whale eye
n.— «When a dog turns his head away from you but his eyes are turned as far to the side as possible in your direction, the whites of his eyes take on that crescent shape. When a dog’s eyes take on this appearance, professionals in the field refer to it as “whale eye.” This visual sign is thought to occur because the dog is so afraid that he is not looking at you, but he’s too afraid to take his gaze away from you entirely. » —“The Eyes Have It —what Can Be Seen In A Dog’s Eyes” by Karen London Dog Behavior Blog May 12, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What kind of book do people ask for most often in prison? Romance novels? No. The Bible? No. The most requested books by far are … dictionaries! A number of volunteer organizations gather and distribute used dictionaries to help inmates with...
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary...
The “whale-eye” you mention is really called the “baleful” look. It doesn’t indicate fear, at all. In fact it is a really coy way for a dog to tell you that you have disappointed him, missed something, or generally have failed to be “the kind of person your dog thinks you are.” We call it the “white-wall tire” look when our Black Labrador retriever discovers something amiss in his routine daily expectations!