Most likely, you are familiar with one of the most touching dog gestures: when the dog, having heard the owner’s voice, and sometimes just an extraneous sound, tilts its head to one side. So, zoopsychologists undertook to solve the question: what does this inviting, but still unsolved gesture of a pet mean? We bring to your attention several hypotheses that seek to bring us closer to understanding the inner world of man’s best friend.
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An expression of sympathy?
The gesture that interests us is inherent not only in dogs, but also in people. There is no point in proving this, it is enough to recall situations when a person tries to express sympathy for his interlocutor – often in such cases he tilts his head to one side. In other words, this gesture is one of the many and often elusive components of non-verbal communication. Some psychologists suggest that such movements are universal in their own way. But the meaning of this gesture in dogs cannot be identical to that in humans – after all, we will not argue that pets reflexively express sympathy with certain sounds, and not necessarily coming from a person.
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Hearing setting
A more plausible, but just as proven, hypothesis is that the animal tilts its head to one side when it listens carefully to the sounds that occupy it. The dog, scientists explain, reflexively places its ears asymmetrically, which allows it to receive more accurate information about the source of the sound. Listening in this way, the pet is also able to recognize the intonations with which the owner addresses her.
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Expression of interest
According to the following hypothesis, the asymmetrical arrangement of body parts, whether it be ears, eyes (for example, if one of them is slightly covered) or paws, indicates that the dog is not indifferent to what is happening. It turns out that the dog, by tilting his head, signals his interest and readiness to act.
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Anatomy features
There is also an opinion that the elongated muzzle in dogs affects the features of their vision. Therefore, when an animal needs to consider something in detail, it tilts its head to the side.
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Manipulative Pets
The last hypothesis sounds like this: it is not known what motives the dog is guided by when he performs the same gesture, but the reaction of a person to it is known. The owners, looking at the touching pose of the animal, rush to stroke it, praise it and treat it with something tasty. The pet, in turn, learns the chain of events “head tilt – encouragement” and uses it in the future to its advantage.
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