Animal Audiology

Course Overview

The American Kennel Club advises breeders to have puppies tested by means of a BAER test and registered with the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. Owners are now routinely asking for hearing testing for older dogs as per their attending veterinarians. This applies to pets, working dogs and military working dogs. Some veterinary neurologists are capable of performing the Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER) test, which is used for testing the hearing of animals, but are not specifically trained to make diagnostic judgments regarding audiological issues. This is the specific expertise of audiologists. There are a number of practicing audiologists who will run BAER tests for screening the hearing of animals, but the University of Cincinnati's FETCH~LAB is the only university in the nation that has the capability to teach animal audiology to its AuD students or to practicing audiologists or veterinarians.