Why Do Dogs Tilt Their Heads?

One of the cutest mannerisms your furry friends do is tilting their heads when you talk to them. Most people wouldn’t wonder too much about why that happens, as everyone is so used to it. But the reason behind the head tilt is very interesting.

The average dog can learn over 160 words. So, if you tell them to fetch something, they will easily recognize the word fetch. But why do they tilt their head when they hear words they recognize?

Researchers at Eötvös Loránd University asked themselves the same question. They spent three months observing 40 dogs to form a theory. They tried using toys and word association to try to identify some patterns and reasons as to why that happens.

The direction in which they tilted their head didn’t seem to change. In fact, dogs were either right or left-sided, depending on their personal preference. So, no matter what the context is, they would always turn their head in the same direction.

They concluded that only dogs who knew some words tilted their heads frequently. This suggests that head-tilting is used when a dog processes relevant stimuli. This is just the first study done on this topic. For a conclusive answer, more research is needed on a broader study group, as most of the dogs in this study were border collies.

One thing that is known now, is that dogs actually listen when their parents talk to them. So, it’s worth making an effort to teach them new words. Repetition is the best way to teach them new commands. And, if you see them tilting their head, that’s just a sign they understand what you are saying.