Military working dogs play a vital role in a variety of roles, including tactical operations, patrol, detection, and specialized searches.
Hearing loss, either temporary or permanent, can impair the animal’s performance, compromise ability to hear commands, and shorten the dog’s working capacity. Hearing protection for canines has long-existed, but these devices were limited in their effectiveness due to poor fit and cumbersome design.
In response, the U.S. Army Medical Research Development Command funded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to develop a better option. Zeteo Tech, Inc., along with Pete “Skip” Scheifele, MD, PhD, developed the Canine Auditory Protection System (CAPS). CAPS uses a lightweight, acoustic absorption material that conforms to the shape of the dog’s head creating a proper seal.
Related Resources
U.S. Army: Innovative Hearing Protection May Safeguard Military Working Dogs
Related Posts
“Huh?” Is More Than an Interrogatory Palindrome!
“Huh?” is used in at least 31 languages around the world! A version of the word can be found in nearly every language on Earth (Dingemanse et al, 2013). This research concluded that all languages studied included a word similar, in both sound and function, to the English “huh?” Regardless of language, the word is…
Another Useless Body Part…
If you have a dog or cat, you’ve probably seen their ears moving toward an interesting or startling sound. For professional equestrians, watching the ears of their horse allows them to gauge their shifting attention. Humans still have these same muscles, and even more interesting is their relationship to our brain and how we pay attention. …
Memorizing Movements: How Tai Chi Can Improve Balance and Cognition
Tai Chi is not just for increasing balance; it may also help improve cognitive performance. In a recent randomized controlled trial, study participants who practiced a form of Tai Chi twice a week for six months improved their scores on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) when compared to a control group (Fuzhong et al, 2023)….