Researchers Reveal 5 Emotions Your Dogs Can Experience

Ever wonder if dogs can feel emotions? It turns out that they can, indeed, experience certain complex feelings. Here are 5 emotions a dog can experience.

Joy and Love

Research found that, when a dog looks into the eyes of their owner, their levels of oxytocin experienced a boost. This means that they know the happiness of being with someone they love!

Sadness and Depression

Anyone who’s seen an anxious shelter dog will know the sadness a dog can feel. They seem to be able to experience these emotions, which is probably why they can pick up on them in others.

Empathy

You may have noticed that your dog seems to know when you’re sad and often seems to try to cheer you up with kisses, gifts of toys, or cuddles. This is because they can actually detect your mood from your tone of voice!

Anxiety

Separation anxiety is a real issue that many dogs do experience. Dogs can also get anxious about new situations and people, and fearful dogs are certainly experiencing some degree of anxiety.

Jealousy

When you give your attention to other dogs – or even toys that look like dogs – your dog may display traits that mimic jealousy. More research is needed to tell if this is just guarding behavior or something more complex.

Feature Image Source: Pixabay