Looking in the eyes of a dog and learning the secret of the universe.

The eyes are the window to you soul, and to lunch.

I think most people who have own dogs have at one time sat down on the floor with their dog and stared into their eyes. As we do this to the magnificent creature that’s in front of us and we all imagine what they are thinking. What’s going on in a dogs mind? What did they think about when we are not around? What do they think about when they see you walked through the door after a long absence? How complex is their thought process? Do they think about the same things we do? Do they understand love the same way humans do? This is what I often wonder when looking into my dogs eyes.

I was sitting with Storm last night before I went to bed, we were having a “guy moment” of personal reflection and I honestly thought we were getting somewhere. We made eye contact and for a brief moment I honestly believed I was looking into his soul. Nothing else mattered in the world as we had a connection. At the exact moment the planets aligned and we both understood the universe the moment was destroyed by a sound from a family member in the kitchen, and after I heard that sound I knew the truth.

I know what Storm thinks about when nobody is home I know what is always on his mind because I’ve watched him for the last 10 months since we brought him home as a puppy. Storm has a mystery that he needs to be answered, for us the answer is simple but we are keeping the secret from him.

Under our sink in the kitchen there is a cupboard. Most kitchens have a cupboard like this and is usually used for storage for cleaning products or general kitchen things that want to be hidden from the world. We leave our rubbish bin in this little cupboard. This is a problem for Storm as he’s been trying to work out the purpose of this secret location with the deliciously smelling contents.

Just think about it from his perspective, every night when we cook dinner we take bits of the unprepared food that are not needed and put them in a secret container behind the cupboard door. After we finished eating we take the food scraps off the place them into the same container before we do the washing up. Even later in the evening we collect this container, sealed it up in a plastic bag and take it outside to place in a larger bin. This makes perfect sense to us what’s happening, but have you ever wondered what Storm thinks about the whole mystery?

In his eyes this is a torture device – nothing more – nothing less. We all know the dog have incredibly good sense of smell, so every time we place an item in the bin for us it’s out of sight but Storm knows it’s there. He can smell it hidden behind closed doors and he wants it. He doesn’t understand why, but he instinctively seeks out the contents as he needs to eat whatever is in there.

It makes perfect sense to him, rather than place or your food scraps in this mystery device you should just give it to him. Brilliant idea. It actually makes sense when you think about it. As with all other dogs in the world he firmly believes he is always hungry. He sits under your feet as you prepare the food. He’s actually doing you a huge favour as it would be more convenient for you to drop the food scraps directly into his mouth rather than walk over to the sink and place it in the bin underneath. We don’t and this must confused Storm more than we realise as he believes it’s bizarre behaviour from humans that we don’t follow his advice.

It’s a mutually beneficial transaction in his eyes as he gets an extra snack, you save some time so it’s a win-win situation. Why don’t you do it? What’s wrong with you?

Storm never goes  hungry, we feed him good quality food that looks delicious enough for me to eat (I’ve never actually tried) but if you ask him how he’s wronged somehow he’d tell you he is the most hard done by dog in the world. So much food in the house gets wasted and he will never be given an opportunity to look through it, spread it around the floor and eat whatever tickles his fancy.

No dog as ever found out what is behind this door. It smells nice, that is all that is known.

I could tell him the sad truth that we don’t actually throw out much food, just the odd potato peel and left over meal that was sitting in the fridge for a few days, but I doubt he’d believe me.

Next time I look deep into Storm’s eyes and try to have a moment of introspection I might take a friend’s advice and try a psychic connection with his mind. I’ll politely inform him our neighbours have some really tasty food in their rubbish bin, and I know where they keep their spare key.