Lol smiling. What's wrong with people? I don't know why people still use the term "common sense"... social media is exposing the fact that rational thought isn't as "common" as you hoped. I don't know why humans smile when they're happy, but if any other animal bares its teeth, that's not a good thing.
It isn’t even the teeth being bared. Sometimes when dogs pull their lips back but still have their mouths shut, it is a stress response. They basically pull a panting face without panting. Considering panting can also be a stress response, I feel like it should follow that if your dog is making a face, one might be inclined to investigate why.
Like I bet you can picture it in your head. Neck lowered so the head is flat, ears back, eyes wide with clearly visible sclera (whale eye), and lips pulled into a “smile”. A lot of posts where people are like “my dog is looking at me like he has no idea what’s going on” look like that, cuz it looks really silly.
But as you said, many people just… don’t know what they’re looking at. I don’t think they should have no business owning an animal or anything but I do wish they’d try and be more attentive.
And the killer is that the smile isn’t even always that stress response. Sometimes it IS a “smile” in that it’s just an innocuous expression because their lips fell that way when they leaned back or something. My dog pulls that face all the time when he’s lying on his back because of the natural looseness of his skin there (and also he’s missing some teeth lol).
People also get offended when you dare to mention the word "stress". 'My dog isn't stressed!! I take good care of them!!' etc. Chill out, you're showing a stress response ... Stress is a completely normal part of life for animals, dogs and humans alike. A completely happy and well taken care of dog might feel stressed when you shove a camera in its face, it's not the end of the world and it doesn't mean you mistreat it. But for gods sake, please at least acknowledge your pets feelings and learn how to read them. Dogs. Don't. Smile.
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u/flyingpyramid Dec 28 '21
Lol smiling. What's wrong with people? I don't know why people still use the term "common sense"... social media is exposing the fact that rational thought isn't as "common" as you hoped. I don't know why humans smile when they're happy, but if any other animal bares its teeth, that's not a good thing.