Possibly? Bad note writing either way. Using “in fact” is not literal here but a device of narrative. The question of wether the dog is or is not having the time of their life is speculative.
A human in a deprivation tank is denied their primary sensory input and will generally experience inability to orient, to tell time, to know where they are or what is going on- some find it pleasant and others not. The same person can find it pleasant one session and terrifying another.
Much as some animals or humans seem to enjoy altered sensory states such as ingesting hallucinogenic compounds- ask about experiences with edibles or shrooms from two people and one may say it is great and one may call it the worst experience of their life.
We can’t ask the dog if it is having the time of its life with any hope of a useful answer. We can observe behaviors and make assumptions. Dogs use body language and to a lesser degree facial expressions to convey emotions- or we could view it as their emotional state can show in body language and facial expressions. We don’t fully understand the cues and there is always variance between individual creatures but in general we have some concept of certain cues from tail position, movement, etc, ears, posture- for example most likely a dog with bristled fur and a wide stance barring its teeth is in an aggressive or defensive mood.
There is also their more direct behavior. If your dog jumps in the car every chance it gets we might speculate it enjoys car rides, and if it will not get in a car under its own will no matter what it likely dislikes car rides.
Of course even that is speculative. Perhaps the dog eager to get in the car strongly dislikes car rides but just strongly likes being with you, or associates car rides with getting to see new places or go places like the park and so it hates the ride but is eager for the destination. Conversely, a dog which won’t get in the car might enjoy the ride but associates rides with things it dislikes such as a vet or groomer, or it is scared of the car but enjoys the car ride. We can see similar behavior in humans- toddlers even- I knew a toddler that would cry when getting in the car but actually loved riding in cars- they just hated the car seat and being strapped in. Another toddler would get excited at the sight of merry go rounds but cry and want off if you put them on it, then beg to go back on.
There is a question to the complexity of dog cognition and wether they are capable of making such links but evidence supports that dogs can form these types of associations and do the unpleasant
for the anticipation of a future reward or avoid the pleasant in anticipation of a future unpleasantness. For example- a dog that dislikes it medicine can be “tricked” to take it by placing the medicine in cheese- but if it discovers the trick it may avoid cheese even without medicine as it will associate the two. Likewise, it is well documented that if you take a dog for walks to use the bathroom, and then immediately return home once they do their business, dogs can learn to hold their business because they associate doing their business in a walk with the walk ending.
You can see in these examples an ambiguity of wether there is a greater understanding of the situation or a simple stimulus response tied to perceived cause and effect. Such behaviors are noted academically and anecdotally by both researchers and care takers.
For example there- a dog who’s “mommy” was traveling and the dog happened to pick up their slippers and walk into the bedroom with them as the female care taker came home might in the future perform this behavior anytime their caretaker travels or is away from them attempting to “summon them” as it seems the dog has associated the act of carrying the slippers into the room as the cause for their previous return as opposed to coincidence.
A dog which was once stung by a bee that was inside a soda can might avoid soda cans as they don’t seem to understand the can wasn’t the cause of the unpleasant event but the bee was.
So the study of canine cognition and understanding the thoughts and emotions and being able to have meaningful and more complex communication with our 4 legged friends is an ongoing science. It is as ignorant to say a dog enjoys something speculatively as to say they dislike it.
To even attempt such judgments generally requires more data than a snap shot or brief description. It is fairly safe to assume a dog won’t enjoy being beaten or swimming in lava- statistically you’d be right the majority of the time- probably every time- assuming a dog wouldn’t enjoy that. Will a dog enjoy hang gliding or scuba diving or riding on a motorcycle? Depends on the dog and circumstances I suppose. Even the concept of hugs- generally hugging a dog is a “no-no,” and in general canine behavioral theory dogs would be disinclined to like hugs or understand them as humans do. In general observation most dogs show signs of what we know as distress when being hugged. Most. It is theoretically possible
that a specific dog can enjoy hugs. We must be a bit skeptical of the owner or young child who claims adamantly that “Bailey LOOOOOVES hugs!” But… the dog could. That’s a bit of how we got to the dogs we have today no? So much of dog behavior and dog human interactions differ from wolves and true wild dogs with humans. Mutations and adaptations- a pup which was less aggressive or more conditioned and so forth, over generations, and now you have a golden retriever that gets along much better with the family than a timber wolf likely would.
If humans live in water, dogs adapt. If humans live in the desert, dogs adapt, and there is a case for the opposite as well.
So then- it would not be a fact to say this dog is not having the time of its life, that would be speculation.
Comments
A human in a deprivation tank is denied their primary sensory input and will generally experience inability to orient, to tell time, to know where they are or what is going on- some find it pleasant and others not. The same person can find it pleasant one session and terrifying another.
Much as some animals or humans seem to enjoy altered sensory states such as ingesting hallucinogenic compounds- ask about experiences with edibles or shrooms from two people and one may say it is great and one may call it the worst experience of their life.
There is also their more direct behavior. If your dog jumps in the car every chance it gets we might speculate it enjoys car rides, and if it will not get in a car under its own will no matter what it likely dislikes car rides.
There is a question to the complexity of dog cognition and wether they are capable of making such links but evidence supports that dogs can form these types of associations and do the unpleasant
You can see in these examples an ambiguity of wether there is a greater understanding of the situation or a simple stimulus response tied to perceived cause and effect. Such behaviors are noted academically and anecdotally by both researchers and care takers.
A dog which was once stung by a bee that was inside a soda can might avoid soda cans as they don’t seem to understand the can wasn’t the cause of the unpleasant event but the bee was.
To even attempt such judgments generally requires more data than a snap shot or brief description. It is fairly safe to assume a dog won’t enjoy being beaten or swimming in lava- statistically you’d be right the majority of the time- probably every time- assuming a dog wouldn’t enjoy that. Will a dog enjoy hang gliding or scuba diving or riding on a motorcycle? Depends on the dog and circumstances I suppose. Even the concept of hugs- generally hugging a dog is a “no-no,” and in general canine behavioral theory dogs would be disinclined to like hugs or understand them as humans do. In general observation most dogs show signs of what we know as distress when being hugged. Most. It is theoretically possible
If humans live in water, dogs adapt. If humans live in the desert, dogs adapt, and there is a case for the opposite as well.
So then- it would not be a fact to say this dog is not having the time of its life, that would be speculation.