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How to Teach Your Dog to Smile: Training Tip Tuesday

HOW TO TEACH YOUR DOG TO SMILE: TRAINING TIP TUESDAY

January 5, 2017 by Jamie Simmerman

Although not an essential part of dog training, teaching your dog to smile on command can be a cute and fun party trick. Because this behavior doesn’t come naturally when your dog is calm and relaxed, it is an intermediate to advanced skill, but it is quite doable.

Why Dogs Show Their Teeth Naturally

Generally speaking, dogs usually bare their teeth for one of two reasons:

Showing A Submissive Grin
Snarling

Dogs will submissively grin when they’re nervous or dealing with a stressful situation. It’s kind of like the human version of putting your hands up. A snarl will also show off your dog’s teeth, but this is a sign of aggression…not the behavior you want to reinforce when teaching a “smile.”

Different Meanings of Different Smiles

Like we just mentioned, a dog bearing its teeth can mean several things, and it’s usually associated with their body language. Look at the photo below. One is a submissive grin, one is a snarl, and one is a cued smile.

In the photo on the left, the dog is showing a submissive grin. She is sitting, her eyes are slightly closed, and the ears are back which is a “calming signal.”

In the middle photo, the dog’s body weight is forward, and the ears are not pinned back. This is an “aggressive signal.”

In the picture on the right, he’s in a neutral sitting position, looking with his ears naturally falling. Sure, he seems a little funny. But this is because his owner trained him to smile by tickling his whiskers or lifting his lips. This is the method we’ll outline here.

Hold a treat in your hand. Use a “high-value” treat, something your dog really loves. Hold it up to one side of your dogs mouth right above the lips. Most dogs will lift their lips on that side in anticipation of the treat. If not, gently brush your hand against his whiskers. This should get him to raise his lip. While doing this, give a happy, upbeat verbal cue…”Smile!” Once he raises his lip, praise him and give him the treat. Once he has accomplished this successfully several times, switch the treat to your other hand and practice this on the other side of his mouth.

Once he is lifting the lip on each side of his mouth consistently, begin holding the treat directly above the center of his snout, over the nose. Give the happy, upbeat verbal cue…”Smile!” As he lifts his lips on both sides of his mouth, praise him and give him the treat.

After he is consistently lifting his lips on both sides, gradually phase out the treats and use only the verbal cue “Smile!”

Remember that every dog is different. Some may show only their bottom teeth while some will show all of their teeth.

It’s important to note that since baring their teeth in a calm, relaxed situation isn’t natural, training for this trick could take quite a bit longer than most training. Because of this, it’s essential to keep training sessions short. Extensive training sessions can mentally drain both you and your dog. When the mind is tired, the training is less likely to stick. Also, extensive training means A LOT of treats. Although training with treats is an effective method, training for extended periods of time means over-indulging on treats. Keep training sessions short and always keep them upbeat.

[Photos] Top 10 Doggies Smiles on the Internet

Just for fun, we’ve found ten of the best doggie smiles on the Internet to share. Is there anything better than a doggie smile to brighten your day? Which one is your favorite?