"Hi my name is Missy. I live in Sacramento, California USA. I couldn't help reading your blog about dogs and just had to weigh in. I am a very happy pooch. I have nice parents who give me everything I want even though they don't always completely understand me. I try to communicate with them by looking at them with my big brown eyes, trying to smile and wagging my tail they don't always get it. I try to smile but for some reasons dogs don't smile (problem with facial muscles or something) do you know why? If you do let me know and I will try it out. Hoping to hear from you soon, your faithful canine correspondent here in America. Missy"
Isn't she a nice dog? Well, I really wanted to help her discover if she could smile, and if not, why, but that was kind of hard, because some said dogs could smile and others said they couldn't. So one day, I was searching that and I found a website that seemed to have convincing arguments, and it said that dogs have a body language to express their feelings, and when they're happy, they tend to loosen up a bit, and that includes the mouth area, so if your dog has his mouth's edges a little higher than usual, that may mean that it's having a good time. Other signs that help to identify a dog's happiness are a hanging tongue, a slightly open mouth, a wagging tail and a body rolling around the floor. Sometimes dogs also position their ears upward to show happiness or attention. He knows something, if not fun, exciting will happen. You have to be careful, though, because some signs can be easily mistaken. What does that mean? Well, since the post is mostly about dog's ability to smile, lets start with talking about that great facial expression that permits you to see weather someone is happy or not happy (if you just asked yourself something like "What?" I was talking about the smile): The thing is, there is more than one type of smile, each of them slightly different from the others. Apart from the happy smile, there are the anxious smile and the subordinate (fancy word, huh?) smile. Now I will describe those types of smile:
Anxious Smile: When a dog has a mouth open just a tad, and a smiling expression (the mouth's edges higher than usual), he may seem to be happy, but believe me, he isn't. When a dog has that smile on his face, he may be anxious, nervous or in distress. Other signs of distress include heavy panting with the tongue inside the mouth, whining and teeth chattering. In that case, you should consult the vet, even if your pet doesn't show all the signs (but I recommend waiting for at least two of them to show up: you don't want to waste money on a vet just because your doggy was whining for attention).
Subordinate Smile: According to the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), sometimes, when the dog finds himself in a subordinate situation, that is, if he (or she) finds himself (or herself) threatened by any other animal (that includes humans) which the dog feels is more powerful, stronger or higher in ranking, he may try to show his subordination by baring his teeth in a non-aggressive way (dogs know the difference), that looks like a smile, but the poor thing is actually scared. In that case, look for other signs of subordination, such as pulled back ears, crying and a hanging head. So if you're shouting at your dog and it starts smiling, you should really stop it and pet it a bit, because not even the naughtiest dog deserves that.
Tail-Wagging: As I said before, tail-wagging, such as smiling, is a body sign of dog happiness, but it may not mean what you think: Dogs sometimes wag their tails in a quick, stiff motion if they're anxious, uncertain or apprehensive.
So hey, Missy, you can't smile? Try a little more, I'm sure you'll do it!
Font: http://pets.thenest.com/dogs-actually-smile-11434.html
my dog smiles!!!! its really cute but when he smiles he cant stop smiling cuz he cant move his jaws properly. its really funny.
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cool!!
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