I say pets, domesticated, because in the wild the reasons are obvious: is it a threat, it looks tasty, or new and odd, or maybe I can catch it, or I’m-eyeballing-you-Buster-so-beat-it.
All stuff that happens indoors also, of course.
But here’s the question, and the set-up:
I’m with my dog all day. My wife comes home, they express mutual ecstasy in meeting each other, she gets him dinner, we eat, and eventually she settles down on the couch to watch TV, and I lie down on nearby and read. Buddy curls up in front of the couch.
Almost always sooner or later Buddy will lift up his head, go into a happy pant (he’s a Golden–dog people know what this means) and stare at her. She locks eyes and says “what do you want,” “no you’re not put going to get a cookie” (to him).
I tell her he’s just staring at her because he’s grooving on the view. She says he wants a cookie. I say you’re wound too tight–and to my peril once said don’t be like your mother–that you can be loved and have nothing needed in exchange.
It’s a profound psychological standpoint that can make you understand a lot about letting go I said, being a family therapist with a smug tone of voice that made her rightly throw a sneaker at me.
But I’m right, Right? I don’t know about other pets, but could a dog fixate on something/one just cause it gives him pleasure?
Sometimes a see him smelling a bush and wonder that too, but that’s background for the OP.
