Is Your Dog Laughing and Smiling at You?

Can dogs laugh and smile? Can they show states of happiness?

I think so. My Border Collie, Rocky does. He openly greets people he knows and loves with a wide happy grin; a very generous swagger of his body and a 'happy' guttural noise that sits somewhere between a low growl and a yap. It's his way of laughing. He does this to family members and friends.

SPAYING YOUR DOG

He does it every day when we are out walking and when he meets humans he knows and loves. And believe me, he is genuinely happy to see them. He gets a pat and some kind words which seems to be reward enough.

Next time you take your dog out for a walk, look at its facial expressions. Are its ears standing erect? Are its eyes enlarged? Does it lick its mouth or yawn? These are not all expressions of joy but maybe in combination they mean something else. Running around in circles or charging to the door or the car and back, tail wagging and even yelping are all signs that your dog is experiencing excitement and happiness.

And yet when we approach a wary dog smiling, baring our teeth it can misconstrued as a threat. This may be because the dog doesn't know us and doesn't understand that we mean it no harm. We actually behave in threatening ways towards dogs when we greet them. We stare directly into their eyes, we thrust our hands towards them, sometimes we grab them around the neck and squeeze!! All signs that we want to dominate them and take their toys and bones away. (Dogs don't understand that humans are not interested in smelly old bones and half chewed toys - to them, they are their treasures.)

Most dogs, especially our own, have learnt to ignore our bad behaviour and accept and love us anyway. Dogs are very good in this respect.

When I take my dogs to training once a week, they begin to squeal and yelp in excitement. I drive a van with steel crates in the back and the noise of tails banging on the side of the steel crates is quite loud. There are also no windows in the van so I'm not sure how they know where they are but they do. And are they happy? Are they full of joy and telling me that they are pleased with what is about to happen? You bet!!!

We changed the venue of my training centre and six months later I drove back to the old grounds to meet a client. I had the dogs in the van. When I arrived I had no intention of letting them out because I didn't want my client's dog to be overwhelmed. My client couldn't believe the noise and the way the dogs were behaving. They were very happy and hadn't forgotten how much fun they'd had at this particular place.

Next time you return home and greet your dog. See if you can see a smile or if you can hear your dog laugh?

How does your dog show happiness?

Is Your Dog Laughing and Smiling at You?

Sue Day is a dog behaviourist with experience in puppy training, dog agility, obedience, and re homing shelter dogs. Sue owns Messy Pawz Dog Training which advocates positive training methods. Sue has made a lot of information available for free on her website: http://www.messypawz.com

SPAYING YOUR DOG