animals that appear to express emotions are merely reacting to hormonal rushes triggered—in cold, but typical, technical language—by “outside stimuli.” pet owners have always suspected: animals experience surges of deep-seated fear, jealousy and grief—and, most important, love All of them experience fear—the most ancient of the emotions, mediated by the amygdala, an almond-shaped organ in the brain. Many animals may feel something akin to love as well Not surprisingly, the animal that has shown researchers the most emotional complexity thus far is the dog. Bred as human companions for thousands of years, dogs have evolved into master communicators. Recent studies show they are even better than chimpanzees at reading human emotional cues “What drives them to be affectionate is pretty primitive: food, shelter, attachment. They’re not thinkingAnimal Emotions: "some scientists argue that animals have no emotions, that they merely respond to incentives like so many automatons"