Difference Between A Greyhound 'smiling' And 'snarling&#39

[brianamac]

Just curious about how to tell the difference between greyhounds showing their teeth as a smile, or baring them as a prelude to snapping?

Our grey Boo doesn't like being handled sometimes (his feet especially), and without even showing calming signals, he will sometimes bare his teeth if we handle his feet too intensively or pet/massage him too hard. With his feet, he will snap quickly after. When he bares his teeth before a snap, he usually shows canines and just a bit of his front teeth.

He has been really into belly rubs lately, especially from DH. Sometimes he lets his lips relax and teeth show a small amount. This morning, however, he had fully rolled sideways to get his belly rub from DH and halfway into it he suddenly showed us EVERY tooth in his mouth! Much more than we get when he snarls, but husband got scared and backed off. We petted his head for a bit then tried a belly rub and again, the full tooth show! He literally looked like he was displaying every tooth in his mouth.

We left him alone to be safe, but other than the teeth display he seemed happy. We don't want to quit the belly rubs if this is indeed a smile, but we aren't sure!

 

How do you know the difference between your dog baring his teeth to tell you to back off or if he is giving a greyhound 'smile'?

[Guest mld]

Does he use any other body language with this, whale eye, yawning, licking lips

[brianamac]

Does he use any other body language with this, whale eye, yawning, licking lips

He kind of always does some calming signals like licking lips, yawning, etc. anytime we approach or pet him. So we go slow. And he seems to enjoy it when he laying down, lifts his legs and rolls onto his back to get more pets.... so during the belly rub process, he gave no previous calming signals like you mentioned.

However, when he bares his teeth when we manhandle his feet, he doesn't give any signals then either, prior to the teeth.

The only way I can differentiate is in the manner he showed his teeth.... just don't know if that is reliable

[spottydog]

No expert here, my boy doesn't smile - but from what I have read and seen - smiling is reflective of a submissive/excited/greeting state. Check out smiling greyhounds on youtube; they all seem to have 4 feet on the ground. I think Boo is "showing his teeth", not smiling, and giving you a message.

Edited January 6, 2013 by spottydog

[greg1229]

When Bijou would "smile" she would be hopping or her tail woudl be wagging and knocking stuff off the coffee table. If the tail "freezes" in a stretched out position I would be worried.

[brianamac]

Hmm, very interesting! I had youtubed 'greyhound smile' previously to see, but watching multiple videos (kestral greyhound smiling, particularly) helped. They do seem to show ALL of their teeth in a smile, as opposed to just a few when they're upset. Was just curious to see what other people's greyhounds do and how they can tell.

[GreytNut]

When Riley smiles he's relaxed and happy. Usually he's leaning against my legs and wagging his tail. He wiggles and prances. He'll show most of his teeth. It's obvious from his body language that he's smiling and not snarling.

 

When he bares his teeth he shows just his fangs. He is stiff and the look in his eyes is not nice. At that point I have about 2 seconds to stop what I'm doing or I'll get bitten. This usually happens during nail trimming time and it's why I muzzle him now.

[silverfish]

The 'smile' can vary. Renie was a big smiler, and used to do more of a grin most of the time. Sometimes she would go all the way and air-snap. Both can look scary to someone who doesn't recognise what they are.

 

A dog who is smiling will have soft eyes - that is a big clue. If the eyes are soft and round, or softly half closed or even shut completely, you have a smile. If the eyes are hard, staring, flicking from you to the side and back, or looking tense of puckered, you may have a problem (although there is a kind of 'triangular' eye they do when they're being affectionate).

 

The mouth with also be soft at the corners while smiling. A 'c' shape, with the corners of the mouth pulled back wide while the mouth is not open much, is NOT a smile, it's a display of weapons. If you look at the corners of the mouth and you can see that the skin at the corner is soft and/or forward, your dog is probably smiling.

 

Here's a picture of Renie grinning

 

 

Note the lack of a 'c' shape at the corners of her mouth, and the closed eyes. She is obviously totally relaxed.

