A dog expert has revealed why dogs slowly tilt their heads from side to side when you’re talking to them – and pet owners can’t get enough of the adorable reason behind it.
While every dog lover dreams of understanding their furry friend, it’s not a reality. Instead, we must interpret their body language to understand what they’re thinking. However, many people are clueless about certain signals, like when your dog tilts its head while you’re talking – whether you’re asking if they’re ready for dinner or discussing your daily plans.
This led one dog owner to ask on Reddit: “Explain like I’m five – why do dogs tilt their heads when they are confused or trying to comprehend something?” According to VCA Animal Hospital, dogs tilt their heads when you’re talking to them as a sign that they’re actively listening to you.
Moreover, they’re also trying to decipher your tone and listen for ‘trigger words’ – such as ‘dinner, walk, or park – throughout your conversation.
A statement reads: “Dogs understand us by assessing not only what we say, but how we say it. They assess our facial expressions, eye movements, tone of voice, body language, and inflection to translate human communications.
“To understand us, dogs must clearly see our faces and tilting their heads may help in this process.” However, this isn’t the only reason as their head and face shape can play a significant role in how often you catch them tilting their head when you’re speaking to them.
The statement explains: “Head and face shape may interfere with what a dog can see. To grasp how a long snout interferes with vision, hold a fist to your nose and look around. You must turn your head to see an object directly in front of you. Dogs do the same thing.
“They tilt their heads to work around their interfering muzzles and improve their visual perspective. That cute head tilt broadens the range of vision and allows a dog to more clearly see a person’s face. Seeing our facial expressions improves communication.
“It stands to reason that dogs with flatter faces, like bulldogs and Boston terriers, may tilt their heads less since their short noses do not get in the way as much as long muzzles. That cute head tilt may therefore be a result of physical conformation (structural arrangement of the facial and ear bones).”
It’s not unusual for owners to unintentionally reinforce this behaviour because it’s “cute”. Often, they will reward their dog with a pat, keep talking to them in a gentle voice, or give them a smile when they tilt their head.
The statement continues: “Another reason that dogs may tilt their heads is because we teach them to do it by providing positive reinforcement.
“Our reaction to the head tilt encourages repetition, so the more we adore the charming canine head tilt, the more we get to see it.”
Sharing an opinion on this, a user remarked: “Dogs can be pretty good at pointing their ears to hear where a sound is coming from. Think of a human turning the side of their head towards someone when they are having a hard time hearing.
“I usually see our dogs cock their head towards a sound when they are moussing or hunting hare/grouse. Their ears open up and point towards where they believe the sound to be coming from.”
Chiming in, another user said: “Turning and cocking their head to one side helps to open up their ear canal so they can hear better. Dogs also tilt their heads because we make them feel good when they hear us say things like, ‘Isn’t that just so cute.'”.