Almost every dog does the head tilt, but what exactly does it mean? Confusion? Curiosity? Or is it just them being cute and hoping for a tasty treat? Does your dog tilt his/her head? There is a reason for it! Who knew? Well, here’s what may be going on. This article from Life with Dogs is great and explains why your dog tilts his/her head.
According to Mental Floss: “Dogs are trying to tell us that they care.” Apparently, when a dog tilts its head, it’s a symbol that they are showing us empathy and that they are engaged. It’s not surprising, really, as we all know how in tune with our emotions dogs can be.
Dogs really do seem to have an innate ability to pick up on how we feel. Think of how many times you were maybe sad, and your dog came over to you and cuddled. There are all sorts of stories of dogs defending their humans, presumably picking up on our assessment of the danger we happen to be in at the time.
There is a second school of thought on the subject. Some people believe that some dogs do it to hear us better. Think about the size of your dog’s ear. Some have the ability to use their ears for directional hearing, but some of the more floppy ears may need a bit of uncovering for better hearing.
All of these things taken in to consideration, and the additional fact that yes, dogs do know they’re cute. They seemingly have the ability to pick up on things they do, and how funny or cute we think they are. Then, they will sometimes use these adorable little behaviors, in an effort to get more treats.
This was very interesting to me and now I notice that my dog does this very often. I now think to myself what is she trying to tell me? Does she really care what I am telling her? Who knows? I hope you enjoy this article.