Underestimated?

[smileyzookie]

I've always been a skeptic about dogs feeling in depth emotions. Even though kisses and affection given is normal for dogs, I never thought much about it. I just figured it was a dog trying to get attention, treats, or just showing a fondness.

 

Since Im still trying to recover from borderline pnemonia I've been sleeping in the living room on the couch after hubby leaves for work. Riven usually cuddles with me. Today she laid next to me and I was pettin her as usual. Then she moved her head, put it on my shoulder and laid there. I cant describe it. I REALLY felt like she was expressing love. Not just a desire to have attention, or showing she's fond of me. I mean it was completely like a hug. I know, I know dogs dont understand hugs right? Im not so sure anymore.

 

Do you think dogs feel the emotion love in near the same way as a human?

 

I looked at her and thought, holy cow this dog is like a soulmate to me. I've never felt so happy to have her. I love her as much as I'd love a human.

[Meg's mum]

I'm not an animal behaviorist, but what I've gleaned from the information that I've had time to research is that animal behaviorists (which is not to say that an individual may not 'think' they know) just don't know. Skinner has been burried for a long time and frankly I often find myself doing a little mental reductio-ad-absurdum dance on his grave. Personally I think dogs feel joy, frustration, sympathy and fear......what else I don't know.

 

I worry a lot that I strain Meg's affection for me...stretch the bond to the breaking point for one reason or another. She seems to 'love' my husband more than I.

[Beth G]

Mind if I join you in your boat? I too am getting over the same thing. I'm 3 days into the antibiotics and finally finally some relief from the pain!! Hurts like the dickens!!! Popcorn does that too. Isn't it sweet?

[Root Beer]

I do hold the position that dogs feel a great depth of many emotions - joy, sadness, contentment, anxiety, a feeling of well being, frustration, deep affection, and even disdain.

 

How that experience would compare to our own depth of emotion is definitely a mystery, but I don't doubt that dogs experience a wide variety of strong emotions.

 

I just read a really phenomenal book about this subject, in fact.

[painted_ponies]

Originally posted by smileyzookie:

Do you think dogs feel the emotion love in near the same way as a human?

I can't imagine why they wouldn't. Emotions, to be cold-blooded about it, are the result of biochemical reactions which developed because they benefit animals living in social groups. Like dogs and primates.

 

Higher mammalian species aren't all that far apart, genetically speaking. So I've never figured out why people doubt that horses, dogs, and all kinds of other critters feel love, anger, joy, hate and the whole gamut of other emotions.

 

JMO.

[sandra s.]

I was going to say exactly what Sally said...no need to say it twice

 

So I've never figured out why people doubt that horses, dogs, and all kinds of other critters feel love, anger, joy, hate and the whole gamut of other emotions

Well, certain humans didn't like being removed from the center of the solar system, and the center of the universe...and some would rather not hear of evolution at all these days.

I don't know why some humans want to be so horribly special, it would scare the pants off me, but that's the reason, I think.

[Bordercentrics]

I've had Meg for 2 1/2 years, and she has always refused to get on my bed. Since she's a rescue, I don't know what happened in her past life to create this concern. She seemed worried that I would correct or punish her, though I've been calling her onto the bed for petting for some time. She always hopped off after a few seconds until a few nights ago. I told her to lie down for petting on the bed, and she stayed all night! Since then, she asks for permission each night, then sleeps all night on the bed. She starts out at the foot of the bed, but when I wake up, she's cuddled tightly against my back.

 

The most interesting thing to me is how sleeping in bed has made her more relaxed, less demanding of affection during the day, and less jealous of my attention to the other dogs in the house. Meg is the most "one person" dog I have ever had, and she really needs the connection and closeness with me.

 

Steward Robbins

[Farm Girl]

Well I'm not sure how the world works. But my dead Grandpa of 20 years came to visit me and my brother(who did not believe in ghosts at all) at seperate times a year apart. So I KNOW there is something else after death.

I believe we are care givers of animals and God uses animals for His good. Like teaching us lessons and helping us. I think they have lot's of different emotions and dogs are extremely special. And yes it scares the pants off me.

