Why Labradoodles Cock Their Head to the Side

Most of us have seen the ‘RCA' dog listening to the speaker horn.

Head cocked with rapt attention from his face, the advertisement caught our attention, too.

It is an adorable position.

When we spot a puppy or adult dog looking that way, it generally evokes a pleasant response.

Dogs like attention and making their family happy. They sometimes strike this pose to accomplish those goals.

Practical reasons cause a Labradoodle to tilt the head to the side to allow one ear to go up and forward.

Turning an ear towards an indistinguishable or fuzzy sound brings clarity to the sound.

It is amazing that dogs understand human speech.

Some of it is confusing to them because much of what we say is a blurry fuzz of noise.

Inflection, eye movements and body language help their understanding.

Dogs ignore human conversation unless the dog thinks it is important.

Certain motions or tones cause the ears to perk up and the head to cock to the side until they figure out what is happening.

Your new dog will learn one-word options quickly, such as sit and out.

Dogs hear quite well when sounds come from the sides.

That position allows the prime hearing position and you will seldom see a dog cock his head for those clear sounds.

The sound waves are not traveling directly towards their ears when a person is standing in front of them and speaking.

The dog will cock his head and stare raptly at you. It is more common in pups than older dogs.

Puppies have good hearing but are still getting used to the family and conversation.

They are not sure what is important to hear and what they can disregard.

The pup acknowledges your conversation by looking back at you with his head tilted.

He wants to hear every sound in order to understand you better, and the movement allows all the sound to flow into his ears.

The shape of the ears has an impact on how often the dog cocks his head.

If the ears stand straight up, sound waves go right in.

This efficient pattern is much kinder than furry, heavy floppy ears that encumber sound going towards the eardrums.

Those dogs must work harder to hear to hear sound. A dog's ear resembles a cup on the inside.

Clear space allows sound waves to enter.

If there is something to impede the sound, the dog has to adjust to get better clarity.

The ability to tilt or cock their head is a great benefit for the Labradoodle.

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Article written by:

Edie MacKenzie