evanlmaclean

"Just because I'm wagging my tail doesn't mean I'm happy you moron"

Great question. And it depends how you define love. There are emotional components, that are basically very strong social bonds rooted in attachment. And cognitive components like thinking about wanting good things for somebody after you die. I think the emotional components are there with dogs and there is good science to this point. We study some hormones involved in love, like oxytocin, that both dogs and people release when interacting with a bonded partner. At the level of the brain and physiology I think its safe to say that dogs do love us. But they may be able to develop love for other people quickly too...which is wonderful!

Dogs lick for lots of reasons. Sometimes things taste good. But licking is also a submissive or affiliative behavior in canids. Puppies actually lick at their mother's mouth to get her to regurgitate food. So, when your dog is licking your mouth.....

This sounds like affection to me. Dogs are such social creatures. They get a lot out of simply being together with you. See my other reply about licking and some of its social significance in dogs.

Hard to know. you can train animals to do all kinds of things that look impressive but really aren't. A colleague is studying some of the button pressing stuffthough and it will be interesting to see what they think.