# Why do some dogs tilt their heads looking at you while waiting for a response or command? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 14, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993 "2012-12-14T03:05:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/1 "2012-12-14T03:05:01Z")
See subject. Is it learned? For comparison, somewhere I read that dogs learn to pay more attention to the left side of your face–something to do with we’re more expressive there. I also say “some” because stupid dogs (and some dog breeds as a whole)–those to whom human interaction is a catch-as-catch-can thing–simply don’t do it, in my experience. Do chimps, or any other animal (parrots I think always cock their heads this way and that) do it? I seem to recall chimps puzzling things out and tilting their heads, or maybe that’s just a memory of the first climax of intelligence in _2001_. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/2 "2012-12-14T03:45:52Z")
It might be because they need to watch, but staring is threat in doggie body language, and they don’t want appear to be threatening the alpha-dog. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/3 "2012-12-14T05:09:03Z")
Maybe for the same reasons that we cock our heads when trying to figure something out. Whatever those are. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/4 "2012-12-14T05:40:53Z")
They have seen the RCA logo. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/5 "2012-12-14T05:45:18Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Maybe for the same reasons that we cock our heads when trying to figure something out. > > Whatever those are. I understand that we look down when we’re thinking and up when we’re remembering. For whatever reason. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/6 "2012-12-14T05:55:26Z")
It;s called non verbal communication; Huskies, Malamutes and other breeds have even developed facial markings to make it easier for us to interpret them. I KNOW! Whoa. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/7 "2012-12-14T14:04:50Z")
It’s because they know it’s so damn cute that we will give them anything they want in response to it. [Obligatory link as evidence.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uuqXXT7VYo) ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/8 "2012-12-14T16:28:34Z")
The explanation I’ve heard is that dogs do it to hear better. [Here](http://jackinabox.hubpages.com/hub/Why-do-dogs-tilt-their-heads) is a page with some theories. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/9 "2012-12-14T17:13:07Z")
> [@arnesw](#): > > The explanation I’ve heard is that dogs do it to hear better. > > [Here](http://jackinabox.hubpages.com/hub/Why-do-dogs-tilt-their-heads) is a page with some theories. This seems possible. Dogs have good and very directional hearing. By cocking their head, they can look at you with both eyes, and put your mouth in the sweet spot of one of their ears. IME dogs that cock their heads have either stand-up ears, or ears where the tips flop, but still leave a clear “horn” to the side/front. (like, say, a Labradore Retriever) I can’t recall ever seeing a droopy eared dog (like a Basset Hound) cock their head at me. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/10 "2012-12-14T17:24:29Z")
> [@arnesw](#): > > The explanation I’ve heard is that dogs do it to hear better. > > [Here](http://jackinabox.hubpages.com/hub/Why-do-dogs-tilt-their-heads) is a page with some theories. I don’t remember if she used head-tilting as an example, but Alexandra Horowitz, cognitive scientist and author of [Inside of a Dog](http://insideofadog.com/), has written that, although dogs have better hearing than we do, and can hear higher frequencies, they are NOT as good as humans are at determining the _direction_ from which sound is coming. This seems counter-intuitive, especially when they swivel those big ears around, but maybe they _need_ to swivel the ears around to search out the source of some sound they are hearing. Again, not sure how that applies to head-tilting _per se_, which usually seems to be directed at something right in front of the dog. That said, the head tilt is just as cute [when a pit bull does it](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp1Nk72mkbE). (Skip ahead to 0:33 for a frenzy of head-tilting). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/11 "2012-12-14T17:42:05Z")
> [@arnesw](#): > > The explanation I’ve heard is that dogs do it to hear better. > > [Here](http://jackinabox.hubpages.com/hub/Why-do-dogs-tilt-their-heads) is a page with some theories. I think that’s it. They’ll use their sense of sight, smell, and hearing together to ‘listen’. Or it’s just a way for them to say “Well? I’m waiting.” ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/12 "2012-12-14T17:50:28Z")
Right, I find my basenjis assume this pose when they’re trying to figure out a novel sound - what it is, and, especially, where it’s coming from. They’re triangulating, [like an owl.](http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/How_Owls_Hunt.html) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/13 "2012-12-14T17:51:45Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > It might be because they need to watch, but staring is threat in doggie body language, and they don’t want appear to be threatening the alpha-dog. My labrador always stares at me when she wants something. Uh-oh. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/14 "2012-12-14T18:21:57Z")
I grew up with dachshunds and they did this all the time. It was even mentioned in books as a typical trait for the dachs. It seemed to me as if they were saying “I hear you. What are you trying to say?” Other breeds don’t seem to do it at all, and they have the same ‘flappy’ ears. My sisters’ [Kooiker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kooikerhondje) for instance. Never noticed it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/15 "2012-12-14T19:07:46Z")
All my beagles have done it, floppy ears and all… ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/16 "2012-12-14T19:48:39Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > Right, I find my basenjis assume this pose when they’re trying to figure out a novel sound - what it is, and, especially, where it’s coming from. They’re triangulating, [like an owl.](http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/How_Owls_Hunt.html) My money’s on triangulation, too. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/17 "2012-12-14T23:32:04Z")
My Jackabee does this. I’ve always just chalked it up to body language. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/18 "2012-12-14T23:52:58Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > It’s because they know it’s so damn cute that we will give them anything they want in response to it. > > [Obligatory link as evidence.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uuqXXT7VYo) I was just going to suggest the “willful cuteness” theory. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/19 "2012-12-15T02:42:46Z")
They believe that if they tilt their head **JUST** right, they will be able to understand you. Bob ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993/20 "2012-12-15T16:34:22Z")
Maybe it’s to be cute, but as an evolved instinct around humans, rather than a learned method. Do dogs in the wild do this? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-dogs-tilt-their-heads-looking-at-you-while-waiting-for-a-response-or-command/643993.md?page=2)