 

This one is interesting because it comes right before a huge air snap -

 

 

You can see her eyes are very soft. Her mouth is really only open at the front. She is deliberately exposing only her front teeth by pulling her nose up - there is no wrinkling at the sides where the whiskers are (which would be another clue that it's unfriendly).

 

After a few more minutes of playful bellyrubbing, she did this -

 

 

A classic air-snap. Looks scary, but there is absolutely no aggression here at all. It's playful, and an invitation to continue. When the mouth is open, you do see a kind of 'c' at the corners, but no teeth are shown there. The flap of skin is soft, and relaxed forward. Her eyes are soft and round. Her teeth are exposed at the front by pulling up her nose, and again, there is no wrinkling of the muzzle. Her ears are down. And - importantly - the rest of her body is completely relaxed.

 

If you're not sure when your dog has had enough, pause from time to time and back off a bit. If a dog wants you to continue, they'll usually signal it by waving a paw, wriggling invitingly, or poking you with their nose etc. If when you back off, the dog settles down and doesn't do any of those things, it might be time to leave him alone.

 

Hope that helps!

Edited January 6, 2013 by silverfish

[OwnedBySummer]

There's no pics, Silverfish? I'd love to see them.

[Brindles]

Smiling is usually coupled with submissive behavior. Snarling is usually coupled with defensive behavior.

[silverfish]

You can't see the pictures??? I can see them.

 

Let me try again. I've copied the text over as well so you can see the description with the pictures instead of having to scroll.

 

 

A dog who is smiling will have soft eyes - that is a big clue. If the eyes are soft and round, or softly half closed or even shut completely, you have a smile. If the eyes are hard, staring, flicking from you to the side and back, or looking tense of puckered, you may have a problem (although there is a kind of 'triangular' eye they do when they're being affectionate).

 

The grin:

 

 

 

Note the lack of a 'c' shape at the corners of her mouth, and the closed eyes. She is obviously totally relaxed. Here's a smile -

 

 

You can see her eyes are very soft. Her mouth is really only open at the front. She is deliberately exposing only her front teeth by pulling her nose up - there is no wrinkling at the sides where the whiskers are (which would be another clue that it's unfriendly).

 

After a few more minutes of playful bellyrubbing, she did this -

 

The air-snap:

 

 

A classic air-snap. Looks scary, but there is absolutely no aggression here at all. It's playful, and an invitation to continue. When the mouth is open, you do see a kind of 'c' at the corners, but no teeth are shown there. The flap of skin is soft, and relaxed forward. Her eyes are soft and round. Her teeth are exposed at the front by pulling up her nose, and again, there is no wrinkling of the muzzle. Her ears are down. And - importantly - the rest of her body is completely relaxed.

Edited January 6, 2013 by silverfish

[OwnedBySummer]

I see the pics now. Thanks!

[Brindles]

Here's a smile:

 

[OwnedBySummer]

Brindles pic is more what I've experienced whenever I've met a smiler. Startled me the very first time, I can tell you!

[Guest grey_dreams]

Yep. Smiling shows all the teeth even the very front ones. Snarling keeps the lips down over the front teeth and shows only the fangs (lips curl up over the fangs).

[BatterseaBrindl]

SIlverfish has the best descriptions of the difference between smile and snarl.

 

None of our Greys smile big, full-tooth smiles, but Nixon and Nigel will give half-ones if we hit the 'sweet spot' for scritches.

Our last Dobergirl was a fabulous smiller

[TheFullHouse]

Do Bee smiles like Rachel's Dewty when he is happy and excited. There is no sign of aggression, no ears back, no licking lips no hair standing on end, he has a wagging tail, heck his whole body is wagging and what is going on is pleasurable to him. His trainer stopped by at Christmas and Do Bee was smiling like a fool because he was so excited to see JT. He was happy and calm and all his front teeth were showing! Totally different expression from a snap.

[brianamac]

Ahhh, very helpful! Thank you guys. Love the pictures... so cute!

[Batmom]

Snarling keeps the lips down over the front teeth and shows only the fangs (lips curl up over the fangs).

