What Do Dogs and Other Pets Feel About Their Captive Lives? – Psychology Today

Updated January 4, 2026 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

Do pets really have the wonderful lives we think they have? What do dogs and other animals really think and feel about their captive lives? Is it possible that some dogs and other animals might be better off without us?

After a few people wrote to me about award-winning journalist Jay Ingram's latest book The Science of Pets, I couldn't wait to read it and find about more about his new insights into the hearts, minds, and bodies of the animals who supposedly love us. I've always argued that dogs, for example, are not our best friends nor are they unconditional lovers and that for companion animals—aka "pets"—to have the best lives possible, the people who choose to bring these individuals into their homes and hearts must become fluent in the languages they speak and how we must learn what they are telling us in the myriad ways they communicate what they're thinking about feeling about their lives in our homes.1

Of course, dogs and cats aren't the only animals who routinely become captive companion animals, and some other pets such as fully sentient rats, fishes, and reptiles (lizards and snakes) often suffer greatly when held captive because some people mistakenly think they're having great lives because people believe they don't need much social or physical enrichment.2 For a wide variety of reasons, I'm pleased Jay could take the time to answer a few questions about his most important new book about the lives of a wide array of pets, those who compose what he calls a "petscape." I'm sure the animals themselves would surely welcome this thoughtful study of what they need to thrive.

Jay Ingram: I was tossing around book ideas with my publisher at Simon & Schuster at that time, Kevin Hansen, and he got excited about building on the legendary Beach Boys album Pet Sounds with a book called Pet Science. He even wondered if the chapter titles could be the song titles. A quick glance at the album killed that idea, but the idea of The Science of Pets survived.3

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