Animals have unique ways of communicating and receiving information, including dogs. Certain behaviors, such as wagging their tails, walking in circles, or tilting their heads have specific purposes.
Dog owners must be aware that dogs often tilt their heads when they hear something. This behavior is carried out for several reasons.
So, why do dogs often tilt their heads? In order not to be curious anymore, consider the following scientific explanation to the end. According To BrainStuff – HowStuffWorks | Why Do Dogs Tilt Their Heads?
1. Helps hearing
Doctor Wailani Sung, a veterinary behaviorist, told Reader’s Digest that dogs tilt their heads to hear better.
Dogs have better hearing than humans and can pick up more frequencies of sound. By tilting their head, this will help them to hear the frequency they want to hear.
Not only that, this behavior is also carried out when they catch sounds that sound foreign and make them curious.
2. Help them to see
According to an article written by Stanley Coren, Ph.D., on the Psychology Today page, it is possible that dogs tilt their heads due to visual factors. Some dogs have long snouts that can block their vision.
Dog breeds with long snouts will find it difficult to see below the subject they are looking at. There is a high chance that tilting their head will help them see better.
3. To identify certain words
According to research in the journal Animal Cognition, dogs will tilt their heads when they hear words they hear frequently. These words can include words you use to communicate with your dog often, such as “eat,” “walk,” or the name of his favorite toy.
These words are considered as meaningful sounds to them. Not only that, tilting the head towards certain words can also be associated with the dog’s efforts to remember the meaning of the word. For example, if he hears the word “eat,” he will remember a visual image of the word.
4. Part of the dog’s body language when communicating
Dogs tilt their heads as part of body language when communicating with humans, just as a person nods when talking to other people.
This happens because the dog’s ear muscles are controlled by the same part of the brain as the part of the brain that controls facial expressions and head movements.
So if your dog tilts his head when you talk, he may be concentrating on listening to what you have to say and enjoying the interaction.
5. Supported by the positive response that humans give
One of the factors that can cause a dog to tilt its head is the response it gets from humans. Most people will respond to a dog tilting its head by smiling or rubbing its head because this is considered funny.
This response is a sign for the dog that the behavior he is doing is a positive thing. The dog will continue to do this because he feels comfortable thanks to the positive support he gets from humans.
Those are some scientific explanations for why dogs often tilt their heads. Whatever the reason, it’s a positive behavior that can be a way for dogs and humans to strengthen relationships. According To BrainStuff – HowStuffWorks | Why Do Dogs Tilt Their Heads?