Hard-of-hearing dogs can be much noisier because they aren't aware of the volume of their bark

Researchers have now found a similar association in dogs.

Age-related hearing loss, otherwise known as presbycusis, is one of the most common conditions in older Australians. The Australian government Department of Health and Aged Care states hearing loss occurs in half of people aged 60-70; 70 per cent of people over 70, and 80 per cent of people over 80.

Risk factors include exposure to loud noise (often preventable) and untreated ear disease.

Alarmingly, rates of cognitive decline are up to 40 per cent faster in people with hearing loss.

Hearing loss leads to sensory deprivation and social isolation, which can in turn lead to depression, all exacerbating cognitive decline. Fortunately, these impacts can be reduced with hearing aids and cochlear implants for humans.

Hearing loss is common in dogs, particularly those older than eight. It tends to impact middle to high frequencies more than low frequencies.

Hearing loss can lead to changes in audiograms which are assessed using brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER) testing, though this technology is not widely available within Australia.

Signs of hearing loss in dogs are initially subtle, but may include not responding, or being slow to respond, to sounds they used to respond to (the doorbell, the fridge door opening, a family member's car pulling up outside); deeper or longer sleeps; failing to respond to their name, and a loss of recall when off the lead.

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Some owners report their hard-of-hearing dogs are much noisier. They may not be aware of the volume of their bark.

To explore a possible relationship between hearing loss and cognitive decline in dogs, researchers performed BAER testing and cognitive tests on dogs, and asked owners to assess their dog's quality of life (Fefer et al., 2022).

The researchers found that dogs with hearing loss had poorer performance in cognitive tests evaluating their attention and working memory. They also had higher owner-reported cognitive decline scores.

The researchers found that the quality of the dog-owner interactions was negatively impacted by the dog's hearing loss.

Previous studies have found that dogs respond differently depending on the tone of their owner's voice.

Hearing loss may alter what dogs hear, or prevent them from hearing altogether, which can lead to confusion or frustration for the owner.

Hearing loss isn't all bad. Dogs with noise phobias may benefit from it.

For now, there's no cure for presbycusis in dogs. Treating ear disease as early as possible may play a role in delaying the onset of presbycusis.

Keeping dogs mentally alert by providing appropriate regular exercise and mental stimulation, for example, by taking dogs for a sniff-walk, is likely to be helpful. Some dogs also readily respond to visual cues like hand signals.

Middle ear implants have been used experimentally in dogs, and did improve hearing, but these aren't commercially available.

Dogs don't tolerate hearing aids - yet. Designing hearing aids that are comfortable for dogs will be tricky, as there is so much breed variation in canine ear anatomy.

The design of well-tolerated, inexpensive, effective hearing aids for dogs in the future may help reduce the progression of canine cognitive decline.

It may also help enhance our relationships with senior dogs.