I’m a dog expert – here are signs your dog is smart & pays attention to you

PET experts have revealed the tell-tale signs that your dog is smart and pays attention to you. Researchers at the Institutional Committee of Eötvös Loránd University believe there is a connection between a pooch’s head movement and its ability to understand. According to lead author, Andrea Sommese, a dog‘s head tilt reportedly shows an increase […]

PET experts have revealed the tell-tale signs that your dog is smart and pays attention to you.

Researchers at the Institutional Committee of Eötvös Loránd University believe there is a connection between a pooch’s head movement and its ability to understand.

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Dogs tilt their head when they’re listening to their owners, a new study claims[/caption]

According to lead author, Andrea Sommese, a dog‘s head tilt reportedly shows an increase in attention in what their owner is saying.

During a study Mr Sommerse, and a team of five others, analysed the movement of 40 dogs during object-label knowledge tests as the canine received instructions to fetch a toy.

The team reportedly incorporated six ‘gifted word learners’ (GWL) among the batch of trialists to see whether they would show “more significant head tilts” when responding to their owner’s commands.

According to Sommeese the study found that upon hearing the owners’ request for a familiar toy, the GWL dogs tilted their heads significantly more than typical dogs.

Noting that all dogs had undergone three months of training for the tests he said: “We suggest that the difference in the dogs’ behaviour might be related to hearing meaningful words (for the GWL dogs) and could be a sign of increased attention.

“Possibly, head-tilts could also be related to making a cross-modal match in the dogs’ memory (e.g. name to a visual image) upon hearing the toy’s name.”

The expert believes the head tilt movement can help owners identify their dog’s level of intuition.

He believes it can be utilised when training them as it shows that their dogs is able to understand instructions and retain information.

Mr Sommese added: “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.”

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