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Dogs are pretty amazing cross-species communicators, when you think about it. They're able to make facial expressions and gestures that are understood even by humans who aren't familiar with canines, and clever dogs can understand quite a few words, with the very cleverest even learning to understand combinations of words. And that's all without them being extraordinarily intelligent, as far as animal species go. It's really a testament to how neatly they've co-evolved with us and how closely they study us.
I'm not really interested in dissecting the question of "what is love," but it's clear that dogs enjoy being with their people, form special bonds with particular humans, and are concerned with their people's well-being and happiness. Sounds enough like love to me.
If you ever doubt animals love us watch Hatchi - A Dog's Tale. It was a movie with Richard Gere based on a true story. Hatchi was found as a puppy by Richard Gere's character. Hatchi adored his owner. He used to wait at the train station for owner to come home. Owner died at work and naturally Hatchi didn't know the owner had died. Hatchi waited at the train station for owner for years, refusing to even live at owner's daughter house.
Saddest movie I ever saw. Hatchi truly loved his owner.
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Originally Posted by Frostnip
Dogs are pretty amazing cross-species communicators, when you think about it. They're able to make facial expressions and gestures that are understood even by humans who aren't familiar with canines, and clever dogs can understand quite a few words, with the very cleverest even learning to understand combinations of words. And that's all without them being extraordinarily intelligent, as far as animal species go. It's really a testament to how neatly they've co-evolved with us and how closely they study us.
I never had a dog as a child, until my mother, after my father's death, started dating my soon-to-be stepfather when I was almost 16. I moved into his house after they married, when I was 17. He had a poodle about the size of a German Shepherd.
I could not readily ignore his numerous, obviously non-verbal requests to be petted. I pretended not to understand it, but the dog and I both laughed at the outcome of the game.
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