Dog expressions

[MayorGundersonsDogRufus]

I have a dog who is a massive Labrador cross. He's huge and a lot of people are a bit startled by him when they first meet him, but pretty much everyone then decides he's their favourite dog. He's fairly well behaved but I think the reason is because he has an incredibly expressive face. He smiles, he looks searchingly at you, he can even look skeptical or quizzically at you, and the look of excitement or hope when he thinks he's about to get a biscuit.... It's hilarious and completely gorgeous. My other dog is very sweet but you cannot discern his expressions at all.

Do your dogs make expressions? How true are they to how they're behaving or feeling at the time? Do you agree that it's the most adorable thing ever?

Dogs are so clever. They have developed an extra muscle in their face that allows them to move their eyebrows more than wolves or cats for example. There is discussion that this allows dogs to be able to use their eyes to change their expression to help interact with humans.

I have smiling collies. They grin at me and have big bright eyes to greet me.

my staffie is really expressive. Its so funny

My German shepherd when I was growing up used to be really expressive, smiling and a good confused face too.

Current spaniel pup only 5 months hasn't been very expressive facially so far but she is affectionate and likes lots of cuddles and strokes.

One of my labs smiles at me, wrinkling her nose to show her teeth, completely different from a snarl, not that she ever does that.
I am so charmed by it.

Charmed is the right word, isn't it? I think it really helps people bond with him and creates empathy. I love both my dogs, but there is definitely something about this one's expressions that gets me every time!

I have a terrier, other than tilting of the head his main expression is a piercing stare into the very heart of your soul.

Yep, one is very expressive indeed. She also has an excellent unimpressed face which cracks me up.

Very often I can be heard saying to the dog "don't look at me like that"

"I'm not a morning person!"

Our two family dalmatians have the funniest expressions! They greet you with a lips right up wrinkled toothy smile and soft crinkled eyes. The girlie is particularly expressive and won't look at you if she's been naughty. On the other hand, if someone else has been naughty, she can't wait to tell you by practically pointing him out.

Mine raises each eye brow one at a time with his head resting on my leg staring at me to get some attention as he knows it makes me laugh

XelaM - that pic is gorgeous! You're right - this thread needs more photos. I'll find one of Ddog.

Less of a facial expression but mine stamps his back foot when he really wants something and you are not giving it to him. Literally stands looking at you, raises his back foot and slams in onto the ground. Cracks me up everytime - which is probably why he does it!

My Labrador is very expressive. She smiles, has a good line in hard stares and can use her ears to convey many things to us.

I love to see a dog smiling, my dog used to do that. I also used to like the way he moved his head at an angle when he didn’t understand something, so cute. Oh I miss him, pts in 2008 at 13yrs.

My dog has learned how to make her eye go narrow, as humans do when they smile.

If I tell her to 'smile' she'll do the narrow eye thing with an open mouth and it really looks like she's smiling at me. This only happens when she's relaxed and in a good mood.

Another of her expressions I love to see is when I scratch her back and tummy at the same time, there's a look of utter bliss on her face.

I had a staffy as a teenager and she used to show her teeth in a way of a smile. This was in no way aggressive...she did it when she was excited to see us from puppy right up until she passed away. She was also a dog that absolutely refused to look at you if she had done somthing bad. She could be a right stroppy teenager!