into consideration that I was standing at a kitchen counter which is approximately two feet deep, and that I was standing on the FAR side of the kitchen, and that our kitchen is at the back of the house, and that our house is 25 feet wide, and that Ray was approximately 10-12 feet from the front door, {25-2+11 (we'll split the difference between 10 and 12)}, Ray can hear a plastic lid being removed from a can - through a glass door - approximately 34 feet away.
He may be blind, but there is NOTHING wrong with his hearing.
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Hahahaha, I can personally attest to the acuity of Ray's hearing; he used to come running when I pulled out the food, too - and this was when he was lying in the yard 25 feet from the house, with the kitchen door CLOSED. He'd hop up and come trotting in thru the dog door.
ReplyDeleteImpressive!
DeleteI'm tempted to give him more hearing tests to find out his limit. I need to know how far away I have to be to tie my shoes without him hearing me. (When he hears me tie my shoes, he thinks we're going for a walk and starts whining for me to hurry up. Very annoying.)
The doggie biscuit tin trick is the one we use with Conor to get him to go out for his before bed garden visit....and I can assure you the pre walk shoe putting on thing creates absolute mayhem in our house, even if Jez locks himself in the bathroom.....the whining, excitement and pandemonium created has to be witnessed to be believed. Where is Cesar when you really need him ?
ReplyDeletehahahahahaha. I'm thinking I should just walk him in slippers that I can slide on my feet without any noise whatsoever. Might be a bit hard on the feet after a couple of miles though.
DeleteI think you need to take a video of the pre walk mayhem. I want to see it!
I will try to oblige ! Slippers is an interesting idea, but then when the leads are heard jangling we have lost the element of surprise.......
ReplyDelete