Okay, we know you think you're funny.  You've been known to tell a good joke at a party.  You can throw out a few decent one-liners in most conversations.  And you are positive that your bumper sticker about the necrophiliac cracks up the drivers behind you every time. 

But before you decide to upload your knock-knock-joke-filled-one-man-comedy routine onto YouTube, you might want to test out some of your material first.  You know, just to make sure everyone is smart enough to get your kind of humor.  

And who better to judge your comedy stylings than your pampered pooch.

Seriously.  According to animal behaviorist Patricia Simonet, dogs have the ability to laugh!

Yes, along with all that play and panting, a dog makes a distinctive, higher pitched sound that just may be his version of a laugh (We're sure he's laughing with you – not at you.  Unless, of course, you were trying out your necrophiliac joke). 

Simonet explained to Science News, "To an untrained human ear, it sounds much like a pant, 'hhuh, hhuh'."  However, after analyzing the recordings of multiple dog sounds with a parabolic microphone she discovered a difference.

Simonet's team found that there were certain sounds that have a broader range of frequencies than regular dog panting.  She has labeled these sounds ‘laughs'.  The researcher observed that these particular laugh-like sounds occurred during play but not in aggressive clashes.

With recordings of such laughs and other dog sounds such as barks and growls, the researchers tested 15 dogs in an observation room.  When the researchers played the laugh, "a puppy often picked up a toy or trotted toward a presumed playmate, if a person or another dog was in the room.  Simonet's own best attempt at the laugh likewise prompted dogs to look for a romp.  Broadcasting growls elicited no such effects."

Gordon Burghardt of the University of Tennessee, who has studied the evolution of play, tends to agree with Simonet's findings.  He cautions that her theory needs more testing but notes that…"other scientists have proposed that nonhuman primates and even rodents laugh."

Still skeptical?  Well, we all know that dogs have definite emotions.  We know how happy they get from a little game of fetch or an afternoon belly rub.  Not to mention that many pet-parents believe that they can tell when their dog is smiling.    

The puppy laugh track is available at Simonet's website for only $24.95.