When dog's smile and show all their teeth, is it natural? or have they picked up that habit from humans?? My dog doesn't smile, but if its a taught habit I'd like to teach her how! I think its funny when they smile :d

Hi ana

It is a natural expression of submission; you can teach dogs to smile on command by clicking and treating when they do this; dogs generally do this on the owners return or when they greet you in the morning. 

All Belgians grin - when I come downstairs in the morning they all greet me with a fine display of toothy grins - lovely !!!!

Yvonne W

3 of our family's setters all smile...those 3 all have similar lines and are related in some way!!!  The other two who are from a different line (but related in some way) don't....I think it is something in the lines of that breed....it does look cute though to the untrained eye people think they are snarling...

Rox

..they do look sweet grinning don't they :-D   Some of my dogs have smiled but the biggest grin I ever saw was on a lab (not mine) it was so big her face nearly fell off ! A grin is not quite the same to look at as a snarl, the lips seem to be  raised more exposing a larger area of the gums and of course the look in the eyes is completely different :-)

It's very common for dalmatians to smile - it's one of the characteristics of the breed!
:)

I have a staff andi have read up about the breed.
It tells you that the dog tries to imitate the owners smile.

Obviously you can see this better when they are lying on their back.

Ashleigh

My Dalmatian smiles, I saw a different vet to my usual one during the week she backed off quickly until she realised it was a smile :D 

He is not smiling now, stiched side, trumpet collar on, looks very sorry for himself. :( have promised him sausages on the BBQ this afternoon, that should have him smiling again.

Sandra

Hi Ana

We have a 6 month old dobe who gives us a lovely smile with teeth when we come back home or have been parted for a while.  He started off just with his mouth and then gradually over the past few weeks he just can't smile without showing us his pearly whites.  It is just the sweetest thing and makes us feel very special as he is so happy to see us - very heartwarming!! 

Mandy

Hi Ana,
My Boy smiles whenever I come in after being out, this I  am sure is sheer joy that I am back more than subserviance. :D My dads dog (who was recently killed) was a french labret and she used to do it whenever he made a big fuss of her. She was the most dominating bitch, (she used to dominate a Briard and the whole family, if she could) it's wonderful to see a dog smile :)

One of my Chihuahuas smiles and it's the most lovely thing.  She is a submissive litle thing, but she only does it when she is pleased to see you.

Some of my Danes wrinkle up a corner of their mouth I call it doing an Elivs.

Daisy my lab smiles when greeting us in the morning, and candy and buddy my staffy pups smile all the time, they are soo happy and bouncy little babes.:)

mmmm

My saluki x smiles, but no teeth showing, she just curls up the corners of her lips a bit..... im presumng it is a smile as she only does it when she is getting a fussing......

Rocky takes after his staffie side for his grin, great big ear to ear jobby there.... dillers just looks faintly bemused, mouth half open, a bit dopey!

Em

Mandy, that's funny your Dobe smiles. On a Dobe message board I go on, a lot of people have Dobermans that smile....funny.

My grandfather had a sweet, lovely German Shepherd who smiled and when he was walking along a sidewalk, (this was many years ago, probably like 90 years ago or more) a stupid policeman shot and killed the dog, thinking he was snarling, even though I'm sure there was no body language or anything else to show that. Some people just are stupid about stuff like that. So, I'm not so sure it's a great thing to teach a dog. But that was probably a freak thing.

Carrie

Ebony smiles as does her mum but i cant get Zak to do it , hed rather have his mouth shut with someblanket in it.

Ella.x.

Is your Dobe into blankets too??????? Holy cow! My Dobe has gotten so much better about chewing or grabbing my stuff, but blankets are really awfully hard for him to resist. He sucks them, chews them gently, carries them around like a security blanket. They are too funny, these dogs.

Carrie

Our black newfoundland Megan smiles, it is usually when she is laid upside down when she wants her tummy rubbed, as soon as you rub her tummy her smile gets broader

My Boxer smiles which is great as she looks so sad normally...no teeth showing  just a wide cheesey grin :-)

Jane...

Hi ,My inlaws late  R. Ridgeback smiled when she greeted you ,she was very choosy though ,she never smiled at my MIL............:):):):):) Take Care Sue & Lola xx

Hi Carrie
Yes he is into blankets big time , he really makes me laugh when we arrive home or say good morning as he looks round for his blanket first then he will come wriggling towards me. I buy a couple at a time from charity shops because they end getting torn and ripped when playing tug but at one pound each i cant moan about it .

Ella.x.

Hi
I too have a smiling Dobe - a great big toothy grin. The funny thing is, our Dalmation x Bassett wasn't a smiler until she came along. Now he smiles too!