Puppy Love

Full disclosure: I'm one of those people who is slightly obsessed with her dogs, so you can feel free to take anything that follows with a grain of salt.

But every once in a while, particularly when they're all curled up, cute and snuggly, I can't help but think how incredibly lucky I am to own two flat-out phenomenal pups. And it's not just because they're ridiculously adorable when they're sleeping.

It's because they wag their tails first thing in the morning, despite the fact that I couldn't be more irritable, cantankerous or surly (for the record, I'm about as much of a morning person, as Paris Hilton is a homebody). It's because they're always happy to see me when I come home from work (even when I'm late). And it's because they somehow know when I've had a terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad day - and they do everything in their power to turn it around.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not naïve enough to suggest that dogs have the same emotional range as humans, but it does beg the question: could these little actions be acts of love?

Purina recently posted an article on this exact subject, and I found it pretty interesting. They made the point that, perhaps a dog's unconditional loyalty, unwavering affection and intense affection is evidence that a dog's capacity to love might, in fact, exceed our own.

And with both my dogs nuzzled up next to me, I find it hard to disagree.

Because I can't help but think that the exceedingly faithful nature of dogs is just flat out remarkable. And whether you choose to call it love or not - well, in my head, that's just semantics.

What do you think? Would you say our dogs love us, or are they simply happy to have us fill up their food bowls? Share your thoughts in the comments below.