Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

gonejellyfishin77 t1_j7trmd4 wrote

Reply to comment by castpearls in Lost Dog Finds Her Way to Former Shelter and Rings Doorbell for Help by epsilona01

Dogs can't smile. Please don't anthropomorphize.

−29

MyDucksAreCute t1_j7tx3d5 wrote

Dogs can 100% smile.

18

rhodopensis t1_j7u6vgw wrote

The expression that we call “smiling” is for them a different expression. Teeth bared can be fear, aggression, mouth open from panting after a long walk, etc. Anthropomorphizing animals leads to bad misinterpretations of situations.

−17

Johnyryal3 t1_j7udlmo wrote

No, its them mimicking our smiling at them. Dogs have evolved to mimic our facial expressions. Plenty of studies on it.

10

chintakoro t1_j7uq5gh wrote

Dogs don’t smile because they’re happy. They smile because they know it makes US happy. And I think that’s still quite precious.

7

MyDucksAreCute t1_j7v3njq wrote

No.

Dogs make a lot of facial expressions. They can certainly bare their teeth out of fear or aggression. That's much different from a dog wagging its tail and grinning when its owner comes home and is ready to play. Dogs can have a sense of humor, and they can grieve as well.

We don't want to anthropomorphize animals too much, but we also don't want to strip them down to robots and pretend they don't have emotions. They certainly do.

I have spent over a decade working with animals.

3

rhodopensis t1_j7x1itv wrote

I never said that they were robots nor that they lacked emotion. Many do believe that. But not me. You are putting a lot of words into my mouth with that comment.

0

Butt_Putnam t1_j7utxx0 wrote

Except they can and they do... It simply isn't an analogous 1:1 representation of what a human smile means. It's not anthropomorphising to say that a smiling dog is happy, but it is if you suggest that it can only mean happiness. Dogs will smile when they're calm, content, and happy, but they will also smile when they're being submissive or scared, it has to be taken into context with the rest of the body language being displayed and the circumstance.

7