WASHINGTON (November 18, 2025) – Have you ever wondered what’s behind the classic dog head tilt? New research led by scientists at the George Washington University suggests that it might be more than just a picture-worthy reaction. The research could reveal how dogs process human speech.
In one of the largest studies of its kind, GW researchers used AI-assisted video analysis of over 100 pet dogs to analyze these head tilts. The researchers found that dogs tilt their heads more often when hearing familiar words from their owners. Interestingly, male dogs showed more frequent head tilts than females, mirroring patterns seen in human brain processing of language.
The findings shed light on how deeply attuned dogs are to human communication, and how much we may share in the way our brains interpret speech.
"Anyone who's interacted with a dog knows how cute they look when they tilt their heads as if in conversation. With this study, we now have a little bit of data that shows dogs' head tilts may indeed be connected to language processing. On an even broader scale, this research gives us a fresh avenue to explore questions about the origins and evolution of complex communication tools like language" said Courtney Sexton, PhD student at the George Washington University and current member of the Primate Genomics Lab.
The paper, “What Does That Head Tilt Mean? Brain Lateralization and Sex Differences in the Processing of Familiar Human Speech by Domestic Dogs” was published in the journal animals.
You can read the full paper here. If you would like to schedule an interview, please contact Claire Sabin at claire [dot] sabin
gwu [dot] edu (claire[dot]sabin[at]gwu[dot]edu).
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