Rayd!

I was putting up Halloween decorations. Ray was inside sleeping on his favorite chair (Gregg's). I ran an extension cord from the scary lights through the screen on the open window and took a quick look inside. Huh. Ray wasn't on the chair any more. My Raydar went off.
I went inside and glanced around the living room and family room. No Ray. I don't know how I missed the fact that the gate to the upstairs was open. I sprinted up the stairs to the cat's room. That door was also open.

I ran to the room and in a quick take I saw the following scenario:

• Ray's head in a four pound bag of cat food
• Four empty cat food bowls (two for dry food and two for wet food), that had been recently filled for the cat's dinner
• A second four pound bag of cat food still intact (thank God!)

I dragged Ray out of the now-empty bag of prescription (read "expensive") cat food and locked him out of the room. There were still some bits of food scattered around the floor so I scooped it up and deposited it in the 1/4 cup measure that I use to dispense Hugo's food. There was only enough to fill the measure about half way. Ray had eaten at least a pound of cat food, not to mention the food that was in the bowls.

I grabbed my car keys and headed to the vet to get a replacement bag. I told the staff working the counter what had happened and asked what to expect.

"Well, the worst that could happen is his stomach will be really bloated and hard and you need to call the Dr. right away," said one of the girls.
I had just watched Marley and Me a couple days previously. Marley had almost died from the same thing.
"But most likely he'll get diarrhea," the other girl said.

I grabbed my bag food and raced back home to see if my dog was dead. Ray was in great spirits and tried to convince me that he was still hungry. I wasn't buying it.
The question remains: How did Ray know that the gate to the upstairs was open? HE'S BLIND.

Ray Smells a Bee

Ray demonstrating Dumbo mode

Ray was in the front hall "looking" at a spot on the carpet. His ears were thrust forward in what I refer to as the "Dumbo the Elephant" pose, as in this photo of him looking down the stairs. He uses it a lot when trying to figure something out. I walked over to see what he had found. 
There was a bee crawling along the carpet. Ray looked like he wanted to eat it, so I grabbed an envelope, scooped up the bee, and started to carry it to the front door. 
When I got close to the door, the bee flew off and landed on the screen, behind the mesh screen protector. There was no way to get to the bee without removing the protector, so I made the command decision to ignore it and return to reading the newspaper.

After a few minutes, I noticed that Ray was snuffling around the entryway. I got up to watch him. He was sniffing the carpet, then the hall table, then the bottom of the door, then higher and higher until he had pinpointed the bee on the screen behind the protector. He jammed his nose against the metal as far as he could, sniffing, sniffing, sniffing. The bee wasn't moving and Ray's nose was millimeters away. I thought he might inhale the furry bee body, he was so close.

As I watched him, I found myself wondering what life would be like if I could smell a single bee.

Ray Pulls a Gandhi

It was a nice morning and I didn't have to go to work, so Ray and I headed for the lake. As usual, it was a struggle to get him to behave on the way down. He just wanted to run and I felt bad that I couldn't let him. I toyed briefly with the idea of turning around and taking him to the dog park again, but it's not that close and I had things to do.

On the way to the lake we met Tallie, a Basset Hound/Bluetick Coonhound mix (how do these things happen?); she had the coloring of a Bluetick but the legs of a Basket Hound. An unusual but very cute combination. Ray and Tallie were sniffing each other up, but Ray was being relatively calm so I was able to chat with Tallie's owner.

Tallie was a rescue dog like Ray. The rescue society had had her for awhile in a shelter in a different county and no one wanted her, so they had moved Tallie to our county's shelter, where her current owner, Sylvia, adopted her. Like me, Sylvia adopted Tallie, her first dog ever, late in life. She was 42 and had cats (and I think she said she has kids too) when she brought home Tallie.
"I don't know how I ever got along without a dog, " said Sylvia.
Thinking of my own hound