http://news.discovery.com/animals/dogs-empathy-humans-120831.html
I think most of us who have owned dogs would say dogs seem to be sensitive to human emotions.
This isn’t news to me. I grew up with dogs in the household (most commonly several at a time), and anyone who’s been an adolescent female in a messy family situation knows dogs respond to human emotion and do their best to comfort a sad human.
I grew up with a cat who would always jump onto my lap and snuggle when I cried. I dunno if it’s relevant, the thread just reminded me of that. =)
Oh yes; my dog is freaky-aware when it comes to my emotional state. I honestly don’t know how he is so perceptive but I am constantly amazed at his ability to know exactly when to come and just be my friend. Or conversely, his seemingly preternatural ability to be nowhere to be found when I am even slightly irritated or in a bad mood. 
I’ve had cats like that, too.
Me too.
This thread reminded me of my cat who cuddled me when I cried, too.
Just informally tested my dog. When I hummed “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, she just looked up at me with a “WTF?” expression. 
But when I pretended to be sobbing, she came over to me and started asking for my attention.
Animals can be such good friends. I work in health care and often encounter patients who are too sick to work and tell me they feel lonely/bored. I often suggest to such patients that they consider doing something like volunteer work with animals because I think that almost anyone can benefit from the nonjudgemental companionship of an animal.
Oh, yes–our dog is deeply concerned whenever people cry. We’ve also made the recent discovery that if you pretend to cuddle something in your arms and make cooing/whimpering or tiny meowing noises, she is very intrigued and makes little noises of interest.
One time I had a panic attack when I was out somewhere with my dog. She was awesome!
When an episode of “Law and Order: SVU” ends and the studio wolf logo howls, if I join in the howling my dog will spin around like Linda Blair’s head in The Exorcist.
Not sure what that means.
There are service dogs specifically trained for people with panic disorder and post-traumatic stress syndrome. I think that’s fascinating!
My dog respects my ability to take care of myself.
Well, once I slipped and fell face down on the floor and she nudged me, like, “You dead yet, mon?”
Try playing “Werewolves of London” and singing along. My dog loves that.
As far as I can tell, my cats are the center of their own respective universes and are more likely to hide away until the human stops making those scary noises.
That won’t make the 6 o’clock news for most dog owners.
What I’d like to know is how the hell people get the grants for this kind of research? Dayum, I need a job, too!