Love is one of those strange things that you recognise when you see it but can’t really put your finger on describing exactly what it is… It’s just a ‘feeling’. A feeling of belonging, of security, of the world being a better place when you are with your beloved, and of knowing in your heart by how the other treats you, looks at you and acts around you that you are loved.
How do you know?
When we ask “does my dog love me?” it is exactly the same. You just know.
You know in the way they greet you when you’ve been away (even if only to the toilet!), in the way they look at you, in the way they check in with you to make sure you are still there or to see how to behave, in the way they want to be with you and close to you.
More than that, you see it in their body language when they are around you.
Love is pretty easy to spot in most dogs because almost every part of your dog’s body language expresses how they are feeling! Their eyes are soft and gentle when they look at you, and almost seem to be in soft focus with none (or very little) of the whites of the eyes showing (and they may even close slightly in pleasure). Their forehead and eyebrows are relaxed, and their ears are either floppy or else moving forward and back also in a gentle relaxed way.
