Can Dogs Smile?

It's quite curious to see how many dogs are able to imitate a human smile, either by slightly raising the back corners of their mouth or simply showing a bit of teeth while slightly lifting their upper lip.

The answer to this question is yes and no. Let's look at how a dog both can and can't smile, since things aren't always what they seem at first glance.

Do Dogs Have a Sense of Humor?

We need to be aware that dogs don't have a sense of humor. They can love, hate, adore, fear... but unfortunately they can't laugh, simply because dogs don't have that capacity we call humor.

When a dog is mischievous and steals our slippers to make us chase after it, it simply means that dog wants to play — not that it finds it funny or amusing to have stolen the slipper to watch us run.

We need to know how to tell apart a dog's emotions, which they can pick up on from our mood with a simple glance, from humor, which isn't something they understand or express.

Why Do Some Dogs Smile?

There are three reasons why a dog might smile at us. All three can apply to any dog breed, though some are more prone to it than others. We just need to observe our dog to know which case applies:

• Imitating humans: As unbelievable as it sounds, dogs are smart enough to even imitate many of our gestures and habits. When we get home and greet them, we usually do so smiling, happy. In the animal world, showing teeth is a sign of a challenge, but they know we're different, and even learn to slightly lift their upper lip to show us their teeth too. This way they imitate our smile, or in other words, they're letting us know they're also very happy to see us. That said, we need to be careful not to confuse a smile with a warning sign — many dogs show their teeth when they're about to attack.
• Nervousness, stress, or heat: When a dog is stressed or nervous, it tends to raise the front part of its lips, showing something like a smile. This is actually a warning sign and has nothing to do with happiness, so we need to know how to tell apart nervousness from heat. When panting (sticking out its tongue to cool down), many dogs can look happy or smiley when they're simply panting.
• Physical build: Genetics is also responsible for many dogs' smiles — for example, the well-known Pit Bull, which looks like it's smiling even with its mouth closed. This doesn't mean these are happy dogs in any way — it's just how they look.