Poll: Do Dogs feel love?

[Cakes]

Dogs definitely have loyalty built into them far more than most other animals, but you can hardly equate that to humanlike "love". Puppies lick your face instinctively, not because they think you're a real cool dude.

 

[Jakub324]

My old dog used to almost have an orgasm whenever my dad stroked him, so I'm gonna say yes.

 

[sky14kemea]

Of course they do! My mums dogs howl when she leaves for work in the morning. It's really sad ;_;

But they always jump up when she comes back. They always choose her to cuddle up to as well. =]

 

[latiasracer]

Feed them once, Then they do.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

absolutely after seeing/hearing some of the amazing things that dogs do, espeically in times of need, there is not a doubt in my mind they love.

plus my grandma's dog is awesome and puts the biggest smile on her face when i play soccer with her (not even joking, its a smile with teeth and all)

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

My dog, before he died on September 10th, would be very depressed if he was left alone. He loved us and we loved him. End of story.

 

[Kreka_X]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysKAVyXi0J4

Yeah, I think they have some emotions.

 

[Ghengis John]

Simple question do you think dogs feel love? While some may argue that we as humans mistake loyalty and obidience in a dog as love, dogs have been known to sink into depression after losing their owner or even another dog. So my vote says "yes"

Not a simple question, complicated answer. Dogs feel bonds of attachment yes, but not "love" as we would define it. They are genetically pre-programmed to do all those things that pull at your heartstrings thanks to their pack origin and man kind's selection and while that might elicit love from us it doesn't mean the feelings are the same for them.

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

Anybody who has had a dog knows the answer is a yes, but scientifically speaking, it's more of a sense of kinship than anything else.

All Mammels have a Limbic system in their brain, which is a sort of empathy center.

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

No, since dogs are not self aware (proven) they don't have a concept of self so a concept of love is really stretching it.

Every animal is self aware.

Why do they feel pain, or want food? They are aware of their own esitence.

You confuse sentience (conciouness) and sapience. It's a common misconception.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Every person who has ever had a dog will tell you that yes they defiantly do.

 

[MrAkuma201]

Yes dogs do. Animals can feel too if a dog can experience fear the same for love.

 

[Darknacht]

Define love.

 

[Pat8u]

No, since dogs are not self aware (proven) they don't have a concept of self so a concept of love is really stretching it.

citation pls

OT:Yes they do feel something like love but its more pure than the human version since their love is always there and will never stop(unless you abuse the poor dog)

 

[Bassik]

Simple question do you think dogs feel love? While some may argue that we as humans mistake loyalty and obidience in a dog as love, dogs have been known to sink into depression after losing their owner or even another dog. So my vote says "yes"

Not a simple question, complicated answer. Dogs feel bonds of attachment yes, but not "love" as we would define it. They are genetically pre-programmed to do all those things that pull at your heartstrings thanks to their pack origin and man kind's selection and while that might elicit love from us it doesn't mean the feelings are the same for them.

You could also argue that we are also pre-programmed to do and feel all those things as well in order to form a lasting bond with our mate to raise children and to form a loyal groups. The arguement works both ways; we are just as mammalian as a dog is, so who's to say our emotions are any different?

Love and whatever the animal equivilant of friendship is are great biological tools to create social animals, a type of lifestyle that has some obvious benefits. If we, another social animal, take these creatures into our house, and pet them, love them, feed them... is it so far-fetched that the barrier between species is not as important as psycho-analists have us believe?
Even parrots, pet rats, ferrets and iguanas can show behaviour that is only explainable by a mutual friendship between man and his pet.
Affcorse, our friends the psycho-analists will call me antropomorphic or some BS psycho-babble, wich is why I did not become a pshyciatrist.

 

[Lerasai]

Remember that story of that one dog in japan that followed walked home with his owner from the train station every day when he came home from work, and kept coming to the train station after his owner died even escaping from the family that adopted him? I'd say yes.

Linking to the story so others can read it and cry: Hachiko [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachik%C5%8D]

So, yeah, I do believe they can. Whether that is due to stories like this one or a childhood of Disney movies is up to debate, but either way I will be a sentimental idiot until the day I die.

 

[cookyy2k]

No, since dogs are not self aware (proven) they don't have a concept of self so a concept of love is really stretching it.

Every animal is self aware.

Why do they feel pain, or want food? They are aware of their own esitence.

You confuse sentience (conciouness) and sapience. It's a common misconception.

Wrong, self awareness is awareness of your own individuality, not that you're alive.

So far the only animals proven to be self aware are: All of the great apes, Bottlenose dolphins, Orcas, Elephants, European Magpies.

 

[Rossco64]

Remember that story of that one dog in japan that followed walked home with his owner from the train station every day when he came home from work, and kept coming to the train station after his owner died even escaping from the family that adopted him? I'd say yes.

Linking to the story so others can read it and cry: Hachiko [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachik%C5%8D]

So, yeah, I do believe they can. Whether that is due to stories like this one or a childhood of Disney movies is up to debate, but either way I will be a sentimental idiot until the day I die.

One of those movies wouldn't happen to be Homeward Bound would it? Cause I saw a clip of earlier which inspired the topic.

 

[TheTaco007]

Do humans feel love? How do you define love? Emotion is just a sequence of chemicals being released into your brain. What chemicals we define as "love" is something that needs to be decided before we can know if dogs have it too.

 

[Ghengis John]

You could also argue that we are also pre-programmed to do and feel all those things as well in order to form a lasting bond with our mate to raise children and to form a loyal groups.

Let me ask you how you select a mate. Do you not get to know them, do they not have to impress you in some way, to attract and maintain your interest? To find things you have in common? Do you not look for desirable qualities? A dog does none of these things when it binds itself to a human. It is simply looking for someone to follow, someone stronger than itself to fall in line behind. It has no requirement other than a provider. Beyond that it would follow anyone, whether they pampered it or beat it every day. You can say that there are humans who trap themselves in abusive relationships ("like a whipped dog" they say), but on some level, at some point they choose. A dog never does. I definitely think that a dog can feel happy, or sad. And some masters make their animals happy and some make them sad, but there's an unshakable conceptual construct for a dog not of "love" but of "master". A dog's "love" isn't earned. So I have trouble looking at it as the same as a human's.

Affcorse, our friends the psycho-analists will call me antropomorphic or some BS psycho-babble, wich is why I did not become a pshyciatrist.

Well you are projecting human emotions onto animals. The most disturbing thing about people attributing their dog with love however is that all a dog is offering you is subservience. Is that what love is to some people? I'd like to think it's more than that. It can not offer you understanding for instance. It has no understanding to give. A dog doesn't know you by anything other than smell or the sound of your voice. It could never say, "Oh look, a bird, bassik loves birds I better show him this bird." So no. Do I think they feel a crushing desire to be near you at all times? Yeah. Is that love? For me, personally no. That's all.