Why do dogs tilt their heads?

Head tilting is still not fully understood, but several explanations are supported. Tilting changes the position of the ears, which may help a dog pinpoint where a sound is coming from. Some researchers suggest dogs with long muzzles tilt to see our mouths and facial expressions more clearly. A 2022 study in Animal Cognition found that “gifted” dogs who knew the names of many toys tilted their heads much more often when hearing a toy’s name, suggesting tilting may be linked to processing meaningful words. Each dog also tends to favour one side.