Today I interviewed with some pet owners who used to lived or living with their dog or cat. For a better in-depth details of the information from their experience and incase the answers are unified, I had a one to one interview with each of the owner. During the chat, I found that they have common feelings with their pets that they considered their pets as part of their family. They seem like they are quite sure about their pet’s feeling and purpose of the behaviors from some experiences.
For this interview I’ve asked them below these main questions:
- Do you think your pet understand or know about what you are saying?
- Can you know how your pet feels in any situation or what’s the pet want to do?
- Do you feel your pet’s emotion?
- Do you think is important for your pet to understand human world?
- Do you have any interesting or unforgettable stories you want to share?
Case 1
Pet: Poodle , name: Daisy, Stan
The owner claims that her dogs have different IQ levels which she thinks her female dog Daisy usually is more clever than the other male dog called Stan. She thinks Daisy can understand her from human facial expressions as well as the behavior. On the other hand, the owner can also read Daisy’s emotions and feelings from Daisy’s facial expression because she will turn her eyeballs around and show her the white part of the eye which normally dogs only show their eyeballs. She thinks Daisy shows her attitude of “disdain”.
Daisy can realize when her family members got sick. She saved the owner’s niece’s life when she saw her lying on the bed feeling really bad, then started barking at the owner to tell her to save her niece. Stan got depressed when her sister Daisy got sick.
The owner thinks the pet understands her more than she understands her dog.
Case 2
Pet: male dog, Pet name: 拉拉 La La
Fiona: “Sometimes I think 拉拉（La La) understands me when I felt not happy, he would come to me and stay with me very quietly. I think he can feel my feelings. In daily life, he is very naughty, but when you feel not happy, he may understand you and just stay with you. La La has lived with us for around 20 years, we may know some of his daily habits as well as some requirements. For example, he really likes going downstairs to play, as long as we said “let’s go down stairs, he will go to find her leash and approach us to put it on. If we are about to go out without him, he will bark at us and ask to bring him together.
Sometimes I can feel my dog’s emotions but he only knows his family members. He always follows us and can not stay without us. Otherwise he will get scared. His tail condition is related to his mood, for example shaking his tail mostly means he is happy.
I don’t think it is important for La La to understand the human world because dogs with their independent life, are all different indepence. He has a short life compared to humans. I just want him to be happy and it’s not necessary to understand us. But we believe if we feed him well and love him, he can feel a sense of security and love.”
Case 3
Pet: male cat, Name: Mi Mi
“I do think he understood me. Whenever he wanted to scratch our sofa he always checked and made sure that my mom wasn’t there. Because she was the only person who would shout him off the sofa.
Yeah I think because humans are way smarter than our pets, so we could detect their emotions and motivations easily. I used to use dog treats to entice my dog back to her cage, and then she noticed that whenever she sees the treat when we are going out or it is time for her to go back to the cage she will just look away and drooling. She knows that she can’t resist the temptation if she sees the treat. I don’t know how does she detect when we want her to get back the cage or just want to treat her, she will have treats without a second thought when it is “safe “. It is important for her to understand our world, otherwise it might be difficult for people and animals to live under the same roof. I think people understand animals less than animals because people will find lots of ways to make animals understand them.”
Case 4
Pet: Female cat, Name: tomato
“My cat like living independently, but when she want to eat or play, she will spread out in front of me or rub around my foot. I do know her mood, if she feel unhappy she will stay alone and saying “meow meow”. When she feel happy she will run around the house. For me, I don’t think she have ability to understand the human world. When I was alone with out my boyfriend at night, I will call her then she will come to me with the annoying “meow”, but still accompany me to sleep.”
My conclusion
½ of the interviewers think it is important for animals to understand the human world. However, all of them have cases to prove their pet understands them through the owner’s behavior or facial expression. And all of the interviewers have experience to know that sometimes they can read their emotions.
Lala case proves that dogs can give consent to humans.
Most of the interviewers claim that they understand their pet through their behaviors or facial expressions. However, if humans understand their pet is realistic?
Or are they just guesting from human consciousness and ideas?