Curious as to Why Your Dog Tilts His Head When You Talk to Him?

The following are excellent explanations. They may not be the only reasons a dog tilts its head but they certainly make a dog-owner think about what he or she is doing when their pup does that little head tilt.

They're trying to hear better
Dogs have movable earflaps that help them locate the source of a sound, but they also have brains that can compute time differences between the sound reaching each ear. A slight change in a dog's head position supplies additional information that the canine can use to judge a sound's distance.

They're trying to understand us
According to Steven R. Lindsay's “Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training,” when a dog listens to your voice, he's trying to identify familiar words or tones that he associates with a reward, such as going on a walk or receiving a treat.

They can't see our faces easily
In an effort to understand us, dogs not only use our words and inflection, but also facial expressions, body language and eye movements. Because of this, it's important for them to see our faces, so Dr. Stanley Corren reasons that when dogs cock their heads they're trying to see us better.

We've taught them to do it
When dogs tilt their heads when we speak, it's undeniably cute and we have a tendency to respond to the behavior with positive reinforcement. Perhaps we say “aww” in a pleasing tone of voice or offer the dog a treat.

There is far more information about each of topics covered above on Mother Nature Network and we strongly suggest you take a look. It makes for fascinating reading!

Whatever the reasoning for a pooch tilting his or her head – it is awfully cute! Hmm. Do you think Rover knows it?