Does anybody's sheepie smile?
Holly only does it if I have been out for a long-ish period of time, either if I have been at work or out shopping, she usually lifts one side of her mouth, kind of like a snarl but without the bearing of teeth and growling. Recently she has started doing it on both sides of her mouth and it is just the funniest thing I have ever seen. She gets so excited when I arrive home, its lovely, although she doesn't tend to do it to my husband which he gets most upset about, it might be because he works from home so is with her all the time he he! Lou |
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Oh YES they smile. I think somewhere on the board there was a thread of everyone posting pictures of their smiling sheepies...  I love it when you see they are soo happy they smile!!! |
Heart smiling after being caught digging with her face in the backyard, right after her bath when she was about 8 months old.....  ps...she wasn't smiling as I doused her beard with water and shampoo AGAIN and scrubbed the filth off of her!!!!   |
What you're describing is a submissive grin. (Yes, Val, they all smile, but this is slightly different) usually only comes out when they're happily excited, though you may also see it if dog does something naughty and you say: "WHO did this???"  It's an appeasement reflex. And, no, that doesn't mean she's afraid of you, merely that she's a pretty submissive dog, and that's not a bad thing in and of itself.My first OES used to do this, as well as a rescue I fostered, ironically both named Heidi! It's adorable. Of course, none of my current OES are remotely submissive or in any way feel the need to appease me   so I haven't seen it in quite some time. Kristine |
| Had a cockapoo years ago that did it everytime we came home. He'd also bend his body in the shape of a "U" while smiling ....he was so excited! Haven't seen it happen with any of the OES I've ever had tho'. |
| Oh my gosh... my sister had a Springer Spaniel that did a full smile. It looked like this- http://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2008/ ... er-smiles/ I'd never seen a toothy greeting like that before and first thought she was angry. It's endearing once you understand it. |
You mean like this?    |
| No - very cute smiles though! They actually draw their lips back and show their teeth (think of the term "he lifted his lip at me"). If they weren't simultaneously wiggling, or contorting or curling their bodies around like Marilyn describes, or you've never seen it before, you might do a double-take and wonder if they were silently growling at you! I guess it's hard to explain, but it's the most hilarious thing in action. KB |
Mad Dog wrote: No - very cute smiles though! They actually draw their lips back and show their teeth (think of the term "he lifted his lip at me"). If they weren't simultaneously wiggling, or contorting or curling their bodies around like Marilyn describes, or you've never seen it before, you might do a double-take and wonder if they were silently growling at you! I guess it's hard to explain, but it's the most hilarious thing in action. KB Exactly! The first time you see it you think they are snarling at you! I'll have to see if I can find a picture of my old cockapoo doing it. |
| The link Jaci posted shows it really well. Pretty hilarious! |
| MO does that smile and body turn, but it is submissive to strangers she trusts...more likely she wants to trust. As for the smile in Jaclin's web site, there is a kennel here in town noted for the labradors. One day two dogs decided to go on a walk about and ended up as a large discount store down the hill. These two sillies were thrilled to see all the people so set up shop in the front door, facing inward With big toothy smiles they had the people trapped in the store thinking two angry dogs were outside. Cops were called. Fortunately the owners missed the dogs and sense their gregarious pooches might be down the hill. Sure enough there were the wagging black tails at the door. Owner pulled up, opened the door and whistled. Dogs turned, jumped into the car and all were away before the cops arrived. |
| Growing up, a friend of mine had a toy poodle with exquisite taste -- used to snarl at me any time I got close. I suppose I could have thought of it as a smile if it didn't come along with a growl and followed up with biting if I tried to pet. |
| Yep!! Inca does this all of the time.. she started doing it when she was about 12 months and we weren't really sure what it was all about - then we were reliably informed it was a submissive behaviour as other members have mentioned here. She used to do it when she greeted us when we came home, but now that's very rare.. she does it to visitors to the house though and sometimes when we're out on a walk when meeting people. I think it's pretty cute/funny but it actually gets quite annoying when people just don't understand.. I'm always telling people she's not growling/snarling (and really anyone who knows anything about dog behaviour could see she hasn't taken an aggressive stance, quite the opposite). The most hilarious occasion was at agility class when she was about 18 months.. we were in a class with a huge long haired german shepherd and Inca got right down on her belly and crawled towards the gsd, wagging her tail and smiling all the while.. and when the owner of the gsd noticed she exclaimed really loudly "oh my god!!" and tried to pull her dog away  |
jaci's retriever picture nails it. my kids used to call it ratface smile.  |
| Tiggy doesnt do it she does the BIG sheepie grin. Dalmo's are renowned for it. I havent met one that didnt give the smile. Rastus smiles when he's really happy to see someone. His whole back end wags with his tail and he puts his head down in another submissive gesture while he lifts his lips in a toothy smile. There's an owner at our off lead park who alwasy shrieks with excitment to see Rastus. She's known him since he was a puppy. He likes her but is kinda nervous of the shriek so he runs up to her, head down, tail and butt wagging from side to side (which makes for an interesting running style) and this silly grin on his face. She then shrieks more as she loves it. |
| Oh my, Abrcadabra used to give me that exact same smile that Jaci posted. Miss that girl  |
These are REALLY old pictures (from the 70's!) that I scanned so the quality isn't too great but you can get the idea of the grin. This was our very 1st dog & you can see him grinning with 1/2 his mouth in the picture where he is lying down. And then a full grin with the "U" shaped body in the other photo where we were camping. |
| They really DO look vicious, don't they? I've never been able to figure out why this would be a sign of submission/appeasement, even in conjunction with the rest of the body language that goes with it  KB |
Mad Dog wrote: They really DO look vicious, don't they? I've never been able to figure out why this would be a sign of submission/appeasement, even in conjunction with the rest of the body language that goes with it KB Yes, they do & this dog we had was just the sweetest thing you could ever imagine. We got him before we ever had kids & when the kids came along he was just facinated with them. |
she smiles...but mostly when shes in a picture with someone....  |
| Oh Darcy!! That first pic of Panda... she looks totally like she's the happiest girl in the world!! LOVE IT |
| this thread below has some good pics in it! viewtopic.php?f=12&t=20386 |
Not only do I think sheepdogs can smile but they have a whole range of facial expressions:   |
| ^^^^^^^^^ Ha, ha, ha, cute |
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