Here you have it: 4 scientific reasons why dogs tilt their head when they listen to us! Some of them might surprise you.
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. 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. The more a dog is praised for cocking its head, the more likely he is to repeat the gesture in the future.
So it turns out that “because it's cute” is a perfectly reasonable explanation, after all! They do it because they know we find them hopelessly adorable when they do. To learn more about the reasons why dogs exhibit this behavior, take a look at Mother Nature Network!
Featured Image via Tigole Bittles / Flickr
