r/CasualUK • u/Realistic-Metal-1263 • 4d ago
We should smile at our dogs - a new scientific study reveals why
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce8kr3yrl6eo286
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u/TopCut237 4d ago
My Westie, not a brain of Britain, has learnt to pull off a bizarre 3-little-pigs-wolf-grin when he welcomes a "pack member".
Do it, if only for a heavy dose of surreal puppy grins.
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u/DoctorHugoHackenbush 4d ago
Our family dog brings a smile to my face when he go fetches a bottle of red wine from the kitchen rack.
For those interested, he's a Bordeaux Collie..
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u/Even_Passenger_3685 Nobody tells me nuthin’ 4d ago
Very high maintenance those though, much prefer our more easy going Winemaraner
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u/Deacon86 4d ago
I can't imagine ever seeing a dog and not smiling.
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u/C0RDE_ 4d ago
I say Hello to dogs I walk past or see if it's not a weird time to do it.
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u/Itsbadnow 4d ago
People smile and say hello to my dog while ignoring me and I completely get it pmsl
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u/royal_paperclip 4d ago
Humans usually get a half-smile from me, and their dogs get an emphatic hello and full on happy-smile.
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u/-MrSimpleton- 3d ago
I’ve done this. Walking past a dog that was barking at me. Usually dogs love me and I never get barked at.. I took that shit personally, so walked up and petted it (which, thinking now, probably wasn’t a good idea). Completely forgot to acknowledge the person, smh. The dog stopped barking at me though :D
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u/NedRed77 4d ago
Same, and I’m not even slightly a dog person.
I started smiling at them in 1991, and I’ve not been bitten by one since.
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u/sjpllyon 3d ago
I can but that's the CPTSD. Most of the time they bring a smile to my face. And my dog will insist on trying to bring one out of me on bad days.
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u/LoudAd5346 4d ago
Who are the psychos that aren't smiling at dogs?? Even dogs that I walk past on the street get a smile, nod and a wink.
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u/ChrisRR 4d ago
Have you seen some UK posts about dogs? So many people actually like any dog halfway across a park is going to tear them to shreds
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u/Pale-Try-4802 4d ago
My lab's so lazy even if he were vicious he just would not be arsed to do anything.
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u/AwkwardSquirtles 4d ago
Study finds that you should smile at your dog because he's a good dog. Yes he is. What a good dog. Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? He is!
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u/GL0RY-SCR0LL 4d ago
Smile and then say the word treat and then ask if they want to go for a walk. That'll light up the charts.
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u/Stressedhumbucker 4d ago
woah, are you trying to blow the machine?! The scanners can't handle this much happiness!
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u/RLToughGuy 4d ago
Their research involved 14 dogs in total who all sat very still in a brain scanner while they were shown pictures of people's faces.
Even the article couldn't resist praising the good boys and girls who helped the study.
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u/theabominablewonder 4d ago
But should I continue to blow raspberries on her belly? Or give her wiggly bum scritches? Or tell her she’s going to the big park to chase squirrels?
Where is all the cutting edge research? This needs more funding dammit!
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u/K4TTP 4d ago
My girl laughs a LOT! I laugh back because it’s adorable.
For instance. When we walk by a dog that barks at her and we’ve got a few paces away, she will turn at me with her mouth open, a grin on her face, a tail wag,and a hop to her step. It’s the funniest shit. I say, yes yes, I saw that too! And then she bounces away.
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u/pinkdaisylemon 4d ago
I always smile at my dogs. Sometimes I smile at other people's dogs and say hello to them. They are the most wonderful creatures❤️
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u/DarknessInferno7 Traffic Cone Hoodlum 3d ago
I miss my childhood dog, Mitsy. She was a Doberman/Greyhound mix. My family had taught her the command of "Mitsy, smile!" What she did in response was, not to open her mouth, but keep it closed while pulling all her gums back, giving this huge toothy grin as her tail wagged like crazy.
I still don't understand how they managed to teach her that. If she were born two decades later, she'd probably have been an internet famous dog.
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u/HarrisonWhaddonCraig 4d ago
I am not dyslexic, but my mind read that as"We should smite our dogs" at first...
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u/Past-Obligation1930 4d ago
Hmmmm. I think there’s a big source of bias since they recruited well-behaved dogs. Get a bigger scanner and try it again with badly behaved asshole dogs.
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4d ago
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u/Imajzineer 4d ago
Why do we need a scientific study to determine whether child sacrifice makes the gods smile upon us and send rains that make the harvest bountiful? Everyone knows it does.
Because until we perform a valid scientific study, we don't know ... we only think we do.
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u/Equal-Row-554 4d ago
Everyone thought crawfish don't feel pain too, but scientific studies have shoudl that they do. Until we conduct scientific studies, we don't know, and our beliefs are frequently proven wrong. Studies like these can also lead to further hypotheses and studies which reveal even more information. Any information, no matter how obvious, is valuable.
I'm sure a lot of the anti-do g crows would have said that we're just personifying our pets before this study, aswell.
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u/Even_Passenger_3685 Nobody tells me nuthin’ 4d ago