Emo Blackmail by the Pet

Leaving the house to go to work is becoming harder and harder. It's not because we can't get up in the mornings (well, not ALL the time anyways); And it's not because we don't like work (well, on occasion).

My Puppy is giving us an emotional blackmail act. She knows how to look so darn sad! How does she do it? Well, you be the judge of that. Look at her eyes, the way she poses herself with her left paw under her jaw. She's got the, "They don't love me anymore" look. And darn it, she's getting very good at it!

There are times when we wave goodbye to her while driving away from the house, Athena will sit her back towards us, and give us a side glance (which is just as effective as the "paw-under-jaw" look), and then turn her head away from us and hear the car drive away.

I wonder what happens when we leave. Or what she's thinking. Maybe she knows what she's doing and thinks to herself, "Job well done today! Got the suckers to leave late because of me." Or "Yessss! Score 5 for dog and 0 for humans. I hope they'll get me a different chew toy that squeaks this time"