I think what was meant is that the bolt was time to go for the walk, let's get started. I could be wrong tho.
I haven't had a dog in years (renting atm) but my last dalmatian smiled a lot and it really freaked some people out. He loved new people so whenever someone new was around it was time to smile for attention.
The dalmatian we had before him would take his metal bowl to the walkway and flip it, then push it around if dinner was late so you'd hear this god-awful noise coming from outside the house. It always reminded me of the prison movie scene where convicts bang their cups on the bars for attention.
Funny story with the first one. My father saved up money to take us to Disney World and the night before we left the dog caught a cat and killed it (he would do so by grabbing them and shaking them to death, he really hated cats). In the wee hours of the morning the dog started screaming and wouldn't stop, had to be taken to the vet. So off we go, 3 kids completely freaked out because our dog had to be taken to the animal hospital. The entire vacation was like: Want to ride the roller coaster? How is Sam? Hey look there's Mickey! How is Sam? Would you like a Disney shirt? How is Sam? I know it peeved my father to no end. How did the dog turn out? Well, my father left his mother in charge of the dog and told her if the vet said it was bad to put him under. So the vet called and said it was bad, and she threatened him with a lawsuit if the dog died. She home cooked the dog 2 meals a day and delivered them, and a couple of weeks later when we got home he was waiting for us and wagging his tail off. He was named Sam for Samson. I never understood why with all that short hair. The only one who didn't get a happy ending was the cat. Damned cat screwed up a perfectly cute story.