Do You Believe Dogs Have Feelings?

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

The reason I ask I suppose this unusual question is our dog is a big part of our family and although we all give him the same love and affection there is one member of the family he seems to miss more when has not been home for a long period of time. When i'm on the phone and i put it on loud speaker as soon as he hears my sons voice he stands on all fours with he's ears pricked up and sometimes runs around the sitting room with excitement. So I was wondering does anyone else out there have a pet dog that might react in a similar way and if so do you believe a dog has feelings.

Guy:Incognito

They can feel a kick in the hole alright.

me_irl

Is someone ringing a bell cos I'm salivating like a motherfecker over here.

Vojera

I don't think there's any doubt that animals have feelings. We just don't know how complex they are.

server down

Yes. They can die of heartbreak in fact.

MilesMorales1

Yes. Cats and dogs do. They're more intelligent than people think they are.

Fox_In_Socks

Emotions? Of course. Anger, love, fear...indisputable.

freshpopcorn

Yes, I believe dogs have feelings but I think peoples are more important!

PeterParker957

Absolutely they can. Just told the pup he can't have any Maltesers.

Never seen so much disappointment on one face!

Ipso

Fox_In_Socks wrote: »

Emotions? Of course. Anger, love, fear...indisputable.

That look of agony of trying to hold in a dump before he goes on the carpet.

Poor Uncle Tom

Of course they have feelings, is that a real question...

Dr Crayfish

Of course they have feelings. It's only the animals we eat like pigs and cows and sheep etc that don't have feelings.

tritriagain

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

They can feel a kick in the hole alright.

You deserve a kick in the hole.

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Of course they have feelings, is that a real question...

Yes it is a real question and the reason I asked such a question is to get posters opinions about what type of feeling their dog might show when been loved and cared for.

McMurphy

Of course they have feelings.

Our dog will cower in a corner looking quite guilty when I get in from work from time to time, usually indicating that he's been at something he shouldn't have. Usually chewed on something or pissed somewhere (he's getting on)

Tell him he's going on a walk - you can see the excitement in his face. Ask him if he wants a treat?- straight to the press where his treats are kept tail doing 90. Open the car door for him to signal he's actually coming with us, instead of staying in the kitchen until we return home, and he's like a kid at Christmas. Sitting in the car as smug as fcuk the whole way to wherever it is we're off to.

He knows when someone is upset. Upon the death of one of my wife's immediate family, she was weeping for quite some time , the dog sauntered over to her , gave a bit of a whine, then reached up to her knee with a paw in a kind of a 'I know, I know gesture'

When the kids are having the craic, he wants nothing better than joining in, barking loudly wagging his tail, and displaying sheer joy at being able to partake.

As already said, dogs are a hell of a lot smarter than some people give them credit for.

I love our dog. Absolutely 100% part of the family.

Donald Trump

I've gone out with a few in my day. The two legged variety I mean

They claim to have feelings the next morning when the beer goggles wear off and I wake up, recoiling in disgust

Dr Crayfish

I would imagine most animals of reasonable intelligence are sentient. We have anthropomorphised dogs and cats so people are outraged when they hear of Asians eating dogs but have no problems tucking into steak or lamb. We're all a bunch of hypocrites.

Duff

Of course they do. Anyone who has ever owned a German Shepherd will tell you how close they become to their owners. My fella still goes nuts when he knows I'm leaving for work and he's nearly two. Also, when I come home and he's done a big shïte somewhere he shouldn't he 100% has a guilty look about him and knows he's done wrong.

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

They can feel a kick in the hole alright.

I take it you don't own a dog and if you did I pitty the poor thing.

scudzilla

A lot of you in A&P know of Brodi, posted quite a few pics of her over the years, she's now 8yrs old

4yrs ago we got another dog, same as Brodi, a boxer, he was male, she was female

Now Ozzy grew big, too big, he had heart issues and he died at just over 1yr old, Brodi was devastated, we made the mistake of not taking her to the vets to see his body.

For some weeks after any biscuits she'd get she'd store some, and whenever the front door was open she'd run outside and drop them in garden, guessing in the hope it would entice Ozzy back and that he was just missing, on walks sh'd be peeing every 20 metres or so, probably dropping her scent, she'd never done that before, or after

She used to mammy him so bad and he loved it, we got Piper, a female boxer 2yrs ago, sure she likes Pip but knowhere near on the same scale as she loved Oz, part of her died that day he left us

So yeah, Dogs have feelings

Here's the 2 of them messing, Ozzy was 9 months here, (Bro is in purple collar), he died 3 months later

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6EttlaUQKg

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

Rick Shaw wrote: »

Of course they have feelings.

