The smile in the dog:what our pets tell us through play

A dog's smile is enough to brighten a sad day.But what modalities are hidden in this attitude?The experts explain it to us.

A smile?A sweet welcome that greets you first thing in the morning when you wake up.For me who live with dogs for a long time now, my parents' smile Czechoslovakian wolves it is an essential moment of the day.And a perfect way to start it.After my beloved Oberon he passed away at the good age – but for us it is always incredibly early – of 14 and a half years, the morning smile is that of Merlin, a year and a half and a great desire to live and play.Obviously, it is not possible to describe the way a dog smiles.In fact, he does it just like a human being and in the clc it is easier to recognize its characteristics, given that the breed has an elongated snout wolf that relaxes and widens just like a real smile when they are happy, playful and see you after a night without you.

A “game face” as the researchers expressed themselvesUniversity of Pisa who conducted, precisely on the Merlin breed, a truly important study on the methods and expressiveness of the playing dog.Things that all of us who live, love and suffer with them know.But it would be important to spread and learn precisely to better understand our four-legged friends.

The smile in the dog and the expressiveness in the game

A bow ritual to encourage play and a smile to reassure in the case of potentially ambiguous actions such as biting or pushing.This is the meaning of two very common signals emitted by dogs during play according to research by a group of ethologists of theUniversity of Pisa, coordinated by professor Elisabetta Palagi and published in magazines Current Zoology and Animal Behavior.The scholars focused precisely on a specific race, the Czechoslovakian wolfdog, considered among the closest to the wild counterpart of the wolf.

After viewing more than 15 hours of video, the ethologists managed to extract 822 “smiles” or “play faces” e 76 bows, which were then analyzed in detail.“The desire to play arises like a spark in every individual, and it is a desire that, accompanied by emotions, comes to life through behaviors.The animals immediately grasp that spark, which is followed by an emotional response that communicates a like or dislike, an approach or a distancing", he explains to me. Valentina Armani, dog educator and instructor, which also works as systemic facilitator with Animal Harmonies.

The young man Merlin, early in the morning – and this in any weather:whether it is cloudy or clear, whether it is raining or windy, his attitude remains the same – he invites those around him to play.The Maremma Diamond, who in the morning is still half-asleep and would like to laze around;the human companion, who makes sure that he is well and had a peaceful night;the various dogs in the neighborhood who, who knows, might converge in the garden and have a happy reunion with him.Who knows what goes through Merlin's head, and what went through those of those who preceded him:we humans are not allowed to know.We only know, by evidence, that the four-legged friend who welcomes us joyfully is happy, content to live and, above all, serene and vital.

Attitudes that invite you to play

In fact, the dog's entire body supports a communication made up of looks, mimics, spaces And postures.Some signs are more obvious, others less so and require a more expert, trained and understanding eye, as only that of a human companion can be.How many times have we heard from friends or acquaintances that "I just need to look him in the eyes and know how he is"?And, in fact, our dog's eyes are already capable of communicating a truly impressive range of moods.“It is not so much the behaviors that define the game, but the emotional state and the starting intention.Through play they often simulate the hunting, the struggle, The courtship and other everyday situations as an experience that is also useful for training and acquiring new skills.The same behaviors in different situations can have completely different meanings,” explains Valentina Armani again.And lightness is required in the game, you never take yourself too seriously.

“If I'm play fighting and I try to bite another dog, I will never bite him hard enough to hurt him, but I will simulate a bite.Lightness also leads to a relaxed body, never too tense.The game is fair, there is always a alternating roles, for example between those who chase and those who are chased, between the strongest and the weakest", comments Armani.And in fact, even in the most violent modes - or at least those that seem so to us - there is never a risk of accidents, wounds or devastating bites.The two players - but sometimes there can be more of them and their size certainly doesn't influence their attitudes - never get hurt.On the contrary!In the end they are happier and happier than before, after having vented their compressed energies and having found in the other a valid opponent to their canine exuberance.

When everything starts with a smile

Thanks to the studies of the University of Pisa it is possible to understand, one piece at a time, the refined communication signals that dogs have developed over the course of their life evolutionary history to communicate with their peers and with us.And this becomes more evident in a breed that is in some ways primitive like that of the Czechoslovakian wolf.

“The intention to play is given by the initial spark and can be recognized in the dog's emotional state, by the joy and enthusiasm he puts into his proposal.There tail of the dog will look like the trunk of an elephant swinging fluidly and will show us his most beautiful smile, his mouth open with the edges drawn and a push of all his facial muscles upwards.The eyes will be half closed, blissfully or beautifully open and sparkling depending on the level of activation.In the study cited we talk about Czechoslovakian wolves because science, to prove the correspondence of behavior, needs to years of studies and comparisons, numerous samples on details that must be demonstrable.It is easier to demonstrate a behavior first on a single breed and then check whether it can be generalized to others.The Czechoslovakian wolf is among the breeds that have had the least human impact on their morphology.And it is certainly more difficult to recognize the smile of a pug from this perspective,” concludes Valentina Armani.

To me - who have lived with them all my life - it doesn't seem so strange.Merlin, like those who came before him, smiles happily in the morning when I call him and pet him.And it is yet another demonstration of what those who share their time with animals instinctively know.They are part of us and, together, we may perhaps be able to ensure that the world we live in becomes increasingly liveable and happy.For us, for them, and for everything around us.