How Do You Know Your Dog Is Content?

[Lady Flying Furball]

Okay I was doing a bit of navel gazing on the way home today in the car. I was wondering as I am beginning to work more (thank goodness!!) and am out of the apartment more, is it fair to leave my dog alone. I then thought about how getting a dog was about enhancing my own life but what about his??? Is it enough to be fed well, dry and warm, to be loved, to be walked twice a day for half an hour and go in the car and to the dog park four times a week??? Is that really it?? How would I know if my dog is happy/content/fulfilled with his world...or am I majorly projecting human qualities and needs on him ? I guess that I am not sure how to tell and see that he is really fixated on my presence.

[corvus]

You could let me come and test his "optimism" in a few months when I have my optimism testing aparatus made.

Optimism and cognitive biases aside, I think that expending energy for no real reason is a good indicator of positive welfare. Things like running and playing just for the heck of it. We don't know much about figuring out if an animal is in a good emotional state at the moment. I think there is a system someone wrote where you score behaviours to get an index of welfare, but it's still a bit tricky. I think anticipatory behaviour can also be an indicator of positive welfare. They have tested it in rats, giving them a signal that means they are getting a sucrose reward. If they get really excited they are considered to be in a positive emotional state.