Are other animals conscious?

A short story for my philosophy class

Pepper is a cute but tired old Basset Hound who spent his days sleeping, eating, going on walks and trips to the park and doing it all over again everyday. Pepper is 74 years old in human years and 13 in dogs, but his owner still treats him like a puppy. She talks to him in a high-pitched voice, calls him “her baby” and shushes him and rocks him. The treatment is nice to humans, but to Pepper, he hates it.
“I wish she would treat me like a dog, not a puppy, I wish she would let me on the couch so I can watch the news with her and not take me to the dog park to play fetch. Doesn’t she know I’m old? Doesn't she know that I don’t move or run fast like I used to?” Pepper would often think to himself, after all, he is a dog he can’t say this face to face to his owner, instead, he lays down and sulks. Humans know that we are conscious, we know that we can think, breathe, eat and do things on our own and we don’t know that dogs have minds too. Sally–Pepper’s owner–grabs his leash and harness and walks over to the sulking Pepper.
“Do you want to play in the park boy?” Sally asks.
“No. I do not want to play in the park. I want to get together with my old pals and play poker. I want to go down to the coffee shop and write an essay about human nature and its development. I want you to realize that I too have thoughts, dreams and emotions, I want you to realize am I being too. Did you know that if I had the same ability as a human I would be an award winning author in New York?” Pepper thinks to himself.
“I am conscious. I know what it means when you tell me we are going on a trip and it's to the vet or to get a haircut instead, I know what it means when you say you will be back but you're out all day at work. I know what it means to mean, I know what it means to feel, I know what life is. But you will never understand that because you are a human being.” Pepper sighs and stands up to get his harness and leash on.
“Good boy!” Sally cheers bending down to get him ready.
“Your moral responsibility is to understand I too am a being, that I too get old and brittle and run out of energy fast and I too have thoughts and a mind. You care about me Sally, I truly understand that, but please know I am not the Pepper I was 10 years ago, hell, I am not even the Pepper I was yesterday. I have a conscious mind, with thoughts, emotions and values. I am a being.” Sally and Pepper walk out of their home and to the dog park, Pepper does the usual, puts all his might into running around to make Sally happy, playing with the other dogs, having a casual conversation with the older ones who understand him and goes back home to rest and does it again tomorrow.

I believe animals are like us, they think like us, they imagine like us they all have the same characteristics like we do. I believe this considering humans are animals and were once monkeys that developed over time. I believe that my dog Toby is getting old and can’t run like he used to and would rather sleep all day (which is exactly what he does). I truly believe dogs have a conscious mind and think and act the same way we do.