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Which Emotions Do Dogs Actually Experience

Decent Essays

According to the article written by Simon Worrall, “Yes, Animals Think And Feel. Here’s How We Know,” he writes,“It seems illogical for us to think that animals might not be having a conscious mental experience of play, sleep, fear or love”(“Think and Feel”). What the quote means is that dismissing the idea that animals know how to show emotion is seems cold-hearted and narrowed minded to think they do not. The topic that I will argue is that animals know how to express emotion. This will be a question of fact (because of popular belief that animals do not express emotion). My goal is to inform. I would like for people to know that us humans are not the only ones that are conscious and aware on this earth, but also that animals are as well. …show more content…

According to the article,”Which Emotions do Dogs Actually Experience?” written by Stanley Coren who is a psychology professor and a neuropsychological researcher writes about what people feel are also what dogs feel and the development of emotions in both an infant and a dog and when their emotions start to grow in the upcoming years. In Coren’s article, he writes,”Dogs also have the same hormones and undergo the same chemical changes that humans do during emotional states. Dogs even have the hormone oxytocin, which, in humans, is involved with feeling love and affection for others. With the same neurology and chemistry that people have, it seems reasonable to suggest that dogs also have emotions that are similar to ours. However it is important to not go overboard and immediately assume that the emotional ranges of dogs and humans are the same”(“Dogs Actually Experience”). What he means is that the hormones that trigger love or happiness in people also happens in dogs, but not to be under the assumption that dogs possess every emotion that humans feel. What he also writes in his article is,”Dogs go through their developmental stages much more quickly than humans do, and have all of the emotional range that they will ever achieve by the time they are four to six …show more content…

While on the other hand, others argue that animals do not have emotions, but their emotions is what that animal perceives and what they are aware of. According to the article,”Five Myths and Five Truths About Emotions: Part Two,” written by doctor Steve Orma, a clinical psychologist, recognized mental health expert, and specialist in the treatment of insomnia, anxiety, and stress, writes how emotions are perceived and dispels some of the assumptions that people have had. According to Steve Orma,”Animals don’t experience emotions like human beings do. This is because we have a rational mind that can think abstractly and conceptually. Animals are only perceptual beings, and therefore their emotions are based on physical sensations, such as pleasure and pain, comfort and discomfort. For example, a dog might cry when you leave him home alone. But, this is not the same as a woman crying when her husband goes off to war. The dog is only aware (perceptually) that you are not there and he’s ‘sad’ because he’s not getting attention, affection, or food”(“Five Myths and Five Truths”). What he basically says is that the emotions that animals feel is only what they physically feel and that they only get sad when they do not get attention or when they are hungry, so what is perceived as animals having emotions is nothing but a false assumption. Although that may be true, but according to the

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