Dogs smiling?

P

poiuytrewq

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 April 2008
Messages
21,566
Location
Cotswolds
Visit site
Just seen a video in Fb of a dog smiling when his owner says "say cheese"
A lot of the comments think this dog is showing aggression.
Both my Labradors smile often! Neither are aggressive. The youngest has always smiled. He does it if you call him to play or if he's been naughty but realises he's not in trouble!! If we get him excited he smiles.
The older one (only 3 yr old) has more recently started doing it weirdly!
He smiles in situations he's a little bit uncomfortable or worried about, ie. He has to have his ears cleaned and hates it. When I let him go he races round celebrating his escape and if I call him back creeps over smiling!
He also smiles if people he doesn't know encourage him over. He will go all squinty and smile.
So in my two it seems to mean different things? Excited happiness in one and kind of reluctant "not sure I want to but will if you ask" in the other.
Old lab did it too. Again when he was happy.
So what does it mean? Why do they do it? Do all dogs do it or is it a lab trait!
It's highly amusing whatever it is! Made funnier by the fact our younger is jet black and seems to have massive very very white Hollywood style teeth 😂
 
It's very common in Lancashire Heelers, ours does it all the time . I was at the Midland Gamefair last weekend on the vulnerable breeds stand and quite a few people were a bit wary when he smiled at them ! 😄
 
One my whippets does it when you get in from work. She will jump up and 'smile' at you, and run around smiling with all her little teeth showing. Definitely no aggression as she is super excited to see you and wants her tea/walk! Our other whippet has never done it so I don't know what makes a dog do it.

If I saw an unknown dog with its teeth bared I would assume aggression but they must use it to communicate other things too!
 
Last edited:
I think some dogs do it as a submissive gesture, others because they've learnt they get a great reaction from us humans when they do it. A dog smiling is completely different to a dog showing it's teeth through aggression. However, a study showed that children under 5, when shown photos of aggressive dogs baring their teeth, all thought, rather alarmingly, they were smiling and happy dogs.

A smiley, happy dog is adorable, pretty funny and quirky and I've noticed that a lot of Labs do it.
 
Some dogs do it, some don't. It seems to be a "hail friend, well met" type of greeting amongst equals. Not subjection and not aggression. I could induce some my dogs to do this by talking to them in a mock aggressive way, if you understand me. The sort of greeting, with tickling and mild teasing, that an adult might do to a small child which then produces giggles and laughing! Dogs giggling? Probably the best explanation I can come up with! There are lots of things in dog body language that don't translate well into human language. Definitely not aggression.

It is rather interesting how economical Nature is with body language. Hysterical laughter is not so different to expressions of profound grief. Sometimes the two emotions are indistinguishable out of context.
 
Last edited:
I worked for a lady that bred jack Russell terriers and all of hers used to grin at you when they saw you, it's a very weird sight getting out of your car and seeing 9 little faces all grinning at you, if the tails were not wagging you would think it was snarling but none of them ever showed aggression to anybody.
 
Mine only does it in submission when she's potentially in trouble.

I one who did it all the time; probably he was mostly planning his next nefarious plan so was pre-emptively submissive :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top