The Blink Blink

Saturday, April 21, 2007
The Blink Blink Category: Pets and Animals
The blink blink. For those of you who haven't experienced it, how to describe? It's along the same lines as the vulcan mind meld and the jedi mind control. Every pug has their own preferred method of bending you to their will, but you don't really see the blink blink coming. Or it's so subtle, it can easily be written off in your mind before you realize how they've got you right where they want you.
Isabella would be the blink blink equivalent of the jedi master in our home. Let's say you went to 3 stores, looking for the perfect something. Like the other day I bought a mechanical pencil with one of the softest grips I've ever used. I was soooo happy with my purchase, especially since I had a lot of work to catch up on and was going to get great use out of it. Within 24 hours, it was in shreds. If this had been Isabelle, I would have ravaged, "WHAT are you DOING to my PENCIL???" to which she would have replied with a What? look followed by the blink blink. The what look serves to proclaim innocence and redirect blame to the person who left it somewhere in the house accessible to the pugs. The blink blink is there to emphasize and throw the accuser totally off track. And somehow it serves to make them so utterly adorable that the pencil is forgotten and they are rewarded with a tummy rub for bringing the mangled piece of plastic back to you.
I thought maybe the blink blink was an Isabelle trait, but I was so wrong. During the throes of tax season, when I was working day and night, somehow little Rizzo would always end up in my lap. I didn't remember bending down and picking her up. In fact, I remember skeedaddling them all out of my way after playtime so I could get some work done. But somehow there she was, always staring deep into my eyes and bringing an inner calm to my soul. Since it was such a mystery, I started paying attention and noticed that she would very gently and calmly lift her paws and put them ever-so-softly on my legs. Then she would stare intently at me till I subconsciously reached down to pull her up onto my lap. She never barked, never whined, and never scratched.
She followed me everywhere, and whenever I would sit down, there she'd be with those soft little paws. One day as I was moving around the house, she was sitting stationary, watching me intently, waiting for me to come to a rest. We made eye contact, and one of the older pugs sat down right in front of her, blocking her view. Her little head bobbed around the side of the older pug and captured my eyes again. And there it was ... the blink blink. D'oh! How long had I been fallen prey to the subtle trickery? Was that how I had become her lap slave so easily??
Rizzo -