Teaching Your Dog to Smile

[tx_cowgirl]

Just a random thought that hit me...I've only seen a few dogs that have been taught this, but I think this would be a good thing to add. I know I'd like to know how to do it. :dogbiggrin:

 

[szecsuani]

Smile??? I didn't know you can teach your dog to do that...

My dog can smile, but not on command, she just does it if she is really happy... It looks like snarling, but she is wagging her tail, and looks happy. Did this whole thing make sence?

 

[Jean Cote]

What do you mean by smiling? Showing his teethes as in an aggressive signal or just panting?

 

[addictinganimal]

Tank does this! He opens his mouth very widely in a grin. This is a favorite for picture taking.

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Well, some people teach it as just opening the mouth, kind of like panting. And some people teach it with the dog showing off their pearly whites, which tends to look like a snarl sometimes. I used to know a retriever mix that greeted everyone with a smile. It was cute....he'd bound up to you, whole body wagging, with all his teeth showing.

 

[Jean Cote]

Does your dog do this on his own right now? Maybe once or twice a day? If yes you can reinforce that behavior and turn it into a dog trick.

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Well, I can see how the open-mouthed smile could be taught, but I've never seen my dogs do it the other way...

 

[chevycgc]

My dog, Loki, smiles quite a bit. Sometimes when he is nervous about something generally having to do with me and obedience training (he is a rescue so I don't know what kind of pressure was put on him before I got him) and sometimes when I come home and sometimes when I stroke him really hard over his head and down his neck... not sure why he does it at that time but I should try to see if I can get it captured.

 

[storm22]

luka smiles quite abit but hes a pug you can talk to him and he'll smile at you but not with teeth showing just a big cheesy grin

 

[marieke]

Buck smiles a lot. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of him doing his big smile but here's a little smile. He really curls up the corners of his mouth and has his mouth wide open. He does it especially when he's having a walk in the forrest or dunes. He walks in front of me, turns around and gives me a big grinn and moves on again.

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Lol. ^^ He's very pretty.

 

[emmasmamma]

"pretty smile"

My sister taught her cockapoo and my mom's chihuahua to smile a big toothy grin. She started out by using her thumb and forefinger to pull their lips back on each side of their muzzles as she was doing this she'd say "pretty smile" in a very cheerful voice. She kept doing this and before long all she had to do was say "pretty smile" and they would smile.:msnohyes:

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Neat, thanks for the tip Emmasmamma! :dogbiggrin:

 

[emmasmamma]

You're welcome! Hope it works for you!

 

[posie]

wow thanks foe the trick it sound really cool i hope it works for my dog i have seen an add on tv and it has lots of dog smiling on it i was really cool and funny
thanks for the help
maddie

 

[leema]

I've seen the smiling dog ad, too! It's good. I will have to give it a go... I think it would be impressive for a dog to show his teeth at a dog show, instead of having someone open his mouth.

 

[ella]

This is my dog Benda. She laughs when she is really happy. I tried to make a trick out of it, but it did not work out. It does not look happy but very very dangerous

EDIT: Unfortunatly I am not allowed to post a link....

 

[CollieMan]

hehe We call it the "Carol Smiley" in our home, which will only make sense if you know who she is. She's a TV celebrity famed for, amongst other things, her lovely smile and bubbly personality. We just sit there asking Ellie, "When's Carol Smiley coming out to play? Where is she? Where's Carol Smiley?" and she'll smile a lovely pearly white smile for us. Works every time.

To teach it, we just hovered our fingers over her head and wiggled them which sort of teased her. When Ellie feels teased, she naturally pulls her lips back, and so it was all really quite easy to teach.

 

[yoyopoodle]

CollieMan - that's a great cue

Pulling the lips back is a submissive gesture (how we're talking about it in this thread, lol). That's probably why bunch of you have seen it while doing obedience or petting. Greeting is definitely a good time to catch some dogs too.

I read an example of this in a training book (I think it was by Brian Kilcommens) - a young Standard Poodle was going to be euthanized due to 'aggression', because he would 'attack' all visitors, jumping up on them and try to 'bite' etc. They hired a few different traditional trainers who instructed to use various physical corrections, but the dog only got worse. The author was the dogs last chance... he entered the house prepared for a vicious dog, but was greeted by a big fluffy Poodle with a submissive grin who wanted to cover his face in kisses!... With each correction that had been given, the poor dog submitted more and more, making the 'trainers' believe he was getting even worse and applying harsher corrections :dogohmy:


Here are some ways to get the behavior:

- petting excitedly and using a high-pitched voice
- putting your face in theirs while petting
- blowing gently on their nose
- catching them just before they sneeze
- massaging their ears
- 'tickling' the corners of their mouth, especially if they are panting
- gently brushing their whiskers forward
- fold their lip in so the hair touches a canine tooth

... the last two will get more of a 'snarl' look, and the others should get more of a stretched smile :dogbiggrin:

 

[driven]

Does your dog do this on his own right now? Maybe once or twice a day? If yes you can reinforce that behavior and turn it into a dog trick.

How do you go about making it into a trick? You click when you see them doing it, right? But what if they do not repeat it right away or even repeat it at all for the rest of the day? How will they know that is what you want them to do? My dogs do not learn from just one click.