Pets truly have a knack of communicating with us in their own charming way. Dogs, in particular, engage with us by barking, wagging their tails, and even licking.
But they also have some more subtle ways of making their feelings known, such as tilting their heads to the side. Turns out, this behaviour can actually reveal a lot about what’s going on in their heads.
A vet named Dr Alex Crow has lifted the lid on why your canine pal may be tilting its head when focusing on something. In a TikTok video, Dr Alex showed clips of several different dogs tilting their heads, before diving into the different reasons for this adorable behaviour.
“First, it helps them pinpoint the exact location of a sound,” he explained.
Head-tilting enables dogs to better locate the source of noises, especially those that are peculiar or new to them. This quirk might shed light on why your dog seems to sometimes react to something you can’t pick up.
With their extensive frequency range, angling their head could mean they’re tuning into a high-pitched sound that humans are incapable of hearing. Your dog’s sideways glance could also be an attempt to decipher your facial expressions and body language.
Dr Alex explained: “When they tilt their head, they can see past their snout and get a better view of our mouth and eyes, helping them to read our emotions.”
Finally, he suggests the tilting of the head might also show that your dog is concentrating. When your dog tilts its head, it could mean they are trying to understand what you’re saying or figure out what you want from them.
“So the next time your dog tilts their head at you, give them a smile and a pat. They are just trying to be the best that they can be,” he said.
Despite the explanation, people still had questions for Dr Alex in the comments, mostly regarding their own dog’s habits.”How come some do and some don’t?” one user asked, to which Dr Alex replied: “Some dogs, especially ones with flat faces, might not tilt as much as they don’t have a long snout that they are trying to look past.”
Another user said: “Mine does it when he knows treats are about.” “Lol.. And it also means they soo cute too,” a fourth user commented.
If you find that your dog is tilting your head without an apparent reason, you should contact a vet as it could be a sign of health issues, according to Purina. This might include ear infections or vestibular syndrome, which is a condition where dogs lose their normal sense of balance.
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