Canine behavior conundrum
I assumed that as a life-long dog lover, I understood dogs. But our rescue pups’ behaviors threw me for a loop. First there was Opie, who walked off a van in a Kmart parking lot in early January 2015 after living his first seven months in South Carolina. He was timid and subdued at first—totally expected, of course. After he became more at ease and seemed to be settling in, we noticed he kept showing us his teeth. By his posture, it was quite clear that he was not “baring his teeth.” This was . . . different. It looked more like smiling. While revealing his teeth, Opie would squint and sometimes slither around like an otter. Well, thanks to the internet, we learned that the “ submissive grin ” is a thing. Dogs use this expression to communicate to people and other dogs that they are not a threat. OK. I’d never even heard of this before. Hey, here’s a fun fact. Know what else dogs do to appear non-threatening? Pee. They pee. ...