If you’re a dog lover you’d bet you know everything about dogs.

Let us break it down to you as nicely as we can, you don’t! Not unless you know the answers to these questions, do dogs smile? Do dogs laugh? Why is my dog smiling with teeth? Is it laughter, cringe feeling, or what? It’s ok if you don’t have the answers because we have them here for you!

Before we get into the theory part, let’s just show you a picture or two of a dog smiling so you’d know the answer to the question, ‘do dogs smile?’ Apparently this doggo is smiling and not just smiling but the question arises, why’s he smiling with teeth. Why do dogs smile with teeth? Is it even a smile?

Do dogs smile?

Back in 2012, a study was conducted by neuroscientists to find out whether animals and humans have similar emotions and feelings towards some things that were similar. After some experiments and research, they concluded the study by stating the fact that animals have consciousness and feelings, too.

Why do dogs smile with teeth?

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Yes, they do! With this comes exceptional cases, of course.point 188 | Some people are of a different view especially scientists and vets.point 245 |

According to them, the smile is only because when a dog feels relaxed, his muscles of the whole body tend to relax as well.point 100 |   So his facial muscles relax and this sometimes forming a sad face (in case of bulldogs) and sometimes a smiling face.point 199 | These facial muscles when relaxed can tend to either make them seem like they’re about to cry or about to laugh, depending on the breed of your dog.point 326 | 1

What should you do if a bee stings your dog? Find out in our easy guide

Do dogs smile with teeth?

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So if you’re doing something fun and are trying hard to make your dog smile, you must have noticed once in a lifetime kind of thing that your dog smiles.point 319 |

According to K.point 15 | C.point 17 | Theisen, who is a director of pet care issues for the Humane Society in the United States.point 91 | A dog who has his mouth open and the tongue is hanging out of it, and the wrinkly cheeks is not really a smile like us humans do.point 193 | 1

It cannot be called a smile even if you’re questioning do dogs smile with teeth. K.C Theisen says “Almost all animals have some sort of facial expressions when they’re trying to be friendly.”

So does a smiling dog mean a friendly dog?

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A smiling dog doesn’t necessarily mean a friendly or happy dog.point 215 |

It could be a trick especially if you’re an invader.point 49 | Learning dog language especially body language is very important.point 106 | Since there have been many questions like do dogs smile with teeth? Do dogs laugh? Does their smile mean they’re happy or what? So to put it shortly, you have got to ask the human chaperone of the dog before approaching it even if the dog is smiling at you.point 320 | 1

Do dogs laugh?

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You’re probably looking at this picture of the dog and thinking well hey! He’s smiling with teeth he must be laughing.point 233 |

So you tend to ask yourself or google, do dogs laugh? Well, experts say dogs do have emotions but their facial expressions aren’t necessarily as that of humans.point 139 | Happiness is a tricky topic for a lot of animals, they express in their own ways.point 205 | 1

This is a very tricky question, based on different experiences of different people. Since it’s not possible to take surveys of animals or in this case, even dogs, we can’t say for sure do dogs laugh or do they just form these expressions based on their muscle’s relaxation.

So are the emotions expressed facially, fake?

Not necessarily, you might have seen your dog being happy when you’re taking him out on a walk. Even when you serve him his favorite food, he seems happy. Those are real expressions. That’s real happiness which is rare and raw.

Researches are more vast and open now regarding animals and their happiness so, in a couple of years, scientists might be able to find out for sure that do dogs smile? Do dogs laugh? Why do dogs smile with their teeth? For now, enjoy the time with your dogs and just let it be!

If you have a friend or family member who owns a dog and likes talking about it all the time, share it with them.