Understand expressions
There is no doubt that certain animals can interpret human emotions. I can speak confidently about dogs, but I can’t say the same about cats, as my experience is that dogs are more Pavlovian - they have a need-based approach.
Dogs, as I understand, do get a fair idea of the mood that we intend to communicate. That’s the key point, though. If I have a very bad day at school, my dog may not sense it. But if I’m angry with her, she would know just by my look.
The bottomline is both yes and no. It depends on the human’s expressiveness of his or her feelings. But then, to a large extent, that’s true with human to human relationships. So yes, certain intelligent animals, like dogs, do understand human emotions, but they cannot understand if his or her owner decides not to express a thing!
From Ms Malvika Jay
Dubai
Seeing raw emotions
As George Orwell said in Animal Farm: “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.” The answer to whether animals can detect human emotion depends on the type of animal. Dogs, for example, would have a closer bond with their owners than fish. Also communication is a two-way process, so how receptive the animal will be to the emotion of the human depends also on the human in question. My dog is more likely to detect my tears and interpret that as depression than a stray dog from the street. In fact at times, animals such as dogs can display greater sensitivity and humanity than humans because they are able to detect raw feelings that are uncluttered by layers of thought.
From Ms Arshia Ahmad
UAE
Part of the family
Dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs and birds all fall under the pet category! So, it would be biased to give informative and varied feedback based on animals as a group because they are all different. I have grown up with dogs and cats, and now I have the same pets for my children. Our rescue fur-family has extended into rabbits and tortoises, too. They have all the vital organs as we do. They breathe air and they need food and water to survive just like us. They are extremely protective of their offspring and mourn their family members. When we stop our car at the gate our fur-family comes to the window and when they see us open the gate, they run and wait until we walk through the front door. They wake up with us, they know when there is tension in the family and they know when we are unwell. I cannot imagine life without them. I feel they have rescued us from a very mundane existence!
It is such a blessing, to know there is unconditional love awaiting us! They do complete our family. They run to us and lick our children when they fall or get hurt. They are our family. Our family knows no other sense of a family unit. We wouldn’t have it any other way. Whenever we relocate, you can bet that they all will travel with us. That’s what family is all about!
From Mr Nisan N. Dom
Dubai
Very emotional
Animals can express emotions and interpret them. In the case of dogs, the moment their owner comes home, they come and wag their tail and jump with joy. If any unknown people and or strangers come, they will bark. They smell whoever comes to the house. Dogs are faithful, intelligent, sincere and, above all, a sense of awareness for bad people. Animals are very sensible.
From Mr Ragavan Krishnamachary
Bengaluru, India
An advanced understanding
You cannot humanise an animal because we don’t speak the same language. Animals have to understand our emotions and gestures and interpret it in their way. The way that the animals have responded to humanity is way beyond what we as human beings with advanced brains have understood. We can barely understand our own species and emotions!
From Ms Bindu Sathianesan
Sharjah
Very loyal
Dogs are very loving and caring. They know us when we are sick. When we talk to them, they understand us. They are very loyal to their owner.
From Ms Elizabeth Joy
Muscat, Oman
Intuitive
No, I don’t think they feel our emotions, but I truly believe they can sense our energy. I watch every episode of Caesar Milan’s Pet Whisperer when I can. I used to train dogs, too. I think many animals feel each other’s energy, which is why they act and react or not the way they do. This is why I don’t trust people if animals don’t. They sense something.
From Ms Azusa Shiraki
UAE
They show emotion
Yes, dogs know emotion. My dog pouts, cries and even laughs. He knows when he is in trouble and he is excited to go for a drive or get a treat. If he’s in my lap and he gets told to stay, he hangs his head down and pouts big time. And yes, they have tears, too!
From Ms Sheri Renee Rockwell
UAE
Sensing human energy
Animals cannot completely interpret human emotions, but they can sense what humans are thinking. Domestic pets, especially dogs and cats, can understand human emotions. A pet cat wiggles its tails and rubs its head with its owner’s feet when it is in a playful mood and can sense that the owner is also accepting it in its territory. There are examples when cats and dogs would sit in silence when their owner passes away. Although animals are unable to gauge emotions like humans do, they can sense energy that humans carry and then they respond accordingly.
From Mr Mohammad Omar Iftikhar
Karachi, Pakistan
Psychology of animals
Yes, I do believe that animals can interpret human emotions. Dogs and rats easily learn to avoid an electric shock from the floor by moving to another part of the experimental chamber when they hear a tone preceding the shock. The degree to which an animal is able to process stimuli and respond to them is limited by the brain available to process the task. Animal cognition is the study of the mental capacities of animals. It has developed out of comparative psychology, including the study of animal conditioning and learning, but has also been strongly influenced by research in ethology, behavioural ecology and evolutionary psychology.
From Ms Almira Cruz
Dubai
Editors’ note: Is there a topic that you feel strongly about? Something that you would like to see discussed within in the community? Email us on readers@gulfnews.com. You can also post a comment on our Facebook page or tweet us @GNReaders.
