Can dogs smile?

Many dog owners have no doubt that their pets can smile. Of course, because you can tell right away that your pet is happy! It’s hard to argue with that. However, the expression on the face that seems happy to us does not always indicate that the animal is in a good mood. Can dogs smile and what does this “smile” mean?

The spectrum of dog emotions

In fact, the theory that a dog is an emotional animal was confirmed by scientists not so long ago – at the beginning of the last century. Research has shown that a pet, like a person, can be sad, happy, nervous, feel guilty and ashamed. Moreover, dogs are able to express all these feelings with the help of facial expressions, which means that they can smile. However, owners still do not always correctly recognize such signals.

Types of dog smiles:

1. A relaxed posture, raised corners of the lips, closed eyes – all this indicates that the dog is enjoying the moment. A pet can smile when it is happy: whether it is riding in a car or enjoying something tasty. It is not so difficult to notice a true smile.
2. A dog also smiles if the owner has trained it to do so through positive reinforcement – the same praise, affection and laughter. Then the animal does this to please the person.
3. When a pet is hot, it opens its mouth wide, sticks out its tongue, and may close its eyes – do not mistake this for a smile, even if there is a resemblance. As a rule, in such cases, facial expressions are accompanied by heavy breathing.
4. Often a hostile grin can be mistaken for a smile. In this case, the dog will hold itself in a tense position and growl.

Dog and Human: Emotional Bond

Dogs are social creatures, they have lived in close contact with humans for thousands of years. And during this time, animals have learned to understand us perfectly.

In 2016, a group of Brazilian and British scientists proved that dogs are excellent at recognizing human emotions, even unfamiliar ones. They can also determine whether the external manifestation of emotions matches the person’s speech and mood.

It is curious that dogs are able to copy the behavior of their owners. They are sensitive to moods and are able to share people’s emotions. However, this has long been known to owners of four-legged friends: when the owner is happy, the dog is also happy, and in moments of sadness, the pet is most often melancholic and calm.

An interesting experiment was conducted by Austrian scientists together with their colleagues from Great Britain. It involved 10 dogs, including seven border collies , an Australian shepherd and two mongrels. The animals were taught to open a door using their paw and head. First, independently, and then they were shown how their owners did the same exercise, standing on all fours.

Then the dogs were divided into two groups: some were given a treat for opening the door in the same way as their owners, and others, on the contrary, for their movements being different. It turned out that the dogs were much more willing to copy their owners’ movements! Even if they were deprived of a treat for this.

The experiment showed that animals have a tendency to so-called automatic imitation – copying the actions of their owner. And this is used not only in everyday trifles and habits, but also in education and training. Therefore, the well-known phrase that all dogs are like their owners is not without meaning. And, apparently, the matter here is not only in the similarity of temperaments and characters, but also in the imitation of pets of the leaders of the “pack”.