I think dogs have souls

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Friday, April 10, 2009 - 5:03 PM Share

But not everyone does. I wonder if dogs think people have souls.

Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

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HENRY PELIFIAN

6:48 PM ET

April 10, 2009

Dogs have souls

On good authority from an American robin named Molly who learned how to think and communicate in her story Animal Park,she clearly vouches that dogs have a very spirited and strong soul that mimics their human owners or as Molly calls humans-upright worms.

WALKING WOUNDED

7:00 PM ET

April 10, 2009

A heaven without critters...

I liked the answer given by the Greg Peck character, in 'The Yearling.' A heaven without critters just wouldn't be much of a Heaven, would it?

No need to dip into my father's Baptist theology to determine which of Noah's mesopotamian crew had souls worth saving.

ADAGIO

8:08 PM ET

April 10, 2009

Reminder

The picture instantly reminded me of an experience I had some years ago when I was driving some back road through the farmlands of Illinois. I drove past a corral that was up close to the road where a herd of 30 or 40 cows were feeding at a trough. All had heads down chewing away, but one raised her head and followed me with her eyes as I drove past. For a brief moment it felt like her eyes were peering directly into my soul.

I came pretty close to becoming a vegetarian that day.

LOVELARVAE

9:40 PM ET

April 10, 2009

Do dogs have souls? Hmmm...

Nice topic. Must be a day off for you on this Good Friday. I'll have what you're having.

Do dogs have souls? Heck, I don't even know if you or I have one. No one really knows. But I'll tell you one thing, whatever it is in us humans that we call a soul -- my dog has it, too. Whatever it is that allows us to experience love, loss, joy, sadness, pleasure, pain, curiosity, boredom, empathy, etc., my 14 year old border collie mix certainly has it. Maybe it's soul, maybe it's the product of brain function and physiobiochemical reactions. But if there is such a thing as a soul, either both my dog and I have it, or neither of us do.

JAMES S.

4:56 AM ET

April 11, 2009

I love it!

I don't know much about souls, but Walking Wounded is right. Heaven would be kinda dull without animals. I suspect the pics are photoshopped but the exchange is really funny.

STEVEN THOMAS SMITH

8:07 PM ET

April 11, 2009

Dog spelled backwards is a church sign generator joke

Dogs don't have souls! Read your Church Sign Generator!

WALKING WOUNDED

8:52 PM ET

April 11, 2009

Dyslexic agnostic dogs aside...

one wonders how the breed relates to the deity's set-up of things here on doggy earth.

As they consider their paymasters and morale officers, canis familiaras theologans probably have doubting moments. It's hard to be sure, but I've seen them looking at their personal alpha humans in a way that conveys 'what kind of idiot put you in charge?'

DRDAVE91

12:40 PM ET

April 13, 2009

Will Rogers said, "If there

Will Rogers said, "If there are no dogs in Heaven then when I die, I want to go where they went."

He had it right.