Can dogs laugh?
- October 7th 2020
Genuine, full laughter is one of the clearest signs that a person is having a good time. Can dogs laugh and if we heard it, would we be able to tell? The Pet Project went on a hunt to find out.
Do dogs laugh?
Science hasn’t fully understood human laughter, so it’s only natural that canine laughter is murky territory. That being said, scientists generally agree: dogs do laugh! But if you heard it, you may not be able to tell.
Laughter comes in many shapes and forms, so it’s not that surprising to hear that our dog’s laughter may be a bit trickier to recognize than human laughter. Dog laughter sounds a lot closer to panting, but it’s panting at a particular frequency and in certain circumstances, usually play. How do we know this? Because a bunch of researchers did a study on it.
Patricia Simonet, Donna Versteeg and Dan Storie found that dogs make four distinct sounds when they’re playing. They growl, bark, whine and produce a series of heavy exhalations. The researchers named this last sound as the ‘dog laugh’. Well that’s a bit of a stretch, you might be thinking. How could they tell that was a ‘laugh’? Excellent question! Because they recorded the sound and used it in an experiment.
In the experiment, they played a recording of ‘dog laughs’ in an animal shelter. All the dogs who heard the dog laugh responded with playful behaviour – play bows, play face, and generally happy and ‘pro-social’ behaviour. The researchers found that dogs responded to the dog laugh irrespective of whether it was a dog or a human they were facing. Clearly, dog laughter signals to canines that a fun time is about to begin. The researchers believe the sound has the potential to greatly reduce stress among dogs, especially for those in the shelter and who haven’t been adopted as yet.
What does the dog laugh mean?
A dog laugh is a breathy inhale and exhale. Some researchers call it the ‘play-pant’ and it’s believed to be common among other animals as well.
Does this mean your dog has a sense of humour? Well, no one really knows. All researchers can say is that the dog laugh is commonly seen during play time and most noticeably when a dog is what we call ‘happy’. The dog laugh is accompanied by slightly closed eyes and pulled back lips to show teeth with their tongue slightly out; this is – you guessed it! – the dog smile. If your dog is doing the dog laugh and the dog smile – well then, you can be assured they’re happy.
It’s important to note that every dog is unique, and so the dog laugh won’t sound common across canines. Interestingly, the dog laugh may not even be your pet’s chosen method of showing happiness: that could be a yip, a whine, anything. Just as human laughter varies across humans, the dog laugh and how your dog shows happiness is unique to your dog.
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