Our dog will cower in a corner looking quite guilty when I get in from work from time to time, usually indicating that he's been at something he shouldn't have. Usually chewed on something or pissed somewhere (he's getting on)

Tell him he's going on a walk - you can see the excitement in his face. Ask him if he wants a treat?- straight to the press where his treats are kept tail doing 90. Open the car door for him to signal he's actually coming with us, instead of staying in the kitchen until we return home, and he's like a kid at Christmas. Sitting in the car as smug as fcuk the whole way to wherever it is we're off to.

He knows when someone is upset. Upon the death of one of my wife's immediate family, she was weeping for quite some time , the dog sauntered over to her , gave a bit of a whine, then reached up to her knee with a paw in a kind of a 'I know, I know gesture'

When the kids are having the craic, he wants nothing better than joining in, barking loudly wagging his tail, and displaying sheer joy at being able to partake.

As already said, dogs are a hell of a lot smarter than some people give them credit for.

I love our dog. Absolutely 100% part of the family.

Our dog is much the same when i'm eating my dinner he stands up on two legs and taps me on the leg hoping i will give him some of my roast beef . Of course I always tell him feck off because he never shares any of his food with me. When he's sitting on the couch he can tell by the sound of the cars outside which one is ours and jumps up on the windowsill. He seems to be very intelligent

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

scudzilla wrote: »

A lot of you in A&P know of Brodi, posted quite a few pics of her over the years, she's now 8yrs old

4yrs ago we got another dog, same as Brodi, a boxer, he was male, she was female

Now Ozzy grew big, too big, he had heart issues and he died at just over 1yr old, Brodi was devastated, we made the mistake of not taking her to the vets to see his body.

For some weeks after any biscuits she'd get she'd store some, and whenever the front door was open she'd run outside and drop them in garden, guessing in the hope it would entice Ozzy back and that he was just missing, on walks sh'd be peeing every 20 metres or so, probably dropping her scent, she'd never done that before, or after

She used to mammy him so bad and he loved it, we got Piper, a female boxer 2yrs ago, sure she likes Pip but knowhere near on the same scale as she loved Oz, part of her died that day he left us

So yeah, Dogs have feelings

Here's the 2 of them messing, Ozzy was 9 months here, (Bro is in purple collar), he died 3 months later

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6EttlaUQKg

Thanks for sharing that lovely but sad story. So as well as humans dying of a broken heart dogs can too.

davyboy1975

We have a king charles and she is highly intelligent and definitely has feelings.
When my wife had suffered a miscarriage years ago the dog knew before we did, started sitting on her lap and not moving from it withoit being physically removed for a few weeks, turns out she had a mis two weeks before we actually went to the hospital.
My dog also goes mad in a good way when my parents come over to the house she runs over to them and u can see her smiling
Without doubt they have feelings

Dr Crayfish

https://www.independent.ie/life/dog-dies-of-a-broken-heart-after-being-abandoned-at-airport-by-her-owner-36331777.html

I think I have something in my eye

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

Dr Crayfish wrote: »

https://www.independent.ie/life/dog-dies-of-a-broken-heart-after-being-abandoned-at-airport-by-her-owner-36331777.html

I think I have something in my eye

Such a sad story. It beggars belief how someone could abandon a poor unfortunate dog like that. Obviously the sumbag who did this had no heart. Surely his owner could have taken him to a kennel where he would have been taken cared of in an humaine way.

JimmyMcGill

tritriagain wrote: »

You deserve a kick in the hole.

You wouldn't say that to Facekicker.

Dr Crayfish

natashaob6 wrote: »

Such a sad story. It beggars belief how someone could abandon a poor unfortunate dog like that. Obviously the sumbag who did this had no heart. Surely his owner could have taken him to a kennel where he would have been taken cared of in an humaine way.

What do you think of factory farms?

Vladimir Poontang

Dr Crayfish wrote: »

I would imagine most animals of reasonable intelligence are sentient. We have anthropomorphised dogs and cats so people are outraged when they hear of Asians eating dogs but have no problems tucking into steak or lamb. We're all a bunch of hypocrites.

