"Моя собака смотрела на тарелку риса."

Translation: My dog was looking at the plate of rice.

[LangForThought]

Would "My dog was watching the plate of rice" be incorrect?

[yoink]

Watching is still not accepted. And I can confirm that every single dog I've had in my life would intently watch anything containing food until he/she got some or it was put away out of sight. Merely glancing in the direction of a plate of food? Not possible ;)

[mikezephyr]

Она смотрила за тарелку, fits that very fitting doglike behavior

[maryquize]

You can watch TV, but not the rice))))))

[EricPeters268463]

You can watch anything visual. Some things ( like rice) just aren't as entertaining.

[jtaylor162]

Indeed! To a dog, this may be filled with suspense. Is it being offered to me? Is it forbidden? It's important for us to realize that смотреть can mean "look at" as well as "watch," but surely "watch" shd be possible here. It is perfectly plausible in English.