Awkwardly Staring Dogs — Two black dogs with wide eyes and awkward, uncomfortable expressions staring at the camera in a side-by-side composite.

Awkwardly Staring Dogs

2023video templatedeclining

Published October 15, 2026

Awkwardly Staring Dogs, also known as Dogs Awkwardly Staring or Confused Dogs, is a greenscreen video template pairing a black Labrador with a brown boykin spaniel, both wearing shocked expressions aimed at something off-camera. The format took off on TikTok in October 2023 through a CapCut edit by user RikaT101, with creators soon layering it over Hank Williams Jr.'s country track 'Weatherman' to react to cringeworthy or absurd situations.

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Overview

Two source clips come from different continents. A black Labrador first surfaced in a Douyin post by user 家有团长 (translated from Chinese as 'Head of the family') on December 14th, 20221. The brown boykin spaniel came from a TikTok by @rigley.beans on September 20th, 20232. CapCut edits place both animals side by side on a greenscreen background, letting creators drop in their own footage or text where the dogs appear to be looking.

Captions typically describe something cringeworthy, scandalous or absurd, with the dogs' puzzled faces standing in for the viewer's own reaction5. Most posts used the audio set by RikaT101's template, though later videos switched to Hank Williams Jr.'s country track 'Weatherman'8.

Origin & Background

Platform
Douyin / TikTok (source clips), CapCut (template), TikTok (viral spread)
Creator
RikaT101
Date
2023

The black Labrador clip first appeared on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, when user 家有团长 posted it on December 14th, 2022, collecting roughly 200,000 likes over eleven months1. The brown boykin spaniel clip came from TikToker @rigley.beans on September 20th, 2023, drawing around 8.5 million plays and 906,900 likes in two months2.

In late October 2023, the Douyin clip gained reposts on TikTok and a widely shared Instagram embed9. CapCut user RikaT101 combined the two clips into a single edit titled 'Awkwardly starring' on October 22nd, 20233, then used it in their own TikTok that same day4.

How It Spread

After RikaT101's CapCut edit went live, TikTok creators flooded the template with their own captions3. On October 23rd, 2023, @druminix mashed it with the Cat Driving a Car format, drawing roughly 4 million plays and 693,100 likes in 16 days6. Four days later on October 27th, @amor_silver96 posted a version that collected 4.8 million plays and 945,800 likes in 12 days7.

TikTokers soon began laying the clip over Hank Williams Jr.'s 'Weatherman,' which overtook RikaT101's original audio choice10. On October 25th, @megomaster published a Weatherman edit that drew around 8.7 million plays and 1.5 million likes within two weeks8. By November 8th, 2023, the CapCut template had logged over 211,200 total uses3.

How to Use This Meme

Creators open the 'Awkwardly starring' CapCut template by RikaT1013, then insert a short video, screenshot or text block in the greenscreen area where the two dogs appear to be looking. Captions commonly describe something embarrassing, confusing or over-the-top, playing off the exaggerated shock on the animals' faces. Audio choices typically include the original CapCut sound or Hank Williams Jr.'s 'Weatherman'10.

Frequently Asked Questions