Why do dogs tilt
their heads when
we talk to them?
or just loves them
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The full narration of the video.
Someone asked over five hundred dog owners. More than six in ten said: when they talk to their dog, it often tilts its head. So what is that tilt actually doing? A team of scientists in Budapest, Hungary was studying something else: can dogs remember the names of their toys?
They looked at forty dogs. Most trained for three months and still couldn't learn which toy was which. Only seven dogs learned really fast. One of them remembered the names of fifty-four toys. Going through the videos, the scientists noticed something odd. Whenever the owner said a toy's name, these seven dogs would often tilt their heads.
Forty-three times out of a hundred. The other dogs? Just two times out of a hundred. The dogs that understood tilted far more. So what are they doing when they tilt? Scientists have a few guesses. One guess: to hear better. Tilt the head, and one ear goes up, the other down. The sound reaches each ear at a slightly different moment, making it easier to tell where it's coming from.
Another guess: to see your face. A dog's long snout sits right in front of its eyes, blocking the view of your mouth. A little tilt, and it can see whether you're smiling or frowning. In that survey, dogs with long snouts really did tilt more often than flat-faced dogs. The Budapest scientists have one more guess. The dog hears a familiar word and is searching its mind for the thing that goes with it. Just like when you're trying to remember something, and your head tips to one side without you noticing.
And each dog has its own favorite side, one that didn't change in two years. Which guess is right? Honestly, no one knows for sure, and it's probably a bit of each. But one thing is getting clearer: dogs tilt most when they hear a sound that means something to them.
Next time, try this: first say a strange word it's never heard. Then say the name of its favorite toy. Watch which one makes it tilt. Which word gets the biggest head tilt from your dog? Tell me in the comments.
Over 500 owners,
most have seen it
You start talking, and your dog tips its head, as if it’s really thinking about what you said.
It’s not just your dog. Canadian psychologist Stanley Coren surveyed 582 dog owners online, and 62 percent said their dog often tilts its head when they talk to it.
A room full of toys,
and forty dogs
A team of dog scientists in Budapest, Hungary, was studying something else entirely: can dogs remember what each of their toys is called?
They looked at forty dogs. Most trained for three months and still couldn’t tell which toy was which. Only seven learned fast, and one Border Collie named Whisky remembered the names of 54 toys.
Something odd on tape:
43 versus 2
Going through the videos, the scientists noticed that whenever an owner said a toy’s name, those seven dogs would often tilt their heads.
Out of a hundred times,
they tilted 43.
The other dogs, just 2.
The scientists add a caution: this doesn’t mean typical dogs never tilt. They just tilted far less while being asked to fetch a toy by name.
Tilt the head,
and one ear goes higher
One guess: to hear better. With the head tilted, one ear sits higher than the other, so the same sound reaches each ear at a slightly different moment. That makes it easier to tell where the sound is coming from.
A long snout
blocks your mouth
Another guess comes from Coren: a dog’s snout sticks out right in front of its eyes, hiding the lower half of your face. And your mouth is where a smile or a frown shows most. A little tilt lets the dog see around it.
In his survey, about 71 percent of long-snouted dogs often tilted, versus about 53 percent of flat-faced dogs. A real gap, but more than half of the flat-faced dogs tilt too, so this can’t be the whole story.
Looking for the ball
in its mind
The Budapest scientists have one more guess: the dog hears a familiar word and is searching its memory for the thing that goes with it.
Just like your own head drifts to one side when you’re trying to remember something.
One more detail: each dog has its own favorite side, and it didn’t change over two years.
So which guess is right?
Honestly, no one knows yet.
It’s probably a bit of each.
But one thing is getting clearer: dogs tilt most when they hear a sound that means something to them — their name, their toy, “walk.”
Then say the name
of its favorite toy.
Quick check
In the Budapest study, when did dogs tilt their heads most?
Dogs that knew the toy names tilted in 43 out of 100 requests: a word that means something to them is what sets off the tilt.
