Tilted Head: Your Dog Is Confused
Dogs that stare during training, especially with that cute tilted head, are probably a bit confused. Your dog is trying to figure out what you want—much like you’re trying to figure out what she wants! It would be so much easier if we all spoke the same language.
If you catch your dog staring at you when you ask her to do something, it’s time to backtrack your training a bit and find a way to communicate more clearly. So if you ask your dog to sit and she just stares at you, go back to the drawing board and re-train the behavior. Your dog isn’t being willfully disobedient. She’s just confused!
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Soft Eyes: Your Dog Loves You
On the exact opposite end of the spectrum, your dog might be looking into your eyes because she loves you. An article in Science from 2015 found that dogs and humans both release oxytocin when they look into each other’s eyes.
This soft gaze can easily be mistaken for a hard stare for new owners, so context is important. This sign that your dog loves you will probably be accompanied with a soft or sweeping tail wag, a light pant, relaxed ears, and normal-sized pupils.
Many dogs are more prone to loving gazes early in the morning when serotonin levels are highest. Your dog is unlikely to look lovingly into your eyes when she’s playing, eating, or training—so assume that she’s got a different motivation if that’s what’s going on.
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Another study compared dogs and human toddlers to see what they would do when presented with an unsolvable task, looking for the audience effect.2 The canine subjects would habitually look to their human handlers when they recognized the insolvability of a task to see if the human would indicate a clue or maybe just to see if they were watching. Your dog could be staring into your eyes to assure that you are tuned into her. She can reaffirm her link to you and it provides social stability to her.
Perhaps your dog not only has something to say to you, but feels that he is also gaining information from you by looking. Dogs are naturally attuned to non-verbal communication. Maybe she is using your expression to help her decide how she should react to something as well as sharing with you how she feels about it. Her gaze is telling you something while her eyes are also reading your cues.
Sometimes you glance up and your dog is staring intently into your eyes. It is as if your dog has something to say to you. Studies indicate that canine species communicate with each other by gazing. Dogs specifically seemed to have evolved to look at humans’ faces even more than socialized wolf counterparts.1
Why Is Your Dog Looking At You?
If your dog stares at you all the time, sometimes for what seems like hours, often without blinking, you might wonder if they are looking at you with love and affection, or whether they are just trying to get your attention to communicate that they want something. Some owners might find it cute, while others find it a little creepy, but the looks your dog gives you definitely have meaning.