The Eyes Have It


The Kees has the most direct eye contact of any dog breed that I have ever seen! Some dogs watch the peripheral movements, hand and leg movements, for the signal. Kees look directly into the human eyes. With such specificity, the Kees are quite sensitive to the human facial gestures. Just as psychological studies have proven that human infants watch the face and get many cultural clues from the face, it is my feeling that the Kees does exactly the same.

The following would certainly upset a human, if it involved any other animal with the look and size of a Kees. But the following is definitely Kees territory:

Many times, in the heat of the summer, I have laid down in front of a fan with a Kees. This has become a ritual with JoLyn's Vanilla Spice. I realize that I have already used superlatives to describe the Kees eye contact, but Vanna has the most intense eye contact of any Kees that I have met. She is a quite dominant Kees, and is not afraid of human proximity. She will not back down, and shows no fear… Many times I have awakened during the fan ritual, to see her face only inches from mine, on the same pillow, with her eyes fixed on my face and my, then, open eyes. As I mentioned in the introduction, this could be "freak out" time for some humans. What does this furry thing with big fangs want??? And the answer…lick…lick…

The above is an extreme example; at all other times, you can vision a dog that walks all around the house constantly looking up to your eyes and face for clues. I have seen them walk into posts, walls, etc., while trying to do their eye contact. But they're pretty tough, so they survive the wrecks!

As I have disclaimed in many of my articles, most of my examples, including the above, are only to portray the healthy Kees. The potential is there. I just want everyone to know what is possible, when a Kees receives only loving nurturing, and is free from harm. All readers must also remember that a Kees was developed only as a human companion, that the Kees has never been taught to harm animals. Can the Kees hurt someone or something? Sure. I have seen Kees under stress, and with a history of abuse or little or no rearing, do harm. Anyone can go insane. But a Kees that receives nurturing from a human is definitely one of the dogs in existence that accepts human standards. Beyond that, the Kees is an incredibly stubborn dog (see the "Dominant" story); which means that once positive habits are ingrained, they will be retained.