An exploratory analysis of head-tilting in dogs

Abstract

Little is known about head-tilts in dogs. Based on previous investigations on the head turning and the lateralised brain pattern of human speech processing in dogs, we hypothesised that head-tilts may be related to increased attention and could be explained by lateralised mental functions. We observed 40 dogs during object-label knowledge tests and analysed head-tilts occurring while listening to humans requesting verbally to fetch a familiar toy. Our results indicate that only dogs that had learned the name of the objects tilted their heads frequently. Besides, the side of the tilt was stable across several months and tests. Thus, we suggest a relationship between head-tilting and processing relevant, meaningful stimuli.

Recognition of rotated objects and cognitive offloading in dogs

“…5°) and in general, they occurred at a low rate. Taken together, these elements let us speculate that the behaviors observed in this study in response to visual (rotated) stimuli and the head tilts observed by Sommese et al. (2021) in response to auditory stimuli might subtend different mechanisms and serve different functions.…”

“…The amplitude and occurrence of head tilts in this setting were very low. Unlike previous studies ( Risko et al., 2014 ; Sommese et al., 2021 ), we did not code head tilts dichotomously as present/absent but rather we measured how inclined dogs’ heads were before and after the stimulus onset. Indeed, we were interested in any head rotation around the z axis, even very small ones, because those might already facilitate the recognition of rotated objects.…”

“…The second aim of the study was to examine the use of cognitive offloading with rotated stimuli. Only recently, Sommese et al. (2021) found a relationship between head tilting and the processing of auditory stimuli, but only if those had been relevant and meaningful.…”

Who’s Getting a Head Start? Mesocephalic Dogs in Still Images Are Attributed More Positively Valenced Emotions Than Dogs of Other Cephalic Index Groups

“…It is important to note that the source of the images used in this study was a U.K. rescue shelter using images to raise the profile of dogs that needed rehoming; thus, it is likely that facial expressions perceived negative emotional states were avoided. Recent research [ 68 ] has highlighted that head-tilting in dogs may be linked to the processing of information important to the dog–human relationship. It is thus possible that humans may attribute emotions differently to dogs exhibiting this visual signal, which was marked in one MC image in this study, and thus may have influenced more positive EA for the MC group overall.…”

What does that head-tilt mean? Brain Lateralization and Sex Differences in the Processing of Familiar Human Speech by Domestic Dogs

“…While the head turn behavior is an asymmetrical movement already associated with lateralized brain function 8,9 , the head-tilt -a type of head turnbehavior is another asymmetrical behavior that has received relatively less empirical attention. To the best of our knowledge, only one study has provided a description of the head-tilt behavior in dogs and linked it to speech processing 10 . However, that study examined the head-tilt behavior in a limited context, rather than using naturalistic speech, limiting its generalizability.…”