Its companion, dog no. 4, stands and looks to stage left. In contrast to that of its partner, it leans, straining on its lead, in that direction and invites us to move our eyes there. It may be looking over at the cat which, like most cats in Western art, is paying no attention to what humans are doing. Perhaps it is looking at the last dog in the painting as we scan left to right: the small one on the table intent on food. “Oh, if I could only pray”, Luther says of his dog Tölpel, “the way this dog watches the meat”. A dog in art is so often about attentiveness. There is also a vertical connection between that dog and the rest of the painting. The bow of the bass viol players looks almost like a lead; when our eyes follow it upward, they come to Christ, who is seated directly above the space between the two dogs.