ABSTRACT
References 594
The domestic dog serves in a variety of roles, including sentry, patrol, herding, hunting,
and guide dog functions, all of which require acute hearing for optimal performance.
A popular subject of early research in comparative hearing, the dog eventually fell from
favor as a research subject, in part because of its lack of uniformity. Yet, it is exactly
this diversity that makes the dog a particularly intriguing subject in which to examine
intraspecies relationships in head size and pinna configuration. In addition, the presence
of hereditary (particularly pigment related) deafness in dogs has both basic and
applied implications. Despite such a wealth of incentives, a paucity of information
about canine hearing exists; this report is a synopsis of that information.
