Isa,
I too am interested in this topic, and I also want my dogs to love me. I’d like to see where your research leads you and hopefully we see another post on what you find out, because I also think that dogs are capable of complex emotions.

This seems really interesting, especially that documentary. What was it called? I’d love to give it a watch. I’d definitely love to see another post based on your research, just like Adam.

I think its amazing how the gorilla was able to use sign language its amazing to hear about that. I wonder if gorillas are evolving or if koko is just smarter than other gorillas. Interesting

Hey Isa!

I love the topic of your research! So many people have dogs, and I know for a fact that your not the only one interested in how much dogs understand our emotions. I wonder how this understanding differs between different animal species, like cats versus dogs?

–Naomi

Isa,
I also wonder if my dog can feel emotion. I want my dog to love me as well, as he’s an important part of my family. Looking forward to another post on this subject!

Everyone with pets wishes they could express feelings back to us other than shaking their leg when you scratch “the spot”. I too would enjoy the follow up post on this topic, especially if you find out exactly what traits dog have and what they mean.

Dear Isa:

I am in great agreement with your post, “Can animals understand complex emotions?,” because as a person who owns a dog, I have often wondered about this topic as well. I have always thought that my dog seemed particularly perceptive to my emotions and she has often exhibited many human-like traits, so this article was very interesting for me to read.
One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: “Dogs also have been found to be susceptible to mood lifters like the practice of yoga, or in this case, Doga.” I think this is very coincidental because whenever my dog is happy, she tends to stretch into downward dog position then up to cow position, so it is funny that you mention talk about why dogs do that.
Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next, because I find that your articles are interesting, relatable, and most importantly, enjoyable!

Extremely gratified to find out that my dog can understand my emotions!

Isa,
I commented on your earlier post, and now I see, that my wishes were answered and you did write more on this topic. I am very happy to see that dogs are, in fact, capable of complex emotions and that is something I see every day, so there was no doubt in my mind that they could. Thank you for your post!

Greetings Isa,

I strongly agree that yes, animals can and will always express emotions. After all they all have a heart and a psychological part just like we do, the only different is that , we can communicate among us and we are only able to understand ourselves. Who knows if in the future we will be able to read the animals’ emotions ?

Sincerely,
Marcus.

Dear Isa,
I am satisfied with your post “Can Animals Understand Complex Emotions?” because as a animal person, I have been asking myself the same question, and looking for answers. One can see the change of emotion in an animals eyes, especially a dog. One thing you said that stands out to me is when you said “Dogs have evolved to be skilled at reading human emotion as well as expressing their own emotions. The four dimensions of canine personality: sociability, affection, emotional stability and competence are remarkably similar to the four basic categories of human personality found in standard psychological tests.” I think this is interesting because it explains how they found it out.

Hi Isa!
I find your topic very interesting. It’s definitely something to wonder about, if animals can feel deep and complex emotions or just simple ones, and maybe even which animals are better at perceiving human emotion than others. My favorite quote was, “The four dimensions of canine personality: sociability, affection, emotional stability and competence are remarkably similar to the four basic categories of human personality found in standard psychological tests” and I’d love to hear more information about that, because I feel like it’s a crucial part of your article, and something people will find fascinating. I have a dog and feel like she can pick up on how I’m feeling. I think it’d be cool and would strengthen your argument if you talked about therapy dogs and how they pick up on moods and emotions of sick and injured people. Check out this article: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/12/121221-comfort-dogs-newtown-tragedy-animal-therapy/

Beth

Isa this is a really interesting aspect of instagram, since instagram is such huge part of many youths life what they see can slowly conform their lives without even knowing. I think that many girls in this generation strive for the impossible and it is important to show the fallacy behind what people are striving for.