My English black lab, Abbie, is a smiler. When she greets you, up go the lips and she shows off her pearly whites, while wagging her tail in delight.
Alas, those who don’t know her, think she’s baring her teeth in aggression. 
In the 9 years we’ve had her, she has only growled once at another dog and that lasted about 10 seconds before they were playing together like puppies.
Just wondered if it’s just her or is it more common than I think?
I don’t have one, but I know several dogs that do that. 
How anyone can mistake it for aggression, however, with the tail wagging like a lunatic, is beyond me! 
The one young brittany I know that does it wags her whole body…she’s hysterical!
I do not, but my friend had a cow that would do that. He would tell it to smile and it would…lol.
I have seen several dogs that do it and I agree with S1969. I don’t see how anyone could mistake it as aggression with the full body wag that comes along with it.
I had a Siberian Husky that would make sounds that sounded like a human talking. One time I was holding a baby chick for the dog to see. He sniffed it then did that husky moan thing which came out sounding exactly like “I want one”. Everyone around was freaking out saying “did he just say “I want one?””. We taught him to make the same sound on cue and it was a great party trick…lol. I have him on video somewhere saying it.
I don’t have any pictures of it, but my current dog Tessa is a “smiler” too!
She’s kind of a one person dog, so I guess from your experiences I should be glad that she doesn’t often smile at other people, but she smiles at me when I get up in the morning, when I pick up her leash, when I come home, and when I play with her outside.
I don’t know how common it is, though. Tessa is the first dog I’ve owned that smiles, but I haven’t owned that many dogs.
My Treeing Walker Coonhound “P.D.” (aka “Poochie Dog”) smiles - but only right before she’s about to yack something up - lol!
Some of my aunt’s Aussies did. The first time it happened to me, I was at aunt’s house alone while she ran an errand. Monkey the Dog realized there was still a human at home and came flying at me baring every pearly tooth :eek:. I freaked and downed her at my feet while my heart slowed down and I observed her. oOo she’s happy!!
I was asked to hold a JRT at an agility trial while the handler ran to the restroom. “She’s friendly.” This stranger-dog put its front paws on my knees, lifted its face toward mine, and bared its teeth :eek:. Wait, she’s happy… Handler gets back. Me: “So she’s a smiler?” Handler: “Oh yeah! She did that to you? You musta done something good.”
A little warning, please, for those who don’t live with smilers.
Dobes are reportedly often smilers. Aussies, too. Some breeds seem more apt to do it. It is neat if you expect it.
Yes … our hound mix is a smiler. He will wrinkle his upper lip/nose and show his front teeth when he’s excited, or sometimes when you scratch the sides of his face. Sometimes he does it so much he starts sneezing.
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x175/jmfshouse/Picture037.jpg
I have a smiley Lab, too! (Okay, a mix - part Lab, part something tall and skinny.)
I have two of them, one only when she’s extremely excited and my aussie smiles with her lips shut, she does a funny little smile with her cheeks with her eyes bugged out-it’s a “please pet me right now” or “get on your horse and let’s get up the trail” tension type of look. cracks me up.
I’ve had a few other smilers and seen many of them come through the door of the vet clinic, goofy dogs.
This was his small version. People often thought he was snarling at them, when in fact, he was just a ham that figured out his smile face got him a lot of attention and made people laugh.
My family’s Cairn Terrier would smile at certain things – when she was being brushed (poor thing was always itchy due to allergies) and when she thought something was funny. Yes, she was a dog, with a wicked sense of humor. 
She didn’t really show her canines when smiling so nobody could have mistaken her smiling for being threatening. Which is just as well because she had very large teeth for such a small dog.
My Aussie mix smiles so enthusiastically at us it makes her snort because she crinkles her nose so much. Love coming home to that! When friends get that smile, they’re in with her for life.
Back in my younger days I had a roommate move in before I met his dog. I was working when he moved and he was working when I got home. I was greeted at the door by his Doberman bearing all his teeth. Took me about 15 minutes to work up the courage to walk in, only to finally figure out the poor, confused, sweet, big boy was smiling at me. A heads up there would have helped, new roomie! Ha. Loved that dog.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=321271364564373&set=pu.267896313235212&type=1&theater
Riley smiles. He is the first of my dogs to ever do this.
I don’t see how anyone could mistake it as aggression with the full body wag that comes along with it.
people are awful at reading dog body language. Lots of dogs make “growly” noises when they are happy and excited, or they bark happily and in great joy, and rather than notice the play/happy inviting body language, most people hear the noises and think “aggression”. The worst is when it’s their own dog, who is going into transports of joy at the sight of say another dog, and the owner gets angry/embarrassed and punishes the dog for making happy noises.
I have a hound mix who smiles- but with her lips (of which she has plenty), teeth kept covered.
Mine hasn’t smiled yet because he’s a puppy, but his breed is well known for their “smiles” or “big ass grin” if you want to be more accurate. I’m looking forward to getting it on camera.
Oh, yeah. But then Tucker’s a Pembroke Corgi. Corgis smile. (They also have great “DERP!” faces.)
Depending on how you define a smile on a dog, lots or maybe all, dogs smile.
There’s the open-mouth, panting smile, the lips-stretched-back smile (similar to a human smiling with lips closed), and the wrinkled-nose, showing-front-teeth smile, like the dog below.
Some dogs smile one way, some another. Many dogs never show the front teeth, but lots of them do.
Showing the front teeth in a smile is basically a submissive gesture. The dog is happy, relaxed and showing deference by baring the front teeth.
My almost 2-year-old Aussie smiles, front teeth and all. She also snakes her head as she’s doing it, resembling the monster in “Alien”. It’s very cute and funny, although she does it whenever she’s being corrected for something naughty that she wants to continue doing. In her case, I think it’s suppressed aggression.
Yup, that’s what Abbie does! Nice to know she’s not “abbie-normal” ( :lol: sorry, had to get that in there).
I don’t own one but years ago I was a Professional Pest Control Technician in Southern California. One of my accounts called me because they wanted me to come on Saturday while they were home to treat their back yard. I’d never met these people because they were always at work when I did their service. I explained that I HAD been in their back yard every month but I’d be happy to come out on Saturday to meet them. They said it was impossible that I’d been back there because “everyone” was a afraid of their Rhodesian Ridgeback because he showed his teeth at at everyone he met! I laughed and said I was very familiar with their smiling dog and had a good game of fetch with him every time I was there. I went out, met the folks, and proved to them that their dog and I were very good friends and took care of a few areas they had concerns about. There was another dog, an Australian Cattle dog, that was also a smiler. Her owners were just as shocked when I didn’t run in fear from their ferocious looking dog. We had a good laugh at the expense of all the clueless people she had scared away. I’d LOVE to have a smiler of my own.
Both of them “smiled” by lifting their lips and just showing their front teeth while squinting their eyes like this: http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz258/dorim_2005/Heidi-102411.jpg
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