I’ve always believed that animals are sensitive to emotions — in their owners, in new people they meet, maybe even in other animals.
But if you try to go looking for proof, you get a whole lot of anecdotal evidence.
I am pretty sure that my dogs recognize tone of voice — and that is often related to emotion. They know the difference between my play voice and my serious voice (the one that says “go in the house now, we’re done fooling around and trying to find cats in the landscaping!”) For the record, they listen better to the serious voice.
One of my favorite Lally stories comes from our early days together. She was very skittish, and very submissive. Every time I came home from work, she would do a quick little submissive piddle. Any time I raised my voice, she would do a submissive piddle. There was one afternoon I was on the phone, talking about something outrageous with a friend (I forget exactly what), my voice getting louder and louder. And I turned to Lally mid-sentence and said “Don’t you peep just because I’m talking loud!” And she didn’t.
But did she recognize that I was talking loud but not angry? I don’t know.
A lot of people say that their pets act differently when they are sad. None of the dogs I’ve owned (Miko, Lally, and Moose) have acted any differently when I’m upset, sad, or crying. So I don’t have any personal evidence on this one. If your pet acts differently when you’re sad, feel free to share the story in comments!
I do notice that the dogs act differently when I’m stressed. Especially if I’m feeling frantic and rushing around trying to get something done — that’s when they most want to be underfoot. A friend of mine pointed it out before I noticed it on my own, actually. But her mention that the dogs were more agitated when I was agitated made me definitely start to notice it.
In the end, I tend to believe that animals are sensitive to our emotional states. But I also believe that animals have emotions of their own! I can tell when the dogs are happy and playful, grumpy, tired, or not feeling well. And I’m pretty sure they do the same for me.