When your dog smiles at you do you feel it's genuine or

Static dog smile is ball python tier, it's in your head only - they pant to regulate their temperatures and the shape of the upper lip is a breed-related thing. But them opening and closing mouths in excitement would count as a genuine smile I think.

>>2310197
But my dog does a closed lip smile every time a i rub her ears while she's lying down

>>2310186
It can be happiness, yes, but It can also be a submissive grin, a sign of stress, or your dog is just hot. Like most mannerisms in us and dogs, it's dependent on context and the way it's being done.

>>2310186
it's just mouth-breathing, not a smile

>>2310338
pretty much this

>>2310338
/thread

Dogs are not humans so they don't naturally share the same expressions, but at the same time they've been bred to be one of the few animals on earth to understand human body language.

Some dogs smile primarily when they're happy, some when nervous or afraid.

When apes like chimpanzees show their teeth, it's fear/anger/aggression, displaying their main weapon, just like wolves showing their teeth.
The smiling = happiness bullshit is human-only in origin, but dogs are malleable and by only letting the dogs we like reproduce, the result is soon dogs that have a response to our body language that we like.

>>2311550
I feel like I can generally jnderstand a dog's expressions though, it would make sense that they would have evolved ones that humans are at least prone to relating to if they've evolved to read our own. Chimps have no selective pressure for their social cues to synch with those of humans.