Why Do Some Dogs Turn Their Heads When People Talk?

If you are the one who talks to your dog, you will immediately identify that there are times in the “conversation” when your dog starts to move his head with a lovely gesture of confusion. The gesture is very sweet and has several explanations. We share a little about the because some dogs turn their heads when you talk to them.

Although, in most cases, this behavior is due to a response to our voice or another kind of stimuli, it can be an indicator of illness, but don’t be alarmed yet. Let’s see first what is the relationship between this movement and the stimuli that your voice produces in it.

Answer your voice

Generally speaking, it is not a scientific reality, most experts in animal behavior agree in stating that dogs turn their heads when you talk to them to bring one ear closer to you, and be able to listen more carefully.

This is because a dog’s hearing depends, in large part, on the amount of air entering the ear canal. . Therefore, dogs with extended ear canals generally have this sense much more developed than their friends with narrower canals.

Likewise, it could be due to the dog be trying to recognize the words you speak . Dogs do not understand the specific meaning of a word, but they can relate some to a specific action (for example, the order “no” or the order “sit”).

Therefore, the animal can be aware to follow one of its instructions.

Pay attention to unknown sounds

• In addition to paying attention to what you are talking about, the sensitive ear of dogs allows you to be aware of a wide variety of sounds that are around them.
• Many times , by tilting their head in this way, they can better understand the source of a sound.
• The dogs are extremely curious, this is one of the main samples of intelligence , so they will try to identify any class of changes that are produced around them.

as conditioning

There is an important group of experts in canine behavior who are inclined to think that, on many occasions, this corresponds to a conditioning created by us . If when the dog, for some reason, turns his head and receives extra attention or food, he you will end up assimilating this attitude with a reward.

This type of conditioning is achieved through the re. positive force , which is one of the most used methods by coaches and also one of the most effective.

to see you better

• A different strand says that this curious behavior is not linked to the ear, nor much less to conditioning, but that it is due to a problem with vision.
• Due to the way in which the muzzle is positioned in dogs, these animals must look up to pay attention to the owners, a good part of the face of their “interlocutor” due to the position of the muzzle generates a blind spot.
• However, dogs turn their heads with in order to avoid this blind spot and have a better view of the owner’s face.
• A good way to explain how this phenomenon works is placing a closed fist over our nose and then observing an object located at a high point . You will see how the vision is limited. Now, turn your head to one side and you will have a clearer image of the object.

Ear problems

This is a behavior that many dogs have in some cases it is a sign of illness , especially when they are accompanied by the following symptoms:

• The dog gets angry and keeps moving his head;
• Has irritation in the inner part of the ear;
• Shows an excessive accumulation of wax ;
• Ears bleed, have bumps or another class of anomalies;
• Walk in circles, have disorientation ;
• Have pain in the ears or head;
• Doesn’t obey when you call him, loss of hearing ability ;

If your dog has these symptoms, it is best to take him to the veterinarian so that he can rule out the possibility of illness or treat diseases if necessary such as otitis , inflammation or any congenital problem that the animal has.