I know I started a thread about this when I first joined but there are newer people here so I was hoping to get more opinions. As many of you know Casey smiles, she has done this all her life and it's just the norm for me to see her do it.
I've had a lot of people over the years jump back in suprise and others just automatically go 'awww look at her smile'. Some people seem to know she means no harm where as others don't.
I've met a few dogs over the years that 'smile', one a beagle cross at the sanctuary and another golden out on a walk. I know its quite common among some breeds and there are quite a few dogs out there that do it.
So my questions are do you think it's a sign of nervousness? (I've read that before a number of times at different sites on the net). I just wondered what you all had to say about it? Casey is not a nervous dog at all so I can't see it being a sign of nervousness.
Another question is do you think some dogs do it because they copy humans when they smile? Casey smiles at people when she is happy and greets me like it but I know when a dog snarls which smiling does look like it is not a greeting. I know she is not snarling, but I just wondered how that action can go from being a warning (as in a snarl) to a greeting and why only some dogs do it? Something must click in their brain to make them do it and do it in a non aggressive way therefore is it accurate to say that they do immitate humans?
Anyway here are 2 pics of her greeting my Grandma last night:
I've had a lot of people over the years jump back in suprise and others just automatically go 'awww look at her smile'. Some people seem to know she means no harm where as others don't.
I've met a few dogs over the years that 'smile', one a beagle cross at the sanctuary and another golden out on a walk. I know its quite common among some breeds and there are quite a few dogs out there that do it.
So my questions are do you think it's a sign of nervousness? (I've read that before a number of times at different sites on the net). I just wondered what you all had to say about it? Casey is not a nervous dog at all so I can't see it being a sign of nervousness.
Another question is do you think some dogs do it because they copy humans when they smile? Casey smiles at people when she is happy and greets me like it but I know when a dog snarls which smiling does look like it is not a greeting. I know she is not snarling, but I just wondered how that action can go from being a warning (as in a snarl) to a greeting and why only some dogs do it? Something must click in their brain to make them do it and do it in a non aggressive way therefore is it accurate to say that they do immitate humans?
Anyway here are 2 pics of her greeting my Grandma last night:
