News1 min ago
Laughing Animal or Pet ?
Is laughing or smiling applies only to HUMANS?
Is their any info on this > as has been in my head for a long time. Thanks
Answers
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Animals do not 'smile, in the way that humans do. In dogs, and primates, the animal is drawing back its lips to show its teeth to a possible aggressor, and in the case of tail wagging, it is an assertion of territory. Because your dog knows you are th pack leader, he will take his display no further, if you were a strange dog, he would continue until shown some sign of submission.
In spite of our desries to see our animals as 'human' they are not, and no amount of anthropomorphication will make them so.
Now I would agree with Andy if your dog was stiff legged and trying to look away or showing whites of the eye or any other "aggressive" signals dogs give off,
But if your dog comes up to you tail wag, ears back and head low (some move the head side to side depending how much their tail wags when they're doing this), most have their bodies curved slightly when they first start to do this, this is a submissive "grin". After dogs do this after a while they do it and we keep rewarding and praising it, they will keep doing it and their body will get more relaxed and less submissive, but still will do the submissive grin, for you. If they do this for you put a cue word like "smile" when they do so and then give them a treat, you can put it on cue and it is a great trick for you, I wish I could get my present dog to do it, but she does not submissive grin to me, but I have had dogs that do, and it was a crowd pleaser.
So if they do all the body signals/ calming signals of the grin then be happy they are grinning submissively. But, if they are stiff and head low and staring right in your eye or anything ( mentioned) or that looks like hair raised on back of neck or body then it's aggression.
These are just a few things submissive / aggressive dogs do, you need to look at the whole dog not just one part of it. I think dogs get happy depending on what they like, playing with a ball or frisbee or seeing you come home I think they are happy the pack is all together. Not sure about laughing, but if they can be happy why not also laugh about it? Research is still ongoing....