While dogs do many adorable things, the head tilt is perhaps one of their most beloved behaviors. I make many strange sounds around my pups to see if they will tilt their heads sideways in a confused look.
Sometimes dogs will tilt their heads by playing with new toys or games. We recommend this toy for getting your dog to tilt their heads.
Dog parents know that a dog’s head tilt indicates interest or an experience. What is the reason they do it?
You might have a few reasons your dog is doing the adorable tip of his noggin. These could be the reasons.
Empathy Leads To Head Tilts
A Pit Bull with brown markings and white pit bull tilts his head in front a white background.
(Photo credit: Shutterstock).
Experts agree that the dog’s ability empathy is affected by its head tilt.
Dogs are very adept at understanding people. Dogs are able to understand human body language, facial gestures and speech patterns, which allows them to empathize. They are able to recognize words and vocal sounds and associate them as playtime, walking, or food.
If they tilt their heads, it could be that they are trying filter out what we’re saying in order to identify familiar parts of our language. This could be whether they are looking for the emotional content or the literal meaning of your words.
Does the head tilt aid in communication in other ways?
Dogs are able to read our speech and understand how we communicate it. Dogs use their facial expressions, eye movements to understand human communication, as well as body language and tone of voice to assess how we communicate. Dogs need to be able see clearly and tilt their heads in order to understand us.
The dog’s ability to see may be affected by the shape of his head or face. Hold a fist in front of your nose to see how a large snout can impair vision. To see an object right in front you, your head must be turned. Dogs do exactly the same thing. To work around their distracting muzzles, they tilt their heads and improve their visual perception. The cute head tilt helps dogs see more clearly. Communicating with dogs by understanding their facial expressions is easier.
Bulldogs and Boston Terriers with shorter faces, such as Bulldogs or Boston Terriers, may be inclined to tilt their heads less because their noses are not as narrow as those with long muzzles. The cute head tilt could be due to physical conformation (structural arrangement between the facial and ear bone bones).
Can we encourage this behavior to occur?
There are many factors involved in canine head tilt. Human nature is to reinforce the cuteness of the tilt by giving positive reinforcement. We give dogs a pat on the head, smile, and speak with a kind tone when they cockle their heads. Dogs cocking their heads are another sign that we encourage them to do so by giving positive reinforcement. We encourage repetition of the head tilt by our response. The more we laugh at the cute canine head tilt, we will enjoy it more!
