Sun. Dec 8th, 2024

Their friendly and affectionate nature makes them a joy to be around.
And when they smile, it just melts your heart.

Some argue whether a golden retriever’s smile is an actual smile or something they learn to mimic from the humans they love.

Either way, it’s definitely some sort of form of communication. And an adorable one at that.

“Golden Retrievers smile when they’re excited and they have three distinct smiles; the panting, aggressive, and submissive smiles. Dog smiles are different from human ones because they don’t always mean happiness as they can also mean other emotions like fear,” according to Retriever’s Hub.

Their “panting smile” is their happy-looking smile.

The one when their tongues are out and they look like they’re wearing a huge grin.
This usually means that your dog is happy and content and their panting is to help them cool down.

The aggressive smile is a different story.

While their teeth are shown and visible they are tense and in fight or flight mode.
This usually happens when they feel like they are in danger or unsure about what’s going on.

So, that’s not a “smile” you really want to see.

Dogs also have a submissive smile where they show their teeth to you while squinting their eyes.
This look is meant to show you that they are not a threat and are being submissive.

“This is less rare than the aggressive smile but is still seen much less often than the happy smile. I would say that about 80% of your golden retriever smiles are going to be happy smiles with the remaining 20% divided evenly between the other two smiles.”

One grinning pup is racking up some serious views for his video cuddling up with his mechanic dad.

We see the dog’s big old doofy smiling face peer underneath a car where his dad is working.

Dad is underneath the car with a screwdriver or some kind of car fixing gun in his hand.
He’s looking for the right spot to begin his work when his doggo interrupts him.

That’s when the golden retriever Dog decides it’s time for kisses and leans into dad and further under the car to give the side of dad’s head a good lick. Then he stops to lay on top of dad for a minute so he can be happy and be close to him.

Next, he decides it’s time to cuddle and gets cozy on dad’s shoulder, and nuzzles up in the crook of his neck.
This is the perfect place to nap, or at least he thinks so, and goes in for a snooze. Meanwhile, dad still has a car to fix. But not before he gives his trusty dog some pets.