

Some studies have compared portions of the brain that get fired up while experiencing emotions like excitement, anger and sadness, among others. “The amygdala is one such example, and it’s pretty ancient evolutionarily speaking,” reported HowStuffWorks.


All mammals share the same neural apparatus

Animal emotions seem to be quite complex. For instance, when your dog tears up your most valuable couch cushions while you’re away at work, it might be because he’s experiencing anxiety caused by loneliness, and his restlessness, or destruction, could be a coping mechanism.




Researchers studied the reactions of 36 dogs in their owner’s homes, videotaping their response to their owners ignoring them for three different reasons.

Dogs feel jealousy just like us


“These weren’t just aggressive acts they carried out. They tried positive things like being more affectionate to regain their loved one’s attention, to try and gain their relationship back,” said Harris.

“Many people have assumed that jealousy is a social construction of human beings, or that it’s an emotion specifically tied to sexual and romantic relationships,” added Harris.


In regard to the dogs that didn’t show jealousy, “It’s possible these are not very bright dogs, who didn’t even realize these items were something to be jealous over, or maybe they were very bright dogs who were not fooled by these inanimate objects. Another possibility is that the bond may not have been very strong with the owner.”

Skeptics argue that it’s difficult to truly detect whether or not animals have emotions because of something called anthropomorphism, or humans projecting their own traits onto animals.

Some theorize that animals may have developed emotions in response to adaptation to different situations, and that in the wild animals do not learn “social niceties.”


While more research is needed, overall, it seems to be a bit egocentric on mankind’s part to assume that we’re the only ones who feel emotions.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/046706_dogs_animal_emotion_jealousy.html#ixzz3OYCn4QIt

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