Can pets read human emotions?

It seems that most pets can sense human emotions, especially when humans are nervous or frightened. Some can even smell fear because of our hormones. I have noticed that with dogs. My dog would sniff and bark even when we could not see what she was barking about.

I also ran across another neighbor's dogs who met me for the first time. One of them I was not comfortable around, and he started jumping at me without me saying a word. The other dog that I was ok with did not react, but she watched to see what was going on. After I mentioned how I felt to a witness, he told me that the other dog was reacting to my fear. I believed him and did everything I could to calm down. The dog finally left me alone.

I agree that animals in general, and dogs in particular, can usually sense our emotions , and sometimes they seem to just pick up on our thoughts as well. My belief is that they can read the "pictures"in our mind as we visualize our thoughts. I am not sure if all dogs can read all people, but I do believe that some animals bond with their owners enough to do that. Some dogs seem more sensitive to our thoughts than other ones do.

My Chipper also listens to everything that I say, and you can see his little face trying to puzzle it out sometimes when he is not sure what I am talking about. But if I say the B-word (bath), then he is headed for under the couch to hide.
Sheba, my Pommie girl, was just as smart as Chipper, but was not "tuned-in", and she ignored everything unless she heard her name mentioned, and then her little head popped right up, and she started listening.

Yes, they do and especially when it comes to dogs. I've been going through a lot of rage lately so every time I go yelling and screaming, she immediately goes into hiding into the bedroom on the bottom right corner of the bed, which happens to be my side and is nearest the wall. They don't know if it was them that has done something wrong so they naturally cower with their tail in between their legs. When my yelling stops and awhile has passed, she does come looking for me so that she can be cradled. Also, the man in this house is a depressive person who does nothing but stay in bed so, of course, she picks up on that and you can see the sadness in her face. Tiny most definitely knows there is a problem in this home and will do anything to stay out of trouble.

This type of discussion fascinates me and I find it incredibly interesting.
I believe all animals can read human emotions and many of our own pets have the same emotions as we do, meaning they are very in tune with their owners feelings. I think this is especially the case with pets like dogs who aim to please their masters, are extremely loyal and seem to sense when their owners need their company or help.

My dog Carling can certainly sense my emotions. If I get upset he will come over to me, and put his head on my leg.One time he sat on the sofa and put his head on my shoulder, it made me cry even more knowing that he was there for me. He is such a sweetheart and he has got me through a very though few years.

I know for a fact that my dog can read my emotions. It is amazing how he reacts to my own emotions. Sometimes, when I am sad, he will come to me and sit next to me. He then proceeds to lick my arm in a way that it feels like he's trying to treat the wound. His warmness being next to me and the way he tries to cure me usually makes me feel better. He can tell when I am happy as well, he usually responds a lot faster and has a sort of "smile" so to speak. Dogs are amazing.

I had a very rough week last week. I was talking on the phone, sitting on my bed with Prissy. During my conversation, I began to cry pretty hard. Prissy immediately jumped up, looked around at me very alarmed. She started whimpering and whining. She came up to me, got right in my face and started licking my tears. She was gently tapping my face with her paw. She was being so sweet. She knew mommy was sad :-( She was trying to cheer me up and make me feel better. Sometimes dogs can offer better comfort to you than some humans!

When I'm sad our puppy (he is 8 months old) will try to console me. He will lay close to me and look at me with a very concerned look on his face. So yes I do believe they can read our emotions. Like when I am happy he usually jumps around and wants to play.

I'm a firm believer that certainly dogs can read ones mood, probably picks up some kind of vibes. Or maybe it's the animals "sixth sense" but they certainly will pick up on a mood very quickly.
Cats I think to a point are capable of the same, especially if they are an established house cat (rather than one who roams, coming in for food etc.) Other pets no except maybe small monkeys. Never having owned a monkey that's just speculation.

I don't know that ALL pets can, I wouldn't put much stake in your goldfish knowing how you feel... I'm not even sure cats do, in my experience. But dogs on the other hand have evolved with humans for thousands of years and I think they have adapted to us a lot. There is research that dogs wag their tails only because humans think it's cute, and they also have the ability to see where our eyes are looking and follow our line of sight. I find these things to be very impressive and it wouldn't surprise me if they've learned to read much more about our behavior than we know so far. Also, animals seem to sometimes be able to sense things that we humans can't, and we can't explain even how they do it. I wouldn't at all be surprised if dogs have picked up a sense to detect if their owner is feeling an extreme emotion. It's fun to think about, dogs really are amazing animals!

Absolutely, whenever I was feeling sick or sad about something, my coonhound wouldn't leave me alone. She would follow me from room to room and lay next to me the whole time. Sometimes she would just stand there staring into my face while I was laying down.

One time, and the only time she ever did this, she nipped my finger when I was trying to get her off of our bed. If it was anyone else she would have taken their hand off completely, because she did not like to get picked up at all - I was the only one she would let pick her up. She was stubborn too though and wouldn't move if she was comfortable somewhere. Anyhow, I gave her the cold shoulder the whole next day and didn't pet her or acknowledge her or anything. She kept following me around the house and wimpering because she didn't understand why I was ignoring her, lol.