What does it mean when your dog smiles?
Be it cheesy, goofy or just plain precious, we all love our dogs’ smiles. But does the relaxed mouth with slightly upturned corners, lolling tongue and soft, squinty eyes that we call a dog smile mean the same thing to our furry friends as it does to us?
Since dogs are all about body language, a true doggie smile is actually more likely to look like bouncy behavior with a relaxed, circular tail wag and perky ears.
What we humans consider a smile is in fact used as a sign of submission in wild canids like wolves, and our domestic dogs use it in the same way. The submissive dog relaxes their face in a “smile” to the alpha dog to show a non-challenging deference.
But that’s not the whole story. After all, many dog owners swear that their pooches are truly happy when they smile. How can that be?
Our dogs are smart cookies and they learn very quickly that when they make their submissive “smile” at a human, they get all kinds of wonderful attention—a laugh, a pet, maybe even a treat. Over time, a behavior that starts as submission evolves to become a way for a dog to bond with their owner.
So, in other words, you can say that your dog beams at you to bring a smile to your face. Awwww!
Bring on more sunny smiles with yummy, veterinarian-approved treats. >>
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