Articles

Animal Emotions

February 2003

About a year ago, I was waiting in the examination room of my veterinarian’s office with two of my dogs. On that day I had brought Zoe, a 10-year-old Australian Shepherd I affectionately refer to as Queenie (as she is the queen of our household) and her slobbery servant Dobby, a 6-month-old Newfoundland puppy. The two dogs ignored each other as they sniffed around the room, checking out the guest register. As the vet entered the room, I asked Zoe to lie down and stay in the corner so she would be out of the way for Dobby’s exam. After saying hello to us, the vet fished through a container on the counter and extracted a treat to entice Dobby before his exam. Zoe immediately broke her stay, dove across the room, shoved Dobby aside and wolfed down the treat. The vet said, “Oh look how jealous she is.”

In my animal communication practice I work with animals’ emotions and feelings everyday. However, I’ve learned that the emotions they have are not always the ones I think they are having. This is understandable, because we tend to look at animals’ emotions through a human perspective. In doing so, we have a tendency to anthropomorphize our animal companions. I don’t write this to discredit the idea that animals have emotions. On the contrary, when we understand animal emotions from their perspective, we are in a much better place to recognize their feelings more accurately for what they truly are.

From a human perspective, it is easy to think about wanting something someone else has, feeling envious or jealous about it and even fighting to gain possession of it. So, from this perspective, Zoe looked jealous. However, let’s look at this from Zoe’s point of view. Zoe is a dog. She is also the alpha or top of her pack, which consists of three dogs in total. It was not jealousy driving Zoe to blast past Dobby and go for the dog treat. From her perspective, as the alpha member of her pack she had every right to eat food presented to a member of the pack before any of the other dogs. Zoe wasn’t jealous, but from her perspective she was simply entitled to that food.

Animals do have the same emotional range as humans, including jealousy, love, anger, guilt, and joy. I once worked with Penny, a Dachshund, who was dealing with true feelings of jealousy. Penny saw herself as the baby of her home. Her two human companions were mom and dad to her. Mom and dad came to see me because they were getting ready to have a human baby. They wanted to explain to Penny she shouldn’t touch the new baby’s toys or bark loudly when the baby was sleeping. This sweet dog couldn’t understand how there could possibly be room, both physically and emotionally, for another creature in their home. Penny got jealous when she thought of the new baby taking her place. There was no way to broach the topics her mom and dad came to see me for without first addressing this feeling of jealousy. Penny needed to hear there was room for both babies and mom and dad would have time and love for everyone. Once Penny understood her feelings were heard and her concerns were addressed, it was easier to discuss the other issues.

You might think all dogs would feel jealous of a newborn arriving at home. I have found many animals are just as excited as their human companions to have a new member of the family arrive. Some talk about their added responsibilities of looking after a baby or the fun of having someone to play with. Others take delight in learning there is a possibility their food intake may go up as the baby tosses an assortment of cereal and goldfish crackers to the ground. Just like people, animals have all sorts of different feelings and thoughts about various situations, depending on who they are as individuals and what experiences they have had in their lives.

Emotions convey information. Many times emotions materialize into behaviors and even illness when they are not understood. I was once called in by a veterinarian for a consult with one of her cat clients, Ophelia. Ophelia was at death’s door when I met her, yet all the tests the vet ran on her came back as normal. I asked Ophelia what was going on and she showed me a feeling of not being able to get her balance. I asked the vet where Ophelia lived and was told she lived on a boat. Ophelia’s owners were preparing to take the boat and cat on a long trip. Ophelia felt so uneasy living on the boat she decided she would rather die than live in this state of distress. I asked Ophelia what she needed to be well. Ophelia said she couldn’t live on the boat. She also said she needed time just laying in one of her owners' laps. Much to the credit of this vet, this information was passed on to the owners and the vet required one of the owners come every day to the animal hospital to hold Ophelia and let her snuggle in a lap. The owners agreed, and Ophelia made a miraculous recovery. The owners ultimately decided not to live on the boat and moved to a home on land. With her feelings heard and away from a place where she couldn’t get her footing, Ophelia remained healthy.

Without understanding what is going on for animals from their perspective, we can never know what they truly need to live the happiest lives they can. Most animals, like people, want information about what is going on around them. Helping them to make sense of stressful situations often alleviates their fears. Animals are constantly picking up information from the humans around them, but sometimes it is just a feeling or only part of a story they get. Without the rest of the details they may misunderstand their situation or create their own scenario of what’s happening, which may be worse than the actual event.

Some animals are very complex in their thinking, and I may explain a variety of components to them at once. Others need their basic concerns heard and discussed simply. I have worked with animals who were very sick and who were no longer able to think clearly. Being listened to relieved a lot of their anxiety, but being talked to in a respectful but simplified fashion was the only way they could understand me. It is about meeting them at the level where they are, not about dumbing down the information.

Sharing our lives with an animal is an amazing gift. They depend on us for their care and well-being. They are our friends, confidants, family and traveling companions. They can be our teachers and our healers. Their emotional lives are as dynamic as our own. Genuinely understanding our animals’ feelings can certainly help us make better decisions on their behalf. But there is more to it than this. Understanding our animal companions’ feelings allows us the opportunity to go beyond the layers of pretense and indirectness so common between humans, and experience a profound connection to be cherished.

© Polly Klein 2003