Do you think Animals have the small capacity to feel what we call Love?

All living beings, people, animals, and yes even plants respond in some form or fashion to love.

I was gonna ask this same question, but you beat me to it. Personally, i think much of the time that most humans do not even have that capacity... but that is a different question.

Anyway, non-primate animals do not possess the portion of the brain that gives us our emotions. I know there are a lot of people that will disagree, but we are not talking about what people feel or believe. Just because your doggie licks your face, and you think it is affection, does not make it so. He is giving you a bath (do not forget he uses that same tongue to clean his balls) because you are part of the pack, so to speak. It is a learned behavior, nothing more. The only love and/or affection is from us. I assure you that if you die, your doggie is not going to be sad, he will only want to know one thing. Where in the hell is the food?

Oh, dear. I think you have it backwards. _WE_ are the ones who are in some way "diminished" when it comes to that which we call "love". Animals the world over have felt the emotion far more intensely than we, as humans, ever have. It's meant different things to them, they respond to it each in their own unique way - but then, the same can be said of us, too, I suppose. :-)

Our minds tend to get in the way of the feeling of love. Animals don't have that problem. For those to whom the emotion of love is relevant, they feel the emotions directly.

ARE YOU KIDDING WATCH ALL ANIMALS ALL ANIMALS ALL LITERALLY ALL HAVE SO MUCH LOVE INSIDE OF ALL ANIMALS THEY CANT CONTAIN IT ALL SERIOUSLY WATCH A DOGS TAIL WAG WATCH A CAT WATCH A GROUND HOG WATCH A RAT WATCH A SNAKE WATCH AN ELEPHANT WATCH ANIMALS IN ZOOS WATCH MONKEYS WATCH EM ALL THEY ARE SO FULL OF LOVE THEY DONT BARELY KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THEIR LOVE AND AFFECTION ..like petting zoos real ones not the ungodly human ones.. BIRDS HAVE LOVE THEY SING TO JESUS AT CHRISTMAS.. BUGS EVEN ARE FULL OF LOVE.. PROBABLY MORE THAN PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF... whens the last time you saw them all drunk or smoking pot altho i have seen morons give pets beers and pot...HUGE LOVE not small LOVE GOD KNEW WE ALL WOULD NEED LOVE FROM ANIMALS AND VICE VERSA THEY ALLLOVE ATTENTION ...

Im a vet nurse and I see it all the time. You see it in their eyes and body language when they are with someone that they love. They are a lot like us by the way they express their feelings and emotions. The thing is, we have to be preceptive to what they are showing us.

Absolutely YES.

And I disagree with the "Mad Scientist". He is missing so much out of life by never developing a relationship with a pet animal beyond his fascination with watching them licking their own balls.

My father is a minister, and he says that if there are no dogs in heaven, then he's not going!

He also says in several stories that that he tells others, that many animals mate for their whole lives and that if they can have just one partner, then humans shouldn't have such a problem with monogamy.

Personally, I believe in punishing only one partner at a time. Punishing more than that just makes my arm tired!

oh, absolutely. It may not approach the level WE experience love but so what?

yes.

yes,more so.