 

Not necessarily.

 

Wish I had a picture of the day I forgot to grab her and Zema approached Batman, who was still eating, at his food bowl. He lifted his head up, glared at her, peeled his lips back, and exposed every tooth in his head along with a remarkable amount of the gums too. She backed off .... :lol

[Guest grey_dreams]

Not necessarily.

 

Wish I had a picture of the day I forgot to grab her and Zema approached Batman, who was still eating, at his food bowl. He lifted his head up, glared at her, peeled his lips back, and exposed every tooth in his head along with a remarkable amount of the gums too. She backed off .... :lol

Yeah. Cause he wasn't smiling. He was snarling.

[JJNg]

I don't think you can tell the difference based on which teeth are shown, or by whether the dog is standing or lying down. You have to look at context, and the rest of the dog's body language, as others have described in more detail.

 

Here are a couple photos of Willow showing her teeth at one of my cats. She's not smiling. It's hard to tell in the photos, but her face is tense, and her eyes tight, not soft and relaxed. (Ignore the demon eyes - you usually can't use that to tell the difference between a snarl and a smile. )

 

 

[Guest cwholsin]

We have a smiler, and when he does it, it looks exactly like a snarl except missing the facial tightness. His lips go all the way up and crinkle when he's very happy/excited. Can't say about his back teeth because I'm usually in front of him when he's smiling.. D'awwww!

 

I think the biggest cluee will be whether he invites or 'asks' for more attention when you stop! As for the submissive licking and stuff on approach... Our sensitive boy (the smiler) does it all the time when being approached by people. He's just that submissive. I used to worry that he was uncomfortable or anxious, but the way he enjoys the contact after doing his licking thing says otherwise.

[silverfish]

I don't think you can tell the difference based on which teeth are shown, or by whether the dog is standing or lying down. You have to look at context, and the rest of the dog's body language, as others have described in more detail.

Here are a couple photos of Willow showing her teeth at one of my cats. She's not smiling. It's hard to tell in the photos, but her face is tense, and her eyes tight, not soft and relaxed. (Ignore the demon eyes - you usually can't use that to tell the difference between a snarl and a smile. )

 

 

 

You can really see the 'c' shape at the corner of the mouth and the wrinkling nose in these ones!

 

 

 

 

 

We have a smiler, and when he does it, it looks exactly like a snarl except missing the facial tightness. His lips go all the way up and crinkle when he's very happy/excited. Can't say about his back teeth because I'm usually in front of him when he's smiling.. D'awwww! I think the biggest cluee will be whether he invites or 'asks' for more attention when you stop!

I've seen some dogs who wrinkle their noses when smiling because they're smiling so hard! But it's a different kind of crinkle to the 'back off' crinkle. Hard to describe, but obvious when you see it, and as you say, there are usually other, often quite strong, cues to the mood they're attempting to display.

Edited January 7, 2013 by silverfish

[NeylasMom]

I don't think you can tell the difference based on which teeth are shown, or by whether the dog is standing or lying down. You have to look at context, and the rest of the dog's body language, as others have described in more detail.

 

You know in all of my years of fostering, dog-sitting and owning greyhounds I have never had a grey who was a smiler. But Skye, my mixed breed who I adopted this summer is a smiling fiend and when she does it, there is NO doubt she is smiling. Her whole body is wiggling, her tail is going, and her eyes are totally lit up. She does it both when she's excited to see me and when she thinks she's going to be scolded for having done something she shouldn't have (in the latter case she'll sometimes have her head in a slightly lowered position). I have yet to capture it on film or video, but it is one of the things that brings me total joy - her smile is literally infectious.

 

In any event, it's impossible to say without seeing it, but given the context - a dog who can be reactive in some situations regarding contact and who gives calming signals when approached, I would say it's likely not a smile. But, I don't know. To suddenly bare all of his teeth like that doesn't seem incredibly likely either. What does he do if you stop petting him after he does it? Does he immediately solicit more attention again or not?

[greg1229]