I have lost a lot of faith in Texas A&M. A&M recently came out with a study that stated "dogs don't have emotions." Someone at that university needs to get a dog! I can think of several emotions (worry, love, impatience, happy, etc.) that our dogs have evinced quite clearly, especially impatience when dinner was a trifle late. So, do your dogs have emotions?
I have definitely seen happiness, sadness, shame, jealousy, fear, and impatience in dogs. I have often experienced that people are victims of their education. They know only what they were taught. They find only what they are looking for. You can prove anything if you leave out enough evidence to the contrary. Just like those old ideas of vestigial organs. Just because you don't know what the function of the organ is, doesn't mean there isn't any. Just because you don't see the same parts of the brain in dogs that you see in humans doesn't mean they are missing the functions that those parts of the brain control in humans.
I agree with love, happiness, fear, sadness, impatience and maybe jealousy but not completely. Dogs do not know shame, no matter how many youtube videos you have seen. Their actions are of fear and deference. Dogs are pack animals, not carriers of heavy burdens but living together in a pack. In each pack there is an Alpha male and Alpha female and the other dogs must defer to them. When a lesser dog does something the Alpha does not like the Alpha will attack it and the lesser dog hangs it's head to protect it's neck from being bitten and does not make eye contact with the Alpha because the Alpha will take that action as one of defiance and increase the attack. If the lesser dog doesn't act in this manner it will be killed by the Alpha. You are the Alpha of his pack, so when you come home and find the dog has done something bad, you will typically stand over the dog or start yelling at the dog or possibly find a rolled newspaper to strike it with. They know they have done something wrong but they really do not know what, ancient instincts tell the dog to hang it's head and not make eye contact for fear of being killed.
My dog definitely shows emotions. Excitement (when I get home), Impatience (when I am late with dinner or her morning walk), jealously (when I am petting the cat), fear (when it is thundering or when the garbage/oil delivery truck is here), sadness (when I leave she mopes even if the rest of the family is home)and worry (she paces when she knows I have something on my mind). There is not a single person on this earth that can tell me dogs don't have emotions!!
Oh yeah... definitely have emotions and moods. You oughta see how Sassy Marie sulks around when she's mad at me for leaving her for a day or two. And Toni's explanation of how they act ashame sounds spot on.
