smiling

[Soulworx]

hi....
i recently met a dog who had been taught to smile on command.... it was one of the funniest things i have seen....i was wondering how this was done, as i think it is a trick that would be good in breaking the ice with new people, and to show them how friendly bailey is.
Any ideas?

[Denise L.]

LOL! Cyrus smiles if you hit his "sweet spots" and always when he is being brushed.

I love it but many folks find it scary so I don't encourage him to do it around strangers!

The manager from the dorm next door was sitting on my sofa loving on Cyrus...she hit his sweet spot and he grinned. Well, you never saw anyone move so fast! She was up and off that couch in the speed of light!

[Patty1231]

Perle does the both lips back smile, too. First time she did it I had only had her about two days and I wasn't too sure, myself, how to take it. Truly funny! She's usually vocalizing (she has this deep, throaty thing she does) at the same time. I can usually get her to do it on command now but I have to wiggle my butt and shoulders like she does to do it. I'm not really sure who looks sillier at this point.

[Squeaky2004]

Squeak has a couple different smiles, she will either bring her top lip up wiggle like mad and scrunch her nose (always produces a sneeze of course) or she lifts one side of her upper lip while wiggling. I would not mind her doing it at home on command, but I think it would scare the bejesus out of alot of people.

[SABELLESMOM]

Sable smiles all the time! It suits her personality. She is simply in love with life! I've asked her to smile on cue, which she does as it is "always" what she does anyway. People think it's cute. And it looks impressive. I just have the feeling she would smile anyway, whether I asked or not.

I've never had anyone find her smile scary in the least. Maybe it's her face, or the look in her eye, but there is no doubt that she is in fact smiling.

So, ask the dog to smile at a moment you think they're just about to anyway. Follow that with praise! Eventually, it should happen as if on command. Sable has added a paw in the air to the "smile sweetie!"

[moondog]

If your dog has an inherent smile, you can teach it on command, but I'm not sure how you'd elicit the behavior otherwise. My sister had a Dal that she taught, but he was a natural smiler to begin with.

Luna doesn't smile, but she does tuck her lip under when she's thinking, LOL!

[keller27]

I hope that Khori is able to do the smiling thing. Get yourself a clicker. I attach mine to my pants so that I always have it. Everytime your dog goes to smile, click (once) and then give it a tasty treat. Soon he will realize that everytime he does a specific behavior you mark it with the clicker and food always follows.

My shih tzu is clicker trained to do the following:

Sneeze
Get a Kleenex
Roll over
Spin
Stick em up

Dead so if I ask her if she would like to be a Texas Longhorn (football team) or rather be dead, she falls over dead

Back up
Take a Bow
Wave
Hi Five
Yawn

and afew others. It's lot of fun using clicker. I am using it for Khori for eye contact. To pay more attention to me than what is out in the enviornment.

[rottnkidd]

Here's a pic showing one of Diva's smiles, however, my favorite 'smiling' pic is in an old thread from last winter, but I'm not savvy enough to figure out how to get it here !
kathy