[Bordercentrics]

I have seen directly that dogs feel deep emotion. Finn McCool, our 11 year old Bouvier, was a Delta Society Pet Partner for a long time. When I brought my Mom out here and had to place her in a dementia care facility, I added that facility to Finn's regular therapy dog visits. We went twice a month. My Mom always liked Finn, but wasn't a "dog person" per se. We always began our visits in Mom's room, and then she accompanied us on our rounds, assuring the other residents that he was a "nice dog" and then we ended our visits with some more time with Mom in her room. When she died, Finn was definitely affected by her death, so much so that he didn't want to do therapy dog work at all. His Delta re-evaluation was coming up, and he didn't pass because he would not allow anyone but us to hug him. This is a dog who revelled in meeting and schmoozing with people. He adored attention from strangers in parks, loved kids and was a general cuddle bug. His aloofness lasted for one year after Mom's death. Then he returned to his old snuggly self. It took me about the same amount of time to grieve. Dogs can be complicated emotionally and just because science has not studied it and come to conclusions does not mean that we can assume they are not.

 

Kathy Robbins

[maedog]

I have a wonderful story about affection and concern towards me by my dog, Mae. On our wedding day Mae was our flower girl--complete with a lovely neck wreath of purple flowers. She was very composed during the entire event and walked with me up to the altar (outdoors, patio actually) and lay in front of us while we said our vows (no leash needed at all). Jeff and I had written our own vows and I was trying very hard not to cry while saying mine. At one point while saying my vows, and crying, Mae got up, jumped up to put her paws on my arms (Jeff and I were holding hands)and gave me a little, concerned lick on the face. I smiled, stopped crying, and then she went back to her spot in front of us. Needless to say--all of our guests broke into tears. I've been told MANY times that even tho I was the bride, the star of the day was Mae. And I completely agree. I've never doubted that dogs have feelings.

[Maralynn]

The big thing that Miss demonstrates that always amazes me is trust. She was a very skittish, unsure dog when I got her. But from about day 3 with me she decided that she trusted me and my dad. And as skittish as she was, you could tell that she was delighted to do something with either of us. I don't think she'd ever been told she was a good girl before. You could read it on her face "wow! life is good here"

 

And even now she'll try just about anything for/with me. Even if she's not quite sure about it, she really wants to try it for me. It's really quite humbling how much she trusts me.

[borderlicious]

I have no doubts that dogs feel emotions similar to ours - joy, frustration, disappointment, pride, jealousy, rage . . . I also think they are quite capable of love.

 

I don't think that they have the cognitive capabilities to act on feelings such as spite, but they may feel such things. I really don't have a clue what's going on in their heads sometimes.

 

I've been lucky enough to have two "soul dogs" in a short period of time. My chow mix, Shiner, grew up with me and we knew each other inside and out. Dakota, my BC, is also extremely close to me. After only 2 years of living with me, Dakota has the same connection with me that Shiner did after 10 years. Dakota is very tuned-in to my emotions and what I'm doing. If I'm frustrated or angry over something, he'll bring me a huge toy and shove it in my lap. If I'm happy, he's happy. If I'm depressed, he gets absolutely silly-goofy and always makes me laugh. If I'm nervous or scared, he puffs himself up and looks up at me as if to say "I've got your back". If someone or something is threatening me, he is fiercely protective. He has such a keen understanding of my emotions, I have no doubts that he experiences them too.

[Kat's Dogs]

No doubt about deep-doggy emotion here.

[Beth G]

Oh yeah for sure. Mine always let me know they are there for me when I'm upset, and when my blood sugar crashes they get very worried and protective.

 

Sometimes snuggling in bed next to Popcorn he will reach over and put his paw over mine and just look deeply into my eyes and then lean over and give me a kiss wagging his tail madly.

 

Dogs are just all about PURE, honest love. And they're never out to get anything for themselves. You gotta just love that.

