Do Dogs Have a Sense of Humor?
Does your dog ever make you laugh – on purpose? Does he know he is being funny? An even
stranger question – does your dog find things funny?
There are countless stories of dog antics and behavior that are funny, but most of those you
would have to say are unintentional. Humorous behavior may be repeated because of the positive
reaction received. In this case, you cannot say the dog has a sense of humor, but is acting on
positive reinforcement.
But dogs may be a little smarter than that. Just as some people enjoy making others laugh, it
would seem, so do some dogs.
Now there are many levels of humor. There is basic physical humor like slapstick, up to very high-
level humor that requires visualization and imagination to appreciate. A dog’s world of humor
would have to be mostly on the physical level, through simply behaving in a goofy manner, or
playing little tricks on you. Of course, some really intelligent dogs may even enjoy a little
psychological humor. A friend of mine has a dog with a wicked sense of humor. The dog thinks it
is funny to ambush her from the shower stall.
It is really not so hard to believe that dogs have the mental prowess to grasp humor, since they so
readily grasp the concept of play. Dogs completely understand the difference between play and
something more serious, and are careful to make the distinction.
W. H. “Hank” Halliday, of Wolf Awareness Inc. in Ontario, Canada contends that if dogs have a
personality, why not a sense of humor? “Since personalities are a fact in these dogs and wolves, I
would suggest humor cannot be far behind. When my dog plays, it is not mechanical. He
changes the rules to have “fun” with me. He certainly teases me and I would suggest that teasing
is a form of humor.”
If you have ever suspected your dog was making you the punch line to his joke . . . you were
probably right.