Animals are like humans: they can love, too.

It is not hard to believe that animals have hearts

just like us; in fact, they are more committed and dedicated than we are. To lose their family
is catastrophic.

Dogs and cats grieve just as much, if not more, than humans. Dogs are your best friends, and
in most cases you can trust them more than human friends. They are very loyal animals.

Researchers originally believed domestic dogs separated from their wolf ancestors after they
began living among humans. However, more recent studies suggest otherwise. Studies of the
mitochondrial DNA of wolves and dogs show the two split about 135,000 years ago,
according to the Adirondack Almanack.

Archaeological evidence, such as the discovery of buried dog bones near human settlements,
suggests dogs and humans began sharing their lives between 10,000 and 30,000 years ago.
These studies show dogs were already a separate species when they first encountered
humans.

One thing is certain; dogs have been part of our lives and helping us for many many years.
And not only have we helped them, but they have helped us by performing a variety of tasks.
Dogs have been loyal hunting companions to early humans and are still loyal today,
performing tasks like helping those with disabilities to sniffing out cancer in humans. They
even help lift our spirits by helping those with depression. Many people have dog loyalty
stories based on their relationship with their dog. Part of this is due to the great
communication that exists between dogs and humans.

Dogs also display more human behaviors than any other animal. Because of these behaviors,
it’s easy to feel like your dog is almost human. Dogs are sentient beings, and like people,
dogs have a rich inner life. Dogs feel joy, optimism, anxiety, fear, excitement, sadness and
other emotions, just on a different level than most adult humans.

Dogs love sharing our joy, too; just try doing a happy dance without your dog joining in. The
empathy that dogs show to humans is similar to their empathetic response to other dogs in
distress, in that they wish to alleviate your sadness or stress and share in your joy.