How many times have you wondered if your French bulldog can laugh? Until a few years ago, many behavioral psychologists and biologists agreed that laughter was an emotional experience found only in humans. However, newer studies have shown that dogs can actually laugh but in ways we don’t understand.
How do Frenchies laugh?
Dogs are capable to produce different sounds. They bark, whine, howl, growl, and make the most hilarious sounds that make us curious to discover what do they mean.
Have you ever noticed that your dog produces strange vocalization during play? Well, if your Frenchie makes a breathy forced exhalation, barks, and whines, then you can be sure it’s a clear sign of laughter. According to the dr. Mark Bekoff, dog expert and professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado, dogs definitely produce a so-called ‘play-pant’. It’s a sort of their way to tell us that something makes them extremely happy.
How to observe happiness in French bulldogs?
As a dog owner, you’re probably capable to make a difference when your dog feels happy or sad. French bulldogs show happiness through their body language. Even though they don’t have tails, you can notice their butt shaking and moving left-right and see them jumping when want to express happiness. Whether your Frenchie sees you coming home, or he’s waiting for a reward, you can notice his fast breathing, howling, whining, short barking, and ‘tail’ waving.
There’s a thin line between determining a Frenchie’s happiness and laughter. Happiness can be described as a mental statement, while the laugh is related to a specific situation. For example, your Frenchie can show you happiness while lying next to you on the couch. The curled up body position, and relaxed body language is also considered for a statement of happiness.
French bulldog’s laughter- How does it look like?
As we already mentioned, a dog’s laughter is described as a moment of extreme happiness when a dog produces a sound similar to human’s laugh. Dogs typically do that while playing and it’s caused by a breathy panting that is forcefully exhaled.
A few years ago, Patricia Simonet, animal behavioral specialist at Sierra Nevada College by Lake Tahoe, recorded sounds while dogs were playing. When she analyzed the recordings, she found out that they sound very similar to the humans’ laugh. Thereafter, she decided to conduct testing on puppies. She played the records to puppies who were lying and then noticed that they romped for joy. The same records have been used in shelters to calm noisy, and nervous dogs.
So far, you saw thousands photos of Frenchies smiling. This happens when French bulldogs open their mouths, and pull back their lips, letting their tongues lap over their teeth. Such behavior tells us that they’re relaxed, happy, and calmed. On the other hand, there is also a theory that dog copy our behavior. So, if they often see you happy and smiling, you should not be surprised by such a phenomenon.