Dogs have Emotions Too

Response to “When Animals Grieve”, July 2013 issue of Reader’s Digest.  New research suggests that animals may have more complex emotions than mere primal instinct. This has always seemed obvious to me…

Dogs Have Emotions Too

There is no doubt in my mind that the dogs I grew up with had complex emotions!
I’m sure any person who has known a dog well enough would agree.

I grew up on a small holding just outside of town so we always had chickens, geese and a few dogs.  Thandi and Chester were an Alsatian couple we had for many years. When I was about sixteen and Thandi and Chester were about 63 (in doggy years), Chester was accidentally knocked over by a car and had to be put down…  I remember Thandi howling outside my window every night for about 2 weeks!  She had never done that before.  It was obvious that she was grieving the loss of her best friend and mate.  You could see her sorrow in her posture.  Although she cried no tears, her eyes did not hide her sadness.

Perhaps it was partly old age but Thandi never really regained her previous vigor for life.

You would have to have a heart of stone not to have noticed her emotional pain!