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Oh they totally can! And don't let anyone tell you any different!
When I am mad..my dog runs under the coffee table..
When I am sad, she gives me kisses...
When I am happy she smiles...
Thank you, Clinkscales. I have another story. My GSD is my first and only dog. I have never had to take care of others in my life. I got her as a puppy and also at a time I was under enormous stress from my work. I run back home during lunch time to let her out to go bathroom. She came out her crate to poop either in our yard or right in front of me in the house. One day I was so tired and while cleaning her poop, I started to cry. She licked my face while I was crying. I cried a lot that day. After that day, my GSD never pooped inside our house again. So if you have hard time to house break your dog, try my method.
Yes, dogs can absolutely sense our emotions and show empathy. Whenever I'm upset or cry I have a friend cuddling with me and licking away my tears. I often say I never knew unconditional love until I got my dog and it's true.
(My husband heard me say that one day and got greatly insulted because he feels his love is unconditional, but I still think my statement is true despite what he says.)
Dogs don't understand complex speech, so they have to be acutely aware of body language. They may see the difference in a glance, hand gesture, tone of voice, or posture. They have emotions, too. Watch how they walk, carry their head, ears, tail... They get headaches, colds, fatigue, pain, and can experience joy, frustration, need. Since they don't talk, we have to be aware of their "language" too.
Oh they totally can! And don't let anyone tell you any different!
When I am mad..my dog runs under the coffee table..
When I am sad, she gives me kisses...
When I am happy she smiles...
This is so true....that's how my dogs are. And when they are scared (like sensing a storm on the way) they all want in my lap....and that is fine except only one is a lapdog so I'm kind of smothered then. Gotta love them.
Yes. Last year, every morning when I was walking my GSD, we were crossing with a man with a Maltese. If other party doesn’t show any interest in interacting us, I usually don’t allow my GSD approach. So we always walked pass each other without any interaction.
Well one morning, he walked out of his home alone. My GSD surprised me by dragging me towards him (she usually doesn't like tall man). I said “No”. But she insisted and jumped next to him and kept licking his hand. Then my GSD started to whine and rubbed herself against him. He petted her. He told me that he just lost his dog due to a brain tumor the night before and he was sure that my GSD sensed the sadness. Several months later, he got another Maltese and now every morning, we and our dogs greet each other in the morning. Since then, he has kept spreading the good words about my GSD in our neighborhood. I have always wanted to share this story.
LingLing your post brought tears to my eyes. your GSD sounds like a wonderful dog to me.
I also agree dogs can sense emotion. When I am really sad my two are always right beside me, nudging me to pet them.
Yep, they can sense emotions. My dog gets very upset when I cry, and will try to get as close to me as possible, even trying to climb onto my lap (which doesn't work so well since she weighs about 50 lbs!) She knows what a laugh is too, because she'll get all excited and go run get a toy to bring to me.
Dogs most definitely can sense emotion, better than people. They read your emotions when you encounter "strangers", they will read the emotions of the other person, and they will react accordingly. They know when you are happy, sad, angry, nervous or scared and will react differently according to your emotion.
When I had to put down my 13.5 year-old Golden Retriever/Black Lab female last July I was very depressed and my 4 year-old Alaskan Husky/Golden Lab female would come over and lean against me in sympathy and she began sleeping in my bed for the first time, instead of her usual spot in the closet, just to be near me. She was also despondent over the loss. Even though her emotions were much more difficult for me to read. I could tell she was depressed because she was much less active, barely ate any food, and would stare at blank walls for minutes at a time.
Just before Thanksgiving I rescued a Mastiff/Golden Lab male puppy and noticed an immediate improvement in my Alaskan Husky/Golden Lab's demeanor. Even though the puppy is a pain in her butt most of the time, she is much more active and plays all the time now.
Dogs are wonderful aren't they? I just recently had to put down my 4 year old black lab and her one year old baby is very depresed now. Yesterday I was home with her and all she wanted to do was sleep. I was making my bed (where her Mom would always sleep) and she jumped up, sniffed around, and started rubbing her forhead into the comforter. She would then fall on her side and rub her eyes and nose with her paws. It made me cry too so we lay there and held each other giving each other kisses. We then decided to go out for a game of fetch. She has another dog at home to play with, so that will hopefully keep her more or less on the upbeat side of things. Dogs are very keen to not only what their owner is feeling, but how to express how they are feeling also.
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