Dog is happy and most of the time looks forward to his master coming home

Mental world of the dog in the picture, by Ingrid Holvoet


Is it good? Have I done it well?

The dog is expectantly awaiting the reaction of the person with him. He is expecting a response (in the form of the person’s reaction). He is ready to do even more after this person’s sign. Is ready to run after something the person will throw a little further and bring it back. He isn’t questioning why this is happening. He just knows something is thrown and next he runs after it and returns it in his mouth, and then he hopes he has done it well. And then something is thrown once again, and he brings it back in his mouth. And he hopes he has done it well.

And next they go inside, and then he eats food (he eats the food in his fooddish) and next he goes lying on his mat (a small carpet) on the ground. And then he sleeps for a while, and then there’s motion in the house of the people living there. And then people sit in the chairs in the vicinity of his mat, and then he sometimes jumps in the chair with them. And then the people watch the light (the TV), and he sometimes watches it too for a while, but he doesn’t see anything particular there. And then he wants to play a little with the people and get some attention, but he has to lay still, in the chair or on his mat.

When he wakes up in the morning, they go for a walk, and then he gets food. And then he lies on his mat for the greater part of the day. And then sometimes there’s commotion in the house and sometimes there isn’t. And then he sleeps for a while, and he walks around in the room for a while, and then he chews a bone. And like this time goes by.
And then he’s happy to see his master, and they go for a walk, and he can have a run in the garden, and his master plays with him for a while.
His master sometimes works in the garden (vegetable garden or flower garden, brown soil), and then he walks somewhere around there. And sometimes there are also other people in the garden, and he can sit with them. And sometimes there are children and then they play together.

His whole life revolves around the family he belongs to. He has got a good life, he has a good bond with the family and particularly with one person in this family, a young man. His life chiefly revolves around this person. He looks forward to his master coming home. Then he gets some attention. Then his master eats and he sits beside the table and he sometimes gets a little. Sometimes he may come with him in the car and then they go outside and he gets a leach around his neck and he can walk along with his master. He is always happy when he can walk somewhere together with his master. Those are pleasant moments, which he enjoys. They liven things up a bit and they make him get out of the daily routine.

By and large he’s happy. He lives his everyday life, doesn’t question anything, doesn’t think about anything, just observes and experiences. His life consists of eating, going for a walk, lying on the mat, getting some attention from people and from his master. Playing a little with his master (fetching a stick his master has thrown away), having a walk in the garden.
He particularly looks forward to his master coming home or to seeing his master or some other person when they are at home (sometimes they are occupied with something in another room), and to walking somewhere near them or to getting some attention or having some contact. 
Whether he will see anyone occupies him a lot, that is what occupies him the most during the day, and whether anyone will enter when they are passing the door.

The two things his life predominantly revolves around are, for the greater part, anticipation that he will see someone and in the second place the activities together with the people he belongs to.
 
Once in a while when they go for a walk he sees another dog, and then he is somewhat intrigued, and then he wants to sniff this dog (I don’t sense he’s interested in mental contact with that dog or that there’s a mental exchange between the dogs), and then they walk on. And then he forgets about the dog. It’s his master his world revolves around. It’s being together with his master and getting attention from his master his life revolves around.