Do Dogs Smile?

Source: Ron Lach/Pexels

A woman who owned a Schipperke (a small black and usually tailless dog) asked me, "My dog doesn't have a tail to wag to tell me whether he is happy or not. I have looked at his face a lot and he doesn't seem to ever smile, at least not like people do. I was wondering if I am failing to recognize something that might actually be a doggy smile."

Canine Emotions

It is important to note that the issue here is not whether or not dogs feel emotions. Charles Darwin wrote extensively about the existence of emotions in animals and singled out dogs as examples because they apparently experience many of the same emotions that people do. Nobel Prize winner Konrad Lorenz also analytically observed the broad range of emotions in dogs, and, more recently, Marc Bekoff has written several books discussing the emotional lives of dogs. All of these researchers concluded that dogs have most of the same emotions that humans do, including fear, anger, sadness, and joy. The question is not whether dogs experience emotions, since that seems to be a scientifically accepted fact, but rather how a dog might express an emotion, like happiness. Would this show up as a facial signal, like the smile of a human?

It's Not Easy for a Dog to Smile

The first thing to note is that there is a limitation on the range of facial expressions produced by dogs. This is because dogs have a muzzle which is constructed differently than our mouths.

All vertebrate animals, except humans, have muzzles. Lions, bears, and alligators, all have a projecting mouth that forms their muzzle. Aided by powerful muscles, the muzzle is designed for strength, not flexibility. It is used as a weapon and a tool—as a weapon to attack, or as a tool to grab or seize food and other objects. Strength and flexibility often run counter to each other, as a result, the musculature that provides strength to the muzzle also limits the control and flexibility of the dog's lips. The reduced flexibility of canine lips restricts the variety of facial expressions that dogs can make with their mouths. The small number of available facial signals available is reserved for only a few major emotional expressions, but these can still be observed and easily interpreted.

What Does a Canine Smile Look Like?

There is one particular expression that is of interest here. This is when the mouth is relaxed and slightly open and the tongue is visible, usually somewhat draped over the lower teeth. This is a sign that the dog is content and relaxed. It is the closest canine equivalent to a human smile. You can see it in virtually all breeds of dogs such as those depicted here.

Smiling dogs

Source: SC Psychological Enterprises Ltd.

Research has shown that most people recognize that there is no threat associated with dogs displaying this smiling expression. This demeanor is accompanied by a typical pattern of body language which is easily observed (if the dog is not jumping around excitedly) and you can see it here.

Source: Stanley Coren

A Less Joyful Expression

The simple act of closing the mouth changes the emotional meaning. The closed-mouth expression is usually associated with the dog looking in a particular direction. This is a sign of attention or interest. The smile is now gone, mostly because the dog is now appraising the situation. He is trying to determine the meaning of what he is observing, his emotions are neutral and he is alert and attentive, perhaps evaluating which actions he might take. The joyfulness in the expression is now gone as you can in these figures.

Alert and attentive dogs

Source: SC Psychological Enterprises Ltd.

Now the dog is no longer passive and relaxed, but he is also not worried or annoyed. Thus this expression takes on the meaning: "This is interesting." Or, "I wonder what's going on over there?" It also is accompanied by a change in body language to something like this.

Source: Stanley Coren

At Some Level, We Knew That

Although there has been much recent systematic research that has confirmed that the slightly open mouth and visible tongue are the closest that we can come to a relaxed and contented smile in dogs, it turns out that it is not a modern discovery. In ancient Egypt and pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, children's toys were often made in the shape of dogs. Typically these canine figures had wheels so that they could be dragged around by a child. Such toys frequently featured a face with an extended tongue lapping out over the front of the open mouth, thus mimicking the smile of a dog. A rough translation of the typical labels used to describe these are "happy dog" or "laughing dog" toys. An example of one is shown here, a Mayan toy from the Toltec period (between 900 and 1100 A.D.).

Pre-Columbian Mayan Toy

Source: National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico City)

Even without modern science, it seems that for centuries people have recognized that this particular expression is a basic aspect of canine communications indicating a relaxed and contented dog. Somehow, without training, most of us know when a dog is smiling and they certainly do smile.

Copyright SC Psychological Enterprises Ltd. May not be reprinted or reposted without permission.

Facebook image: Jan Dix/Shutterstock