Hmmmm. Not sure. Dogs get excited. Dogs get scared. Dogs get angry/defensive....
Dogs have personalities for sure. The question is, are their emotions connected to their thoughts. A dog will never feel bad about biting someone. But they may feel bad about upsetting an owner who has trained them otherwise. A potty trained dog will hide when it has an accident in the house. It remembers that the last time this happened a certain nose got rubbed on the carpet. Their behavior could be connected to what they expect will happen. They are reminded because the smell is still in the house. So the behavior goes on for extended periods of time. But what about when my dog whines and cries when the kids are out playing and she can't go out. What about the excitement they show for a car ride? If someone asks my dog if she wants to go for a ride, she'll go nuts for a VERY long time until you at least put her in the car and drive around the court. Then she's satisfied. She doesn't care for how long it is.
I have seen "spontaneous" emotion and looked for links to training or conditioning. I watch for the difference because it fascinates me and my dog does some amazing things now and then.
Dogs get excited. Dogs get scared. Dogs get angry/defensive....
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Don’t forget about jealousy. When my eldest grandson came along, my dog would try to get involved every time I was playing with the baby—nosing in between the two of us. Once the child started walking, the dog did not seem as concerned with my giving him attention. And when grandson #2 came along, we went through a similar situation. Now, he seems to be jealous of the 3rd grandson.
Recently, my sister was talking to our cat, and our dog put himself between them. At first, she thought it was a coincidence, but, then, she got him to do it a few more times. Too funny.
A dog will never feel bad about biting someone
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Years ago we had 2 dogs. There was a favorite, coveted sleeping space on my husband’s side of the bed. It wouldn’t fit 2 dogs and the bigger one barely fit. The older beagle, being smaller, tended to hog it. He was a sweet dog, a rescue and had never shown aggression towards us. (bunnies were another story).
One night, I got tired of the Akita crying because the beagle was in *the* spot. I went to grab the beagle’s collar to take him out of there and he turned in a flash and did a single chomp onto my hand. As I was tending to it, my husband gave the dog a tongue lashing with frequent references to “You bit Mom!”. The dog went to a corner and hid. The next morning, the beagle actually crawled on his belly to me and started licking my feet. I think he knew he had crossed a major line in attacking a dominant pack member and was apologizing. I also think it was a hard-wired response.
When our present Akita was just a few months old, we took him out to a Farmer’s Market for some socializing. He was rambunctious and liked to jump on people and other dogs and was a generally clueless pup. We met a 2-year-old Saint Bernard. The Saint took one look at the pup and just let out a low short growl. Puppyboy immediately turned his back on the older, larger dog and sat without being told. I later learned this is dog behavior within the pack showing respect. Hardwired.
We may anthropomorphize things a bit.
OTOH, when we are all together in the evening, usually watching a video, my dog will look up at me with half-lidded eyes & a doggy smile and you just know that this is one of his *favorite things*.
They are fur people, IMO.