Yeah but dogs have personalities.

crosstownk

Dr Crayfish wrote: »

https://www.independent.ie/life/dog-dies-of-a-broken-heart-after-being-abandoned-at-airport-by-her-owner-36331777.html

I think I have something in my eye

What sort of absolute wánker would abandon a dog at an airport. Fair enough if you have to leave and can't bring the animal but surely to fcuk it would cost nothing to bring it to a shelter, explain the situation and have the poor mutt looked after by caring professionals.

Sub human cnuts. :mad:

hatrickpatrick

I don't think there's any doubt to be honest. And I've never understood the extraordinarily arrogant view humans have that other animals don't have complex thoughts, just because they don't communicate the way we do. It's buzzard, actually, this idea that our brains produce actual self-thought while almost every other brain in the animal kingdom is purely a cause and effect analyser? Don't buy it at all.

Dr Crayfish

Vladimir Poontang wrote: »

Yeah but dogs have personalities.

So do horses, and pigs, the French eat horses. Look I love dogs I just find the fawning over them ridiculous the way we treat the animals we eat. I doubt piglets are too happy when mother is taken away to be slaughtered but we don't seem to care about that.

McMurphy

scudzilla wrote: »

A lot of you in A&P know of Brodi, posted quite a few pics of her over the years, she's now 8yrs old

4yrs ago we got another dog, same as Brodi, a boxer, he was male, she was female

Now Ozzy grew big, too big, he had heart issues and he died at just over 1yr old, Brodi was devastated, we made the mistake of not taking her to the vets to see his body.

For some weeks after any biscuits she'd get she'd store some, and whenever the front door was open she'd run outside and drop them in garden, guessing in the hope it would entice Ozzy back and that he was just missing, on walks sh'd be peeing every 20 metres or so, probably dropping her scent, she'd never done that before, or after

She used to mammy him so bad and he loved it, we got Piper, a female boxer 2yrs ago, sure she likes Pip but knowhere near on the same scale as she loved Oz, part of her died that day he left us

So yeah, Dogs have feelings

Here's the 2 of them messing, Ozzy was 9 months here, (Bro is in purple collar), he died 3 months later

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6EttlaUQKg

That's about the nicest (but sad at the same time) story I've read in years.

EPAndlee

They do have feelings. I do talk to my dog more than my family. My dog seems to have one feeling and that's mischief. He just disappears into a room and doesn't make a sound for a few minutes and normally he's doing something he shouldtn't

Of course they do, but probably not as complex as some would ascribe. They can feel anger, loyalty and other basic emotions because they are animals. But doubt they feel complex emotions, like the feeling that a kid who swats a fly on their back shouldn't get their head savaged off because s/he is too young to understand the reaction it might provoke.

WoollyRedHat

PeterParker957 wrote: »

Absolutely they can. Just told the pup he can't have any Maltesers.

Never seen so much disappointment on one face!

Just told Lord Trobone that rump steak wasn't on the menu tonight and he'd have to hunt for his own dinner. Suffice to say I'm in the dog house.

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

Dr Crayfish wrote: »

So do horses, and pigs, the French eat horses. Look I love dogs I just find the fawning over them ridiculous the way we treat the animals we eat. I doubt piglets are too happy when mother is taken away to be slaughtered but we don't seem to care about that.

You make a valid point but unfortunately when most of us sit down to eat roast beef, ham, or pork sauggeses the last thing on our mind is where it comes from how it was treated and how it affected the other animals around it when it is been taken away to be slaughtered.

Agricola

Rick Shaw wrote: »

Of course they have feelings.

Our dog will cower in a corner looking quite guilty when I get in from work from time to time, usually indicating that he's been at something he shouldn't have. Usually chewed on something or pissed somewhere (he's getting on)

I used to think something similar about a dog I had until I read into it.

Our dog had a terrible habit of going down to the bedrooms when no one was looking and tossing the bedclothes to hell. I met him a couple of times in the hall and let a roar at him to get out of it. He always looked sheepish and guilty when he saw me in the hallway. Anyway, apparently dogs dont do complex emotions like guilt. He was looking sheepish simply because I was shouting at him and he'd always look sheepish in the hallway from then on because thats WHERE I shouted at him. He would never make the connection that I am scolding him for something he did 5 minutes beforehand in a completely different room. And it makes sense really.

