This article has been updated and migrated to: Do Dogs Love Unconditionally? on the CXC English official website.
First Published: 31st of August, 2020
Last updated: February 12, 2026 at 10:50 am
I decided to write this article after reading a Facebook Post which stated that dogs love unconditionally. Indeed, that was not the first time I had heard or read people talking about dogs’ unconditional love. But I started an argument in the comments thread: dogs don’t love unconditionally!
Don’t get me wrong! I love dogs. I’ve had quite a few cherished pet dogs, and I can easily see why these beautiful creatures were dubbed “man’s best friend.” But to say that dogs love unconditionally would be misinterpreting the meaning of the word “unconditional”!
The word “unconditionally” comes from the word “condition.” You add the prefix “un” and the suffix “al” to turn the noun, condition, into an adjective, unconditional. Love which requires no “condition” is called “unconditional love.” Then we further add the suffix “ly” to turn the adjective into an adverb. How do dogs love? Unconditionally.
Not really! Dogs don’t love unconditionally. Dogs love who feed them and bite who don’t. Did you ever try going into a yard with a fierce dog? How did it growl at you? Did it ever bite you? Did you ever run away from a barking dog? Dogs often chase people on bicycles with the intention of biting them. And dogs have done a great deal of harm to people with their teeth, even children! Now that’s not a lot of love, is it? It certainly isn’t “unconditional love.”
If you have ever approached the gate of a home which had a fierce dog and you had to exercise caution, you might have asked yourself, “why doesn’t the dog attack the people of the home?” Actually, you know the answer. It is because the people of that home feed and care for the dog. They have in that way assumed ownership status over the dog. When the dog sees its owner, it wags its tail, jumps playfully and whines. Yes, the dog exhibits lots of love for its owner. But that love is not unconditional! That love comes with the “conditions” of being loved, sheltered and cared for.
A dog’s survival mechanism programs it to return love for food and care. There are conditions attached a to a dog’s love, therefore it is not unconditional. If you cared for a dog at one time, and then gave it away to another master, the dog will forget you. While it will become more loyal to its new master, it will not be hostile to you if it sees you again after several months or years. But it may act shy and less playful than before. That is because the conditions have changed.
Like perhaps many animals, a dog may love its pups unconditionally in the same way that a human parent loves a child “unconditionally” and the way in which God loves mankind unconditionally.
As you can see, there are conditions attached to a dog’s love for humans. Dogs are beautiful creatures and cuddly, loyal companions, but they don’t love unconditionally!
Absolutely spot on