[nancy]

Fergie sleeps on a covewred pillow on the floor on my side of the bed. When we wake up, she either goes to Chuck's side of the bed to put her paws up on the bed and lick his face or onto the carpet at the foot of the bed with her belly up for rubbing.

 

Unless one of us is sick. Then she waits for the other one to go into the bathroom. Then she gets up on the bed, does some licking, and curls up along the torso. She'll pass up walkies, breakfast, anything. She just stays there and keeps her patient warm and safe.

 

Nurse Fergie.

[mado]

Hello Rootbeer , you mentioned reading a good book on this , could you tell the title and author please ?

[Meg's mum]

BethG "Dogs are just all about PURE, honest love. And they're never out to get anything for themselves."

 

I'm not sure I agree with this sentiment, however lovely. Meg is all about "Play with me". No matter how clear it is that it is painful for me or unwanted at a particular momment...its all about her at those points of the day getting what she wants.

 

She will gently nose me, paw me, argue with me, slide up and down the hall walls, bark at the air, and even occasionally issue a single bark while looking at me.

 

Eventually she will go off or actually give up and plop down with a mope and sad look on her face. ANYONE offering to play with her at that time fills the bill - it has nothing to do with ME time.

 

(This is a dog that gets at a minimum 3 hours of full contact time with me/DH, loving absent minded pats, training, fun plushy play, steel the nose belly rub time and parents that lose sleep trying not to disturb the dog's sprawl across the bed.)

[Black Watch Debatable]

Root Beer wrote:

I just read a really phenomenal book about this subject, in fact.

Was it this book?

[bcnewe2]

I think the mistake we make is comparing their emotions to human emotions. Personaly I think they feel all those things mentioned above but in a totaly dog way. Can you imagine what a human would be like if treated like a dog? Even a well treated dog. I don't think we'd act like they do cause it "feels" different to a dog.

 

I believe it's one in which we can not even begin to understand but maybe we can feel a sence of what they do or vice versa.

 

I also think that they are quite selfish in getting their needs met. Even if that means taking care of their "person" to get it. Doesn't mean they don't love us, but with purpose.

 

Nothing beats a happy dog with it's happy owner, what ever that means to all of us!

 

Sounded good in my head but not so sure now

 

Kristen

[Beth G]

Meg's mum- What I meant was more along the lines of they are not devious like mankind is.

 

They are manipulative- OOH HECK YEAH! ;)Lol... but they do not plot what they can get out of us while they are loving us,like some humans might.

[sweet_ceana]

Originally posted by bcnewe2:

I think the mistake we make is comparing their emotions to human emotions. Personaly I think they feel all those things mentioned above but in a totaly dog way. Kristen

I think this was very well said, I found myself searching for these words as i was reading this "chicken soup for the dogs owners soul" topic. This reminds me of a very early memory I have of strong emotion. I will warn you it is pretty silly: When I was very little my parents had a gold VW bug with black leather interior. I hated that car because in this memory, it was humid, my legs stuck to the hot seat because I had on a irritating dress, and I was too little to see out the window. When I think of this memory, a swell of emotion fills me with what i would now call a mix of fraustration and anger. Yet this memory is different from some of my others because at the time it was made I did not have the words yet to label it. Instead of remembering I did not like it, I first feel the emotion and then , for lack of a better term, translate it into words. I have always imagined this is very similar to how it is for some animals. They feel it, but do not equate it to anything beyond the feeling. They do not take that second step to translate. No understanding, questioning, or interrpreting, just emotion.

 

I do not however think that this "selfishness" that dogs exhibit, as mentioned before, is such a bad thing. We want a relationship from dogs that puts us in the position of care taker or leader. They give us that through our relationships. By doing what we want for their benefit they are giving us what need from them.

I enjoy my relationship with Ceana even if it means playing ball and frisbe...all the time, or having her listen to me beacuse she knows that she will get oodles of attention and treats for good behavior. These are the things that I came looking for when I went to the breeder. The fact that she feels emotion does not take anything away from this for me, instead it can make things more challenging and thus more rewarding for me. Bringing her those happy emotions is just the icing on the cake.