I remember the first time my dad had much contact with my dog Tiny. I had gone away for a day, and Dad was checking in on Tiny, feeding him and taking him outside, you know the routine.

When I got back, Dad said, "I hate to worry you, but Tiny looked, well…disturbed…the entire time you were gone."

"Like he was missing me? Yeah, he gets that way when I’m not around," I said.

"No," Dad said, "I could tell he was missing you, but he looked like he was really worried about something." I looked at Tiny who looked at me with his normal expression. Worried is how he normally looks.

I’m not entirely sure what kind of life Tiny had before he came to live with us. Whoever had him did a good job of training him- he might not do tricks, but if I tell him to stay, he’ll stay there from here to eternity, even if he doesn’t know what "sit" means. And he’s never had a problem with being house trained, and he is really good about "knocking" on doors that are closed that he would like to be open.

But he always looks like he’s worried about something. What, I don’t know. I’d take him to a dog psychic, but that’s pretty expensive. Same with the dog therapist, which he probably needs, but since he can’t talk, I don’t know that therapy would really help.

I’ve only seen him looking happy a few times in his entire life and that was usually centered around my coming home or giving him food. Or coming home with food for him. I guess this will have to remain a mystery.

Photo: Chez Bez, whose dog doesn’t seem to have problems looking happy