Can loud music hurt your dog's ears? What dogs hear

Months of loud noise can hurt a dog's ears. In one study, dogs' hearing changed after six months in a noisy kennel.¹ We found no such study of music at home.

What can dogs hear?

Dogs hear much higher pitches than we do. Their range reaches about 47,000 Hz, more than twice as high as ours.²³ That's the idea behind a dog whistle.

But they don't hear everything louder. Their hearing for quiet sounds is about as good as ours, or a little better.⁴

High-frequency sounds and dogs

Because dogs hear so far above our range, some sounds in your home may reach your dog and not you. If your dog reacts to "nothing," a high-pitched sound you can't hear is one possible reason, though far from the only one (more on barking at 'nothing').

Can dogs hear bass, and does it hurt their ears?

Dogs hear bass, though not as deep as we do.²³ So you hear the lowest rumble of a subwoofer better than your dog does.

We found no study of bass and dogs' hearing. The hearing change in the kennel study came from months of loud noise. If the bass is loud enough to feel through the floor, let your dog leave the room.

Can loud noise damage a dog's hearing?

Loud noise that goes on for months can. The evidence on sounds that hurt dogs' ears comes from kennels and shelters, which are loud places. The kennel study above was small, and it didn't test music.

If you think your dog's hearing has changed, talk to your vet.

Is loud music bad for dogs?

Heavy metal seems to unsettle dogs more than calm music does, though the studies compared genres rather than volume. In one study, shelter dogs barked more with heavy metal on and rested more with classical.⁵ For more on which music, see what the preference studies found and classical, reggae or soft rock.

Many dogs are wary of loud sounds to begin with. In one large survey, fear of noise was the most common anxiety owners reported in their dogs.⁶

So even if a party playlist does your dog's ears no harm, it may not feel relaxing. If your dog leaves the room when the music starts, that's worth listening to.

How to play music around your dog

1. Don't ask calm music to cover thunder or fireworks. Soft music won't mask a bang. A fan in the room may work better (more in our thunderstorm guide, and on choosing white noise or a fan).
2. Let your dog leave the room. At a party or a loud movie night, make sure your dog can get to a quiet room.
3. Watch your dog. If your dog pins their ears back, paces, pants or can't settle, turn the music off.
4. Choose calm music for time alone. If you leave music on while you're out, pick steady tracks with no sudden changes. Our home-alone guide sets it beside TV, talk radio and audiobooks.

For loud events you can't control, ear covers or noise-canceling headphones for dogs are an option. Introduce anything on your dog's head slowly, on calm days.

What we make, and what it plays

We make the Barkwoo Music Box, a lightweight player for calm music that clips onto any standard collar. It's the only calming-music player made to be worn on your dog's collar, so it stays with your dog while you're out. One button press starts the preloaded playlist, with no phone, Wi-Fi or app. It has a volume control.

Its music isn't tuned for dog ears. None of the research in this post tested the Music Box or any other speaker worn on a collar. You can preview the calming playlist before you decide, and read the calming-music studies.

References

1. Scheifele, P., Martin, D., Clark, J.G., Kemper, D. & Wells, J. (2012). Effect of kennel noise on hearing in dogs. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 73(4), 482–489. doi:10.2460/ajvr.73.4.482 ↩︎
2. Guérineau, C., Broseghini, A., Lõoke, M., Dehesh, G., Mongillo, P. & Marinelli, L. (2024). Determining hearing thresholds in dogs using the staircase method. Veterinary Sciences, 11(2), 67. doi:10.3390/vetsci11020067 ↩︎
3. Heffner, H.E. & Heffner, R.S. (2007). Hearing ranges of laboratory animals. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, 46(1), 20–22. PubMed 17203911 ↩︎
4. LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. How well do dogs and other animals hear? lsu.edu ↩︎
5. Wells, D.L., Graham, L. & Hepper, P.G. (2002). The influence of auditory stimulation on the behaviour of dogs housed in a rescue shelter. Animal Welfare, 11, 385–393. doi:10.1017/S0962728600025112 ↩︎
6. Salonen, M., Sulkama, S., Mikkola, S., et al. (2020). Prevalence, comorbidity, and breed differences in canine anxiety in 13,700 Finnish pet dogs. Scientific Reports, 10, 2962. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-59837-z ↩︎