Dog Behaviour: Why do dogs tilt their heads?
- 1 day ago
- 1 min read
Why do dogs tilt their head when they hear certain sounds?
We’ve all seen dogs tilt their head when we talk to them or when they hear new sounds - but why do they do it? It's more than just a super cute behaviour, it's part of their listening process.
Dogs ears can get in the way of sound entering the ear canal, so they change their head position to better take in the sound. This will also help them to better locate the sound they are hearing and find out where it is coming from.
Additionally, the muscles in the mid ear are controlled by the same part of the brain that controls head movements, so as the dogs are working hard to concentrate on the sound and locate it, their head moves too. Some studies have also found links between head tilting and dog concentration levels, with dogs tilting their head when they're paying particular attention to something.
So, although it’s super cute, there’s actually a very interesting reason they do it, it’s all part of the process of understanding the sound they’re hearing and concentrating on finding out more.
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