How to Tell What Your Dog Is Saying Through Facial Expressions or Gestures
Just like in humans, dogs’ facial expressions or gestures convey different moods. How to interpret them
While it has long been believed that facial expressions were an involuntary reflection of dogs’ various emotional states, research from the University of Portsmouth (UK), detailed in the study, clearly shows that dogs make these gestures intentionally, in our presence, while we are paying attention to them.
It took a long time and a lot of humanity in man for the interpretation of animals’ facial expressions, particularly those of dogs, not to be colored by the subjectivity of wanting to filter each variation through a human lens.
Many situations that are easily readable on a wolf’s face appear much harder to understand on the faces of certain dog breeds whose shape and structure, compared to their ancestors, are literally deformed or noticeably altered.
Thus, it is not easy to clearly understand the meaning or variations of the face in these dogs based on the need for expression.
Dogs’ Eye Expressions
Dogs also use their eyes in various ways to communicate some of their ‘moods’ to us: widening them more than usual shows they are focusing their attention on something or feel threatened; when they squint, it can mean they feel fear, stress, anxiety, or are experiencing pain or discomfort.
Other times, the face is hidden under a mass of fur, as in the case of the Yorkshire Terrier or the Bobtail, and sometimes the deformation of the face itself makes it difficult to clearly recognize expressions, such as with the English Bulldog or the Pekingese.
Dogs’ Mouth Expressions: “The Canine Smile“
Another facial structure dogs use to communicate is, without a doubt, the mouth. Generally, a closed mouth means relaxation and calm, while when a dog lifts its lips to show its teeth, it is a clear sign of aggression or threat.
Another expression in the canine repertoire is the so-called ‘smile,’ with a relaxed, open mouth stretched to the sides, tongue out, and ears folded and flattened backward. This is an expression of joy or anticipation toward a pleasant stimulus for them, such as the presence of their owner, the desire to play, or the visit of someone they love.
What Dogs Tell Us With Their Ears
Ears play a fundamental role in canine language and combine with eye and mouth expressions. If the ears are erect or slightly forward, it means attention or curiosity.
If the dog’s ears are pulled back, the emotions they communicate are anxiety, stress, fear, or threat. If they are also flattened against the head, the dog is feeling fear.
Dogs’ facial expressions are multiple and varied, including wrinkling the nose, squinting the eyes while keeping them blinking and half-closed, lifting the lips—almost like a smile or a laugh—and, above all, adding the complementary use of the ears by folding or flattening them.
It is important to note that baring teeth is, in dogs, an unfriendly gesture, as they are showing their weapon ready to strike, except in the case of the ‘flehming,’ a facial expression that is confused with a smile and expresses extreme pleasure, mimicking a common behavior in horses.
This nervous behavior, almost like a stereotyped and trembling smile, is a grimace that expresses absolute pleasure unrelated to our presence, which we interpret as if it were a human smile.
The expression in a dog’s eyes has a unique characteristic of this species that is not common with its ancestor, the wolf, which does not need it.
This particularity is that dogs can give a ‘not me’ look thanks to the development of the orbicularis oculi muscle (circular around the eyelids), which is highly developed in domestic dogs.
This behavior has created a significant advantage for the species over its companion, humans, whom it has endeared to gain some benefit in food or shelter that facilitates its survival.
A dog’s facial expression is complemented by the rest of its body, and anyone attempting a fragmented and unilateral analysis will make a serious conceptual error with false results. For humans who bark and speak at the same time, there can be no more complete and exquisite menu of affection and innocent tenderness displayed simultaneously.
If you have questions related to your pet’s well-being, please write to the email:
DrBorrego@petsvet.com
Dr. Enrique Borrego is the medical director of Animal General Hospital, located at
501 SW Port Saint Lucie Boulevard, Port St Lucie, FL 34953
Phone 772-344-8835 www.petsvet.com Serving our Treasure Coast community since 1990