But yeah, as regards joy at seeing their owner, sadness when they are apart from them, excitement at going off in the car or for walks.....of course they have those feelings.

myshirt

Of course dogs have feelings, and they care about your feelings. Great companions and friends.

A good bit of advice on confidence building I heard was to 'be the person that your dog thinks you are'. A dog is nearly always in good form with a positive outlook. Remember a dog is one of the only animals who manages to make it through life not having to work, despite having no money. Why do they have no money? It's quite simple. They've no pockets (Jerry Seinfeld). Seriously though remember they rely entirely on the goodwill of others and the ability to connect. Of course they have feelings.

Floki

Are dogs vegetarians now?

peasant

To answer part two of the OP's question...yes, they can also have favourites

ArchXStanton

me_irl wrote: »

Is someone ringing a bell cos I'm salivating like a motherfecker over here.

Pavlov's dog?

https://www.simplypsychology.org/pavlov.html

Oldtree

Yes dogs do. Cats no.

flaneur

Dogs and cats are just very different in how they express themselves and what motivates them.

Dogs are pack animals and need to constantly seek reassurance and approval from the pack and most importantly the pack leadership.

Cats are very social, intelligent animals too. They just have no particular sense that they need approval all the time as they operate quite independently. They will still greet you, snuggle into you, defend the 'pride' and also follow you around the place and expect a lot of attention too and play too.

Vladimir Poontang

Dr Crayfish wrote: »

So do horses, and pigs, the French eat horses. Look I love dogs I just find the fawning over them ridiculous the way we treat the animals we eat. I doubt piglets are too happy when mother is taken away to be slaughtered but we don't seem to care about that.

I don't eat pork. Pigs are filthy animals. Pigs sleep and root in ****. That's a filthy animal.

Pero_Bueno

Dr Crayfish wrote: »

Of course they have feelings. It's only the animals we eat like pigs and cows and sheep etc that don't have feelings.

:D:D:D

Dogs very much have feelings. A real life Seymour (of futurama fame)

https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/dog-abandoned-at-airport/

Tell me how

I absolutely think dogs have feelings.

My parents dog will be in bad form for the day if one of them gives out to him. Even over a small thing, he gets very quiet about it.
I always know if something went on earlier by how he is when I pull up outside the house. They don't touch him but even telling him to clear off out of the way seems to bother him.

On the plus side, when they give each other a hug, like just standing in the kitchen for example, he jumps up on his hind legs and joins in. This makes me happy because A, my parents are in their 70's and I like the idea of them giving each other hugs for no particular reason and B, when the dog jumps up, they let him join in.

_Brian

Vladimir Poontang wrote: »

I don't eat pork. Pigs are filthy animals. Pigs sleep and root in ****. That's a filthy animal.

That’s a highly ignorant statement, typical of what you see from people who never bothered to find out the truth.

Given the space pigs never ever lie or root where they go to the toilet. Given space they will consciously dedicate a corner to use as a “bathroom” area and that will be its only use.

We keep pigs for our own consumption, they’re not dirty provided they get the correct space.

Cattle and sheep on the other hand have no clue, no matter what space they have they just shiit everywhere and then lie in it.

_Brian

I’ve once eaten dog when in Asia, it was in a sort of stew.
It was quite disappointing as meat goes, chewey and not too tasty, like a low grade cut of beef. I wouldn’t bother again.

I tried horse a few years ago too, not much different to beef, that’s why so much was substituted into Irish beef factories without too many noticing.

erica74

Of course dogs have feelings, although I don't know (how could anyone?) if their feelings are as complex as human feelings.
We recently had one of our dogs put to sleep, we had 2 big dogs and 2 small dogs, now one of the big dogs is on her own and she does seem lonely. I don't know if she's missing her companion as much as we're missing him.
Dogs certainly know happiness, sadness and fear.

faceman

Dogs like all animal, except evil cats, have emotions. In fact dogs have a genetic defect that enables them to love their family/owners unconditionally. (Almost like William’s Syndrome in humans.) Research has also shown that dogs can read human emotions on our faces.

flaneur wrote: »

Dogs are pack animals and need to constantly seek reassurance and approval from the pack and most importantly the pack leadership.

Dogs are not pack animals. That theory was debunked a long time ago (originally by the guy who came up with theory!). But they do seek approval, attention and affection from their human family like you say though.