PSA, dog stress, mention of abuse
ok so yk those "smiling dog" pics
those aren't actually smiles
those are stress faces
that's a picture of a dog who's freaking the fuck out and is doing an appeasement posture to try and calm down whatever's going on in case it helps
ears back, jaw and eyes tight – that's stress
a happy dog has relaxed ears, relaxed mouth, often with a relaxed tongue. you *should not see the teeth*
some dogs who survive terrible abuse do this whenever they get surprised by anything
PSA, dog stress, mention of abuse
people share these pics thinking it's a smiling pic, meaning other ppl take those pics, often doing whatever made the dog do it last time because it's "cute"
there's a real wave of people basically *accidentally abusing their dogs* bc they misread the reaction and think it's cute and it gets them internet likes and all that kind of stuff
(yr welcome to rt these two things if you want)
PSA, dog stress, addendum
i said you shouldn't see the teeth – when a dog's mouth is relaxed and open you might see the lower jaw's teeth
but the stressed appeasement face exposes the upper jaw's teeth, which are covered by the dog's lips when relaxed
so i should've said, you should not see the upper teeth, instead of should not see teeth
PSA, dog stress, addendum
@kit I used to have a dog that, when she was happy/excited, would bare her teeth--while sticking her tongue out, ears forward, neck relaxed. she'd also make a whiffling sound. it wasn't usually in response to anything other than seeing a family member come home. some dogs do naturally "smile."
