If you have a pure bred Staffie or whippet, may I ask a question?

[TheFantasticMrsFox]

A rather pointless question it has to be said, but one that has been intriguing us. Does your dog cock it's head when it sees something that interests it?!

DPup was a "Staffie x" though looked almost pure. Now she's about 6 months there is definite signs of whippet as well- too slight, very close coat, tippy toes, very pronounced tuck-up and she is fast :o

One overriding characteristic is the head tilt. It's a quizzical, questioning sort of action and is a very common habit for her. I know of several border terriers who do this but haven't got enough experience of Staffies or whippets to know if it's one of their "things" too :)

I think most dogs do it

Really triptrap?
Neither of my boys do it (working cockers) and I can't say I remember any of my other dogs doing it either (springers, cockers, Rottweilers, greyhounds, lurchers)

my full staffie does it, not my staffie x.

my old collie/alsation x used to do it

My boxers do it when you ask 'whats that?' or 'who is it?'

My previous GSD did it.

Portuguese Water Dogs do it, so do Westies.

My staff cross does it when you say sausages it is one of the few words she responds too.

Yes my staffie does this, but so, too, did my mums late springer spaniel.

It seems like it's just a quirk then.
It's a very endearing gesture and one that we see a lot over the course of a day- wonder how come I've never had a head tilter before?!

My friends staffys do it. My Beagle done it and all our breeding cockers (when I was a kid) done it too.

My parrot does it aswell LOL

My full Stafford does it. Normally in a 'you complete moron' look. She is 14 weeks Saturday!

My staffie x does it if you squeak her ball.

My Toller does the same thing - it's very cute

I've got one mongrel (best guess whippet x terrier x collie) and three pedigree whippets. They all do the head tilt, as did dear old DDog1 (another mongrel) who I lost last year.

It is more comically exaggerated when the whippets do it but I think that's just because of their neck/head shape and their comical ears

I think they do it when they can't understand a sound or word
Try getting them to wait and say something random like bananas. I bet they do it then.....

My mum's Lab does this, her head looks like its going to go all the way around sometimes!

All of our dogs (lurcher, mongrel and 2 tibetan terriers) have done this, i thought it was just a dog thing

I tried "bananas" owl but no response. Clearly I have boys with no sense of what is normal canine behaviour :o

It's a dog thing, not a breed thing

Our dog does it most comically when dh talks to him on Skype - get one of your children to skype your spaniels and then see what they do