You’ve probably noticed your dog tilting their head to the side while looking at you. Not all dogs do this, but the majority do. If you have ever wondered why your dog is tilting their head to the side, then keep reading.

• So they can hear better

It is one of the top reason why the dogs always show the behavior of head tilting because they are trying to hear sounds you are making more clearly. When your dog’s head is tilted, one ear will become more exposed to hearing sounds. This is due to the ear being up and forward in position. Thus, sounds the dog was hearing before as static or fuzzy, will now become clearer to him or her.

Dogs have their language and don’t necessary understand a lot of our language. When you speak to your dog, your dog may pick up a word here and there. But for the most part what your dog understands is much like what you would pick up listening to someone speak a foreign language which you are not used to it. Dogs, just like humans are good at pickup up on other signals such as the tone of voice which is used in speech and body language.

• Reaction to slightest noise

Anything that is interesting to the dog would make the dog tilt his head and perk its ears. This behavior can be due to to the positioning of the ears. Some other breeds do have pendulous ears that obstruct the sound. The sound waves are muted by thick ears that are heavily hidden with hair. The ears can make the dog to tilt the head so that sound waves can pass through and get to the eardrums.

• Dogs tilt their heads so they can get a treat

Dogs are smart. When they tilt their head, you are likely to respond by saying how cute they look. Dogs learn by experience. So in the past, if they tilted their heads a few times and got a cookie, they may have learned by repetition to tilt their head so they can look cute and get a treat.

• So they can get attention

When a dog is acting cute, it’s obvious for you to see and want to pet them and show them how cute they are. Your dog probably tilted their head to the side a few times so they could hear you better and then the dog enjoyed how you reacted so they learned tilting their head to the side is a good way to get good attention from you. This is a learned behavior.

• Dogs tilt their heads if it hears a word which takes his or her interest

Whenever your dog hears a word which takes his or her interest, they are likely to tilt their head to the side in the direction from where the sound is coming from. Sometimes the dog won’t do this, though, and that just means your dog can already hear well enough and doesn’t need to cock his or her head.

• If the dog is infested with ear mites

The ear mites are popular in cats but sometimes dogs can get them too. The tilting of the head can mean a serious indication. It might mean that the ear is affected. The problem appears in dogs big floppy ears. The reason is that the inside of the ear is usually hot and moist hence it becomes a good place for bacteria to flourish.

Conclusion

Your dogs also breed plays into whether or not your dog will cock their head to the side. If your dog has erect ears, then they will be less likely to tilt. Again, if your dog has floppy ears, they will be more likely to tilt.