Over the tens of thousands of years that humans have been living with and domesticating animals, we have grown to be a species that is very intertwined with our pets and other domesticated animals. Much of these bonds come from the apparent communication that occurs between people and their pets, but is this true communication? There have been many animals to learn some form of communication with their handlers, but in many cases it would appear to be a simple case of conditioning, when the animal does something, they are rewarded. On the other hand, there are instances of animals actually communicating, through body language and/or noises. Can you really argue that a cat hissing at you ferociously, while puffing up, backing into a corner, and swiping at you, is not trying to tell you that it is upset? Can you really say that a dog grabbing his ball and dropping it in your lap is not a dog telling you that it wants to play? Communication and language don't necessarily mean words and letters specifically. There are completely understandable ways of communicating without using words, one can go their entire life communicating effectively without ever muttering a word. Why does that have to be any different regarding communication between animals and humans?
Of course, we cannot communicate with animals like between humans, because animals cannot speak and they are not smart like human. However, they also have their means to communicate with their species and some smart animals even can acquire some words that we speak. For example, when I said "eat your meal!" to my dog, she came to me quickly. It could be possible through reptition. Also, animals also feel emotion from human. Therefore, I think sharing each other's feeling is possible, to some extent although we cannot communicate completely.
I have a pet dog so this example blog definitely applies to me. I agree with lots of the points you made. Often when I say the word "eat" my dogs ears perk up and she literally runs to the food bowl. Obviously my dog also is very responsive to her name, "Maggie." There is some literal simple verbal understanding that dogs are able to pick up on. The majority of the communication takes place through gestures and their actions. The examples you stated work well. My dog also scratches at the door when she needs to go to the bathroom or tries to swipe at your hand if she wants to be pet. I certainly believe there is communication between humans and animals, it is just limited and takes on different forms.
I have a pet myself and I definitely know what communicating with animals mean. Communicating does not always mean having to use language that both parties can understand. Although I sometimes really hope that my dog could speak for himself, most of the time we get along fine without having to speak the same language. Sometimes I wonder that if my dog had the consciousness and thinking process similar to that of a human what would he want to tell me first?