Pet, Love, Dog, life, feelings

You Love your Dog more than your Best Friend

But does your Pet Love you Back?

Vijay S Sharma

11 min readSep 29, 2023

Is Dog your Best Friend; not a Human?

You will learn a secret about yourself and your pet that you did not know but somehow always wanted to know.

So, the question is: Does your dog love you?

Dog with rose in mouth. — Photo by Richard Brutyo on Unsplash

Are you thinking of one of the following as an answer to my question?:

“Yes, my dog loves me. What kind of a question is this?”
“Yes, my dog loves me but who thinks about the dog loving the owner?”

Whether you are a pet owner or not, you are sure that every dog loves its owner. Aren’t you?

You will learn something new today.

But before that, let me ask you: how do you know that your dog loves you? Dogs do not love everyone. They bark at people. They bite people. If you don’t feed them or take them out for a walk, they might bark at you or bite you. That will not be a sign of love from them, you will agree.

Now you may say that the dog loves its owner and the other people whom the owner loves. You could be right. But my question stays. How do you know it loves you? The dog never tells you so.

You often do not believe other people when they say they love you. So, how do you know the dog truly loves you? Not barking at you or biting you may just be a trade-off the dog makes for getting food and shelter from you.

Now you must be thinking hard. I think now you will say that the dog wags its tail in front of you, tries to jump on you or lick your face, and never tries to bite you.

You may be right, but would you think the same if any other animals or person did these things?

You cannot say ‘yes’ now. You may not allow other persons or people to behave with you like the dog does, and you may hate other animals who behave like the dog with you.

And who is allowing the dog to do those things? It is you. Right?
If you can allow the dog to love you, why can’t you allow all people to love you too? And how exactly did you allow the dog to love you? Think again — does the dog really love you?

Let me give the answers:

I have done extensive research on the subject and have devised a Unified Theory of All Emotions and published a book titled What is Love? Formula for all Relationships. The book is under revision with updated content and a new name. The theory identifies three parameters that determine the nature and intensity of every human emotion.

The TAB unified theory of emotions has the following features and applications with a SINGLE definition :

All Emotions and their intensity
Between a Human and Anyone who could be a human, non-human, or an invisible mental state or spirit.
Applies at all times.
Applies in every situation.
Can identify when your emotions for someone or someone’s emotions for you change.
It lets you control your own emotions.
It lets you influence the emotions of other humans towards you.

I am only explaining the theory here simplistically and applying it to finding human and pet relationships. However, keep in mind, that there are many nuances and there is even a love-hate calculation formula. If, after reading this story, you find yourself asking more questions, please do share.

Let us get back to the question we asked: Does your dog love you?

Answer: We cannot be 100 percent sure until the dog talks.
What I can say for sure is that your dog displays every sign of someone who deeply loves another.

Question: Do you love your dog?

Answer: The answer is what you already know. You do love your dog a lot. However, what you do not know, is that your love for your dog is even more than your love for someone, very close to you. That is the secret I will reveal later.

Now let me borrow from my TAB unified theory of emotions (TAB-Unite) to make the following points:

The parameters that determine the intensity of love or other emotions in every intelligent being are described below. If you understand this concept, you will understand everything about emotions. You will also understand how to apply the theory successfully to gain love or more attention in every aspect of life. They include:

Love Relationships
Friendly Relationship
Business and Office
Relationship with Spirits like God or Supreme being.
Relationship with Causes like Climate or Helping the poor.
Relationships with Pets
Relationship with Objects. For example, with food or certain objects from childhood.

Three Parameters that Matter in Emotions:

There are three parameters that are responsible for every kind of human emotion towards anyone, or anything. They alone determine every kind of emotion whether it is love, hate, like, dislike, etc.

These parameters are applied to Subject 1 for Subject 2. Subject 1 can be you or it can be any other intelligent human being whose emotions we want to evaluate. Subject 2 however, can be any human, sane or not, any pet, object, spirit, or cause.

As you can see, a Dog can not be Subject 1 because it cannot be always expected to behave in a human-level intelligent way. In any case, it will never be confirmed if the dog feels love or a sense of loyalty. A professional bodyguard to the president of America and most other countries will not even think for a moment to endanger his own life to save the president. But we know, it is not because he loves the president, it is because that is his professional job description.

However, let us still understand the theory and see how it can be applied to the dog. It can certainly be applied to the pet owner.

The three parameters are:

Physical or mental efforts (called ‘Trouble’)
Blame or Thankfulness towards the other person, animal, or thing for the physical or mental efforts, and (called one of ‘Blame’, no Blame, or ’Thankfulness’)
Physical closeness. (Called PPP, or Potential Physical Proximity)

Trouble does not have the dictionary meaning of the word. Trouble here means any physical or mental effort, good or bad, for either Subject 1 or Subject 2, and whether such Trouble is given by Subject 2 or voluntarily taken by Subject 1 or given by anyone else to Subject 1 but because of Subject 2.

Trouble can be taken in the past, taken in the present, or it is expected or committed by Subject 1 that in the future, Subject 1 will take the Trouble voluntarily or involuntarily.

Potential Physical Proximity, or PPP, can also be in the past, present, or expected in the future. Note that there is the word ‘potential’ in PPP. It means that the physical proximity does not have to be actual. If there is a potential to physically come closer in the relationship, as seen in Subject 1, it is considered accordingly. PPP is seen to be low, medium, or high, overlapping or fully overlapping. There are six different levels of PPP, and they are explained graphically. Similarly, Trouble, Blame, and Thankfulness have different scores, and there is a mathematical formula to compute the nature and intensity of emotions between two subjects. However, the explanation will become too detailed if done in this article, which is meant to address a very interesting question.

In all cases, Blame / No Blame or Thankfulness is considered as it exists in the present moment only. This parameter alone determines is positive or negative emotions are felt by Subject 1 for Subject 2.

Here are the brief rules of emotions felt by Subject 1 for Subject 2:

If Subject 1 or you make no physical or mental efforts (take Trouble) for Subject 2 or say Dog, you do not love or hate Subject 2.

It means if you take no Trouble for someone (remember, it includes the past, present, and future), you neither love nor hate them. You are neutral or indifferent. Nothing else matters. Your relationship, too, does not matter. In such a case, you will also neither Blame nor be thankful to Subject 2.

You might say you don’t want to take Trouble but want to harm an enemy if given a chance. If this is what you say, you haven’t understood the definition of Trouble. Any kind of physical or mental work, whether good or bad, for Subject 1 or Subject 2, is covered by the definition of Trouble. If you want to take Trouble to harm someone, you definitely Blame that person. That is the next point.

If you Blame Subject 2 for your Trouble, you have negative emotions or hate for Subject 2.

If you do not Blame or are instead Thankful to Subject 2 for your Trouble, you experience positive emotions or love for Subject 2.

PPP — The closer you are physically to the other person, pet, or thing, the more your love or hate will be. Did you notice, that higher PPP will intensify whatever emotions you have for Subject 2? Both love and hate will be more intense with higher PPP.

The only thing that decides whether you will love, or hate is your mental belief. Whether you, Blame, do not Blame, or are Thankful to the other person, pet, or thing ( Subject 2) for your physical and mental efforts (Trouble) for them.

When do you love?

Assuming that you make physical and mental efforts.

If you do not Blame, you Like or Love
If you are thankful, you like or love.
If your physical and mental efforts are more, you Like or Love more.
If you are physically closer, you Like or Love more

When do you hate?

Assuming that you make physical and mental efforts.

If you Blame, then you hate.
If you Blame more, then you hate more.
If your physical and mental efforts are more, you dislike or hate more.
If you are physically closer, you dislike or hate more.

Test of the theory:

I call my theory, the TAB Unified Theory of Emotions. Take the above rules and apply them to anyone to see if they work. You can consider any human, pet, object, spirit (like God, country), or Cause (like Saving the environment, helping the poor, etc.). I am sure, you will find that these rules work.

Your relationship with your dog.

Now in light of the theory of emotions explained above, let us come back to whether your dog loves you and you love your dog.

the chances are that you make a lot of physical and mental effort for your dog.
the chances are that you do not Blame the dog for your efforts instead you may be thankful to your dog a lot. This will be especially true if you allow your dog to jump in with you on the Sofa or bed and allow him to lick your face.
the chances are that the dog is physically very close to you. In fact, the dog is physically closer than any of your best friends or any of your siblings. The dog is just behind your spouse and your mother in terms of physical closeness, considering all other living beings. Here is the secret I promised to reveal:

You love your dog more than your best human friend.

This is especially true if the dog is small and has 5 years or more to live. Make sure that your best friend does not watch this video, or that he or she is also a small pet owner. So, neither can Blame the other.

Does the dog love you?

Once again it is very likely that the dog loves you but what is for sure is that you love your dog much more. The dog definitely, does not Blame you and may even be thankful. It is also as physically close to you as you are to it. But we do not know if the dog makes as much physical and mental effort for you as you do for the dog.

Certainly, if you have a Dog who does not want to play with you and expects you to bring food to it, then it just thinks of you as his servant. If I described your dog, I am sorry but don’t be disheartened. We are still dog lovers. 😊

I hope you understood emotions and got to know your dog better. Keep loving your dog and believing that the dog loves you back.

It is most likely true that your dog loves you too.

So, that was your answer to the question ‘Does my dog love me?’

The Love That Knows No Boundaries: Deepening Human-Canine Relationship

In conclusion, the love we share with our dogs is a beautiful manifestation of the Unified Theory of Emotions. We invest effort (Trouble) in caring for them, hold no blame but rather thankfulness for their presence, and experience the heightened closeness that fuels our affection (PPP). Our dogs may not verbally express their love, but their actions speak volumes. So, the next time your furry friend wags their tail or nuzzles your cheek, remember that it’s a language of love that transcends words.

This insightful exploration sheds light on the emotional connection between humans and their canine companions. Understanding dog behaviour and recognizing the signs of their affectionate love deepens the human-canine relationship, making it a heart-warming journey of mutual love and companionship.

Watch this video I created to explain this topic.
DOES YOUR DOG LOVE YOU?

Dog wearing cap and dark glasses — Photo by Jenny Marvin on Unsplash

Are You a Truth Seeker?

TAB Unified Theory of Emotions

The TAB Unified Theory of Emotions contains a method to quantify the level of Trouble, Blame / Thankfulness, and PPP and a mathematical formula to know the nature and intensity of emotions.

Knowing the method you can not only control your own emotions but you can also influence others’ emotions towards you.

The theory has applications in all fields of life, including jobs, business, and politics.

These subjects are many and vast. They require many more articles, which I will be writing in the coming weeks. Of course, all will be published in the updated version of my book. You can check out my existing book if you like my name and ‘What is Love? Formula for All Emotions’

If you really want to understand the reason behind any and all of your feelings and be able to control them, then read the abridged TAB Unified Theory of Emotions article below.