I have boldly used the words ‘love’ and ‘arm’ in the context of a close friendship between cat and dog. I think it is appropriate to use the emotion of love (meaning strong affection) although the area of cat and dog emotions is work in progress. This video is so cute and tender. The dog acts very much like a human. It is hard to avoid using the word ‘love’ when you see the dog’s behavior. It is so deliberate and purposeful. I have deliberately anthropomorphised them to substitute ‘arm’ for ‘foreleg’.
The only doubt I have is that the video maker trained her dog to do this which negates to a certain extent the assessment of friendship. The reason why this is possibe is because the video maker is also the dog and cat’s guardian (I believe) and she was ready and waiting to capture the moment. This may be because her dog did this often and therefore it was predictable or because the whole scene was set up. But the counter argument is that if the training is simply to control when it happens not why it happens then the love relationship assessment is still valid.
The video
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I have seen cats and dogs do this kind of thing spontaneously though, and knowing how they actually feel gives enough validation that the word “love” is appropriate to use. If it’s staged in this video, it’s okay because it portrays truthful behavior accurately.
Thanks for that Albert. I do believe that cats and dogs have pretty advanced emotions. They form deep friendships which in my book is love.