The Look!

Having lived through two kids going through their teen years, I am very familiar with (and immune to) “the look”. That is the expression that says “Yeh right!” or “In your dreams”, or some other such expression of total disdain, in response to some perfectly normal and reasonable request.

I have found it interesting that Ray has developed a similar look, except that his is far more penetrating. Current teens could learn a lot from him in terms of overall effectiveness!

I was introduced to his “the look” once, after a particularly disruptive walk. As I have mentioned in earlier Posts, Ray will periodically put the brakes on and eventually sit down at the most inconvenient times during a walk. Given his separation issues, typically one of us would continue walking until Ray decides that, whatever his plan was, he must keep us all together.

There have been occasions where I have left him with Carol and walked well over 100 yards and he was still sitting down. Plan “B” is then implemented. I turn off somewhere so he cannot see me. That always works! When they catch up with me again, I can feel a pair of Rotti eyes just glaring at me.

Ray just recently took this scenario to a whole new level. We had to go to our local Fortinos (supermarket) and, as Carol was after some very specific items and needed to see what the choices were, she did the shopping and I stayed in the lobby with Ray. We thought this was a good idea because, although Ray’s separation issues are with both of us, he is clearly more protective of Carol. It seemed that having some forced time away from her would be a “baby step” towards a little more independence.

Carol must have been away for 15-20 minutes and, during that time, Ray was “on edge”. He would whine; sit; stand; lay down; greet anybody who gave him some attention and then turn to me for a treat; sit; whine; lay down; jump upon the seat with me; try and get through the automatic doors every time they opened; lay down; whine. It was quite a long 15-20 minutes!

Every time there was movement from within the store, he would become highly alert, and then dejected because it was not Carol.

Eventually, he did see her coming towards the doors and jumped up to greet her (this has to be deterred as he could knock people over quite easily) but, after some “sit” and “down” repeats, he settled down enough that we could leave the store.

I ask that you use your imagination from this point:

Imagine seeing our lovely Ray leaving a store with his Mom. His tail is high, and his gait is very light. His mouth is very relaxed. Clearly he is one very happy dog to be going home with his Mom. Dad is walking close by with a number of shopping bags. Clearly the end of a family shopping trip. Then you notice something else. Ray is glancing across at his Dad with an odd expression. As you watch him, you realize that he is totally focused and is giving an unblinking Rotti stare to his Dad.

Blog 2He could be thinking many things, but possibilities in these circumstances could be:

“How could you let her go in there on her own!”

“You should have let me go and rescue her.”

“You don’t even seem concerned. What is your problem?”

Sorry Ray, but I survived two teenagers. I am immune!

40 thoughts on “The Look!”

  2. LOL!! My husband and I call it, “The Death Stare”. We get it from Princess Leia (our Yorkie) quite often, especially when she doesn’t seem to be too thrilled about certain actions taken. We have no idea what they are really thinking, but their expressions say a lot lol

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  4. I can empathise with you – Tillie has the death-ray stare down pat! But lucky for me she uses it on Elvis to make him get off his bed so she can lie on hers (two entirely different beds but she believes he needs to get up for her) 😉

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  6. Ray has the most adorable face, Colin! Geez, those eyes would melt me every time! 🙂 He sounds like a very good boy, very protective. Our dog, Charlie, has slight separation issues as well. Sounds like you’re making good progress with Ray, though. Have a great Tuesday!

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      • I can see that he’s lovely just by looking at him, Colin. You’re lucky to have him — and he’s lucky to have you and your wife. 🙂 I always say animals find their way to us as much as we find our way to them. 🙂

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  8. Yes, my cat gives me The Look very often too. My puppy doesn’t have separation anxiety but I believe he would be asking the same questions if his mumma disappeared through some doors and he had to wait outside 🙂 Great story Colin!

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  9. I am not immune. My cats will give me “the stare” mostly when they want more food or for me to put down my Kindle and give them attention and I do it every time. They have trained me well. Maybe it’s because I never had teenagers.

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  11. Oh Ray, you’re so adorable. If only you could speak…I can imagine the words that would come out of your mouth. But Colin is currently doing a pretty good job of translating! 😉

    Cheers- from phoebe and her admiring kitty (from afar), Samantha

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    • Hi Phoebe and (reluctantly) Samantha. This is Ray. My Dad does his best at understanding me, but he has so much to learn. I just have to keep working on him (humans are so slow at picking stuff up)! Woof (to Phoebe) and WOOF! WOOF! (to Samantha). Ray.

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  15. Yes, my cat (One-eyed Dave) often gives me his look. (Well … half a look which is actually quite scarey.) That picture of Ray is excellent … I spy criticism in those eyes with a hint of disbelief.

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