Q. When my dog first greets someone, she shows all of her teeth and “smiles.” Some visitors mistake this for aggressive behavior, but she’s just very excited and happy. What is she doing and how can I explain it to people who visit?
A. It sounds like your dog is displaying an appeasement gesture, called a submissive grin, to show you and others that she’s no threat. Submissive grins are a way for a dog to show deference to another individual. Usually submissive grins are associated with increased movement and a body posture that is lower than the dog’s normal stance. There are other signals your dog likely uses, along with her submissive grin, to show deference, such as lowering her tail, lifting a paw, licking you, licking her lips and looking away or squinting her eyes.
The submissive grin is a tactic dogs use to shut off aggression from another individual, either human or canine. This behavior is commonly seen in greeting situations where the dog is actively soliciting attention in a nonthreatening manner. Often the submissive grin invites interaction from others, but it’s also possible that your dog is trying to increase distance between herself and others if she feels threatened. It’s likely that your dog has continued “smiling” at you and your family because it’s gotten her a lot of attention in the past. You can actually turn your dog’s smiling into a trick by clicking and treating her every time she does it and adding a word to it, such as “say cheese,” just as she starts to smile, which will encourage more of her smiling if this is a behavior you enjoy seeing. It would be helpful to explain to visitors before they meet your beloved canine that she smiles as part of her greeting sequence but is nonthreatening. You can even channel her greeting behavior into another outlet, like a game of ball or a quick series of tricks she’s asked to do, such as sit and down, as a way to redirect her energy away from greeting mode, where she’s likely to smile, and into a different mode, like play or food acquisition. If you doubt that your dog is smiling as a greeting behavior to show appeasement, or if there is any possibility that there may be aggression involved in her behavior, contact your veterinarian, who may refer you to a veterinary behaviorist or a certified professional dog trainer.
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How to Respond
If your dog is baring his teeth at you or someone else, take a look at his other body language.If you are uncertain of the cause or it appears that the teeth are bared in an aggressive manner, you should carefully remove yourself and/or your dog from the situation. Then seek the help of a dog professionals which may include a combination of a dog trainer, behaviorist, and veterinarian to rule out a pain related/medical issue. Its important you act quickly before your dog bites someone.
If you are unsure whether your dog is exhibiting a submissive smile or becoming aggressive when he bares his teeth, your best bet is to call in the help of a professional dog trainer or behaviorist. These experts are specially trained to detect the most subtle clues in your dogs body language and behavior. Its always a good idea to put safety first.
If you feel absolutely certain that your dog is simply smiling and his body language otherwise appears submissive, you probably dont need to be alarmed. However, it is important that you keep watching your dog determine if he becomes uncomfortable or nervous in his current situation. You should also keep observing to make sure you are not misreading the signs.
For example, a dog with an open mouth that looks happy, could in fact be hot and uncomfortable or stressed, neither of which would be considered “happy” by a human.
Compare the dog with the submissive grin, graciously provided by Tao Of The Paw, with the snarling dog in the second picture. Since both of these smiles look very similar, is important to look at the rest of the dog before decided how to react. Otherwise, you may get bit by a dog that was giving you clear signals to stay away.
Possibly the most common “grin” from a dog, is the submissive grin, so named because dogs do it when trying to “appease” another dog or person. In this pose, the dog lifts his upper lip up to reveal his front teeth with a closed mouth. Puppies will do this to older dogs, and dogs will do it to us when they are uncomfortable about something or if the person or other dog is showing aggression towards them. This video shows a great grin. And remember, just like people, not all dogs use the exact same expressions. Each individual dog will have their own idiosyncrasies.
“I think there is some happiness since the body language of the dog who is smiling often contains some of the loose, wiggly signals we would see in a happy dog. However, I don’t know that happiness is the only emotion,” says Bennettt.
“[My] only caution is that without seeing the whole dog, sometimes the smiles can be misinterpreted. It’s good to take the facial expression together in context with the rest of the dog’s body language to be sure it’s a smile and not an aggressive display,” cautions Robin Bennett, CPDT-KA.
I Taught My Dog to Smile When He Sees a Camera
Do dogs smile? There are countless articles and explainers online that talk about the meaning of a dog’s smile. But what does it actually mean when a dog “smiles”?
As humans, we have figured out the difference between two dots and a bracket, and two dots and a big mouth – and :D. We understand the minutiae and nuance in something so basic! So why can’t we try and understand a smiling dog?
Researchers and dog behaviorists have spent many years researching the different signals that a dog gives out to its parents when it communicates. Language is a communication barrier, yet dogs are able to share an emotional bond with us despite that. It goes to show that linguistics are not the be-all-and-end-all as a mode of communication.
Smiling is a way to communicate joy, pleasure, approval, acknowledgement, greeting, approachability, and so much more. A single smile can start a strong emotional bond. A dog smiling is also a way to communicate, but it means different things than the stuff humans do to form bonds. Talking to a dog is an art, and you can learn how to identify these queues so you can actually begin to have productive “conversations” with your beloved fur baby!
When a dog wants to relieve itself, it signals it to you by becoming restless, standing near the door, or barking at you while you’re engrossed in your television show. When you see a dog smiling, it could be a way to communicate with you, other humans or another dog, and there are different meanings to different “smiles”.
In this article, we discuss the famous doggy smile. It might end up looking like this:
Basically, dogs are full of surprises, but the doggy smile doesn’t always mean what we think or want it to mean. We’ve provided a quick and educational guide to understand a smiling dog and the different types of smiles. (You’re welcome!)