I love dogs with floppy ears, but if I remember correctly, the shape of ears redirects sonic waves into the ear canal and while I can imagine that if I look at a wolf or a German Shepherd, I’m confused how that works for dogs with floppy ears – or *do* they hear worse than dogs with more “classic” ear shapes?
In: Biology
They do hear worse yes, but it’s not a bad thing for their health at all, it’s just blocking some sound and blocks the way to the ear canal. If you put your hand over your ears, I bet you can tell a difference. But either way they are fine. Be a little extra loud. Have fun.
Dogs breeds have been selectively bred for thousands of years. You can count that their physical adaptations are in line with their jobs. You’ll notice that the sort of dogs with long floppy ears are also the sort of dogs that are bred for their scent ability and in many cases the longer and floppier the ear, the more specialized for scent the breed (q.v Bloodhound). Although it’s very difficult to conclusively prove it, it’s likely that long floppy ears improve scenting abilities. Possibly when the dog has its head lowered to a track, the ears flopping down around the nose increase the scent directed into the nostrils.
They do hear worse, but still well enough to be a dog. Being a pet just doesn’t demand much out of a dog’s ability to hear.
You won’t see floppy ears on wild dogs because they gotta be good at hearing.
There’s a great podcast episode that goes into a potential reason why dogs have floppy ears. I think it was Radiolab. Essentially floppy ears, curly tails, and blazes of white are all linked to a suite of genes that may contribute to “tameness.” They don’t necessarily contribute to tameness, but rather they are a byproduct of it.
https://www.npr.org/2018/01/30/580806947/why-dogs-have-floppy-ears-an-animated-tale
Floppy ears can still direct sound waves into the ear canal; it’s more about the inner ear’s efficiency in processing sound.
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