# Smiling dogs. Ever met one? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2004, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954 "2004-01-17T17:30:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LabRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@LabRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LabRat)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/1 "2004-01-17T17:30:45Z")
On a recent trip to Washington D.C., my wife and I stopped in at a dog deli to pick up some treats for our pooch. The owner, it turned out, owned a greyhound as well and brought him out to meet us. I was crouched down and calling him over. He was slowly walking up and wagging his tail when he _smiled_ at me. If you’ve never seen this before (and I hadn’t), it’s not a reassuring sight. [http://www.geocities.com/heartland/hills/2620/glossary.html](http://www.geocities.com/heartland/hills/2620/glossary.html) Scroll to the bottom of the page. Suffice it to say that I almost fell over on my ass when he did it. I understand that smiling is uncommon but not unheard of in dogs. Has anyone else had a dog that does this? ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/2 "2004-01-17T18:14:16Z")
> [@LabRat](#): > > Has anyone else had a dog that does this? When I was young, my family had a black lab/German shorthaired pointer mix who would smile. It was much less imposing than the one pictured, though, she’d pull the corners of her mouth way up and a little open, and her front lip would still mostly be covering her teeth. She’d also be wagging her tail so hard I thought her butt might fall off. ~mixie ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/3 "2004-01-17T18:28:30Z")
My colleague’s Golden Retriever does this when she first greets people. It looks like she’s gonna sneeze. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/4 "2004-01-17T18:29:33Z")
I once scolded a golden retriever for begging at the table. His face _fell_. His smile faded right off. ---
**Author:** ![Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horrifying_Howler_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/5 "2004-01-17T18:54:21Z")
My golden does the same thing as the one **brachyrhynchos** mentioned, I think it must be the breed. I had a friend who had a hound we called Smiley, that dog was wonderful, if she saw someone she knew she woudl run up with this huge grin on her face and her whole body wagging. ---
**Author:** ![LabRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@LabRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LabRat)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/6 "2004-01-17T19:01:52Z")
Odd how many Golden Retrievers are showing up doing this. My best friend next door had one when I was growing up and she was the most normal dog in the world. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/7 "2004-01-17T20:01:03Z")
I know two people that have Dalmatians and both dogs smile all the time. It’s a little freaky the first few times you see it. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/8 "2004-01-17T20:16:29Z")
Our Aussie does this. She has a bobtail, but her butt shakes like she’s making a martini back there. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/9 "2004-01-17T21:54:59Z")
My parents’ lab mix smiles when she gets excited. Her lips pull up an back, and she looks almost like she’s snarling, except for the fact that her whole _ass_ is wagging, and she’s leaping around sneezing her head off. The only other dog I’ve ever known who does this is lab mix. She doesn’t do it to the extent Thumper does, but she does do it sometimes. It’s kind of strange, though; the only two dogs I’ve known to exhibit this behavior look almost exactly alike, aside from the ravages of age. In fact, that’s how Dolly the Vicious Attack Hound got her name. (Yes, my dad named my dog after a sheep.) ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/10 "2004-01-17T22:01:33Z")
> [@lillalette](#): > > Our Aussie does this. She has a bobtail, but her butt shakes like she’s making a martini back there. Yep! Our Aussie does too. She GRINS. The total teeth-bareing grin is very common in Aussies, as well as in Goldens (and other retrievers). I find it kinda neat! ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/11 "2004-01-17T22:06:40Z")
A friend of mine in high school had a golden lab/beagle mix that smiled. It was weird! To reiterate what others have said, it did look like she was snarling except she would be wagging her whole body. And sometimes making snorting noises. ---
**Author:** ![Snuggles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Snuggles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snuggles)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/12 "2004-01-17T22:12:17Z")
Oh my god. I owned a male hound who used to smile, but it was a “closed mouth” smile. I think it helped that he had two little black marks at the edges of his mouth so when they curled up it really looked like he was smiling. He was the cutest little thing. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/13 "2004-01-17T22:34:53Z")
Our Newfoundlands smile quite a bit. Just makes them look even cooler, what with their size and all. But you have to know them to realize they are smiling. Newfs have huge flews (big flappy lips- causes massive drool) that don’t always move much. ---
**Author:** ![LabRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@LabRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LabRat)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/14 "2004-01-17T23:34:58Z")
So what’s your opinion on the cause of the smiling? Learned behavior from watching their owners? Some obscure wolf-like behavior that I’ve never heard of? Have any of your dogs ever smiled at another dog? How was it received? ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/15 "2004-01-18T01:13:58Z")
I had a [Carolina Dog](http://www.carolinadogs.com) who would do this occasionally, but I always got the impression it was just her fangs getting somewhat dry and making her flews stick to them. I.e., it wasn’t a muscle-controlled smile, it was just a flew getting caught up on her fang. Sometimes it would happen on one side only. I called this her Elvis face. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/16 "2004-01-18T02:30:39Z")
Ardred’s parents’ five greyhounds all smile. They look like they’re bearing their teeth until you look at their body language. Very cool. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/17 "2004-01-18T03:25:39Z")
There’s a dog out at my barn who smiles, and my brother had a pit bull who’d smile when he was happy. A smiling pit bull is not a reassuring sight if you aren’t comfortable with the breed. 🙂 StG ---
**Author:** ![Zigarre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/bbce88/32.png) [@Zigarre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zigarre)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/18 "2004-01-18T03:42:24Z")
My mutt smiles too. She drops her leash at my feet, then sits there smiling until I obey. ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/19 "2004-01-18T04:11:42Z")
I have a Coton de Tulear (little white fluffball) who smiles all the time. Her lips just kinda pull back, in what would be a grimace on a human face but that’s a sign of excitement on her. Heck, I’d rather she’d do that when excited than pee on a rug or something. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954/20 "2004-01-18T04:13:18Z")
Yep, I’ve had a Golden smile at me too. It kind of freaked me out at first but then I thought it was cute. (Kind of like the porcupine in the Snuggle fabric softener commercial) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smiling-dogs-ever-met-one/224954.md?page=2)