'My Dog's Faces as Emojis': 21 Expressive Dog Pictures Bringing Our Favorite Emojis to Life

Celeste Mello • Writer and Editor

Nov 2, 2026 6:45 AM EST

What would our group chats look like if everyone used their own dog's expressions as emojis?

They would definitely look funnier. But why do we use emojis at all? The way we say something matters. When I'm texting, people can't hear my voice or see that I'm smiling or that I'm not smiling at all, and sometimes the words alone don't sound how I want them to. That's when I start looking for an emoji. Problem solved. Sometimes you don't need to find the right words because you can just add a little face at the end of your message, and that's enough.

Hey, I'm speaking about SOME messages. Not all of them. So choose your words wisely. I don't want to find out that you broke up with your boyfriend by sending him a sad dog sticker. Please. Some things need a proper conversation. Besides, that overly cute dog can't explain why you don't see a future together.

And I'm not trying to justify all the emojis I send! There's actually a study on this. In a 2023 study published in Frontiers in Psychology, people read neutral messages with different face emojis and interpreted the same messages more positively or more negatively depending on the emoji. So even when the words stay the same, a little face can really change how we read the tone. That's what I'm trying to do when I add a smile to my reply.

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So the impact of the message is not the same if we decide to use an emoji. The other day, a friend asked if I wanted to hang out, and I answered “Sure.” I wanted to go, but when I read my reply, it looked like I wasn't excited at all. So I added a smiling face. Much better. Now she could tell that I wanted to see her! She's known me for years, so she probably would have understood anyway, but I like making my messages sound sweet.
We must also know when to stop. Sometimes I look at what I wrote and think, okay, maybe that's enough hearts. I'm sending a message to check on someone, not writing a birthday card. We don't have to overthink the message a lot either. I just add hearts when I want to make the message warmer. For example, in a thank-you message. Or messages when I'm making plans so my friends know I'm excited to see them.
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Then I also use stickers. My friends and I have so many pictures of each other that we've turned into reactions. We took a group photo one night, and one of my friends was in the background looking annoyed. She says she wasn’t annoyed. Well, now we all use her face when we feel like that. In my case, I send it when someone suggests meeting early on a weekend. That's the face I'm making after your suggestion. That's how I feel about setting an alarm on a Sunday.
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I like having these little things that make us laugh because we know the story behind them. To anyone else, the sticker is just a person making a face. To us, it's funny before anyone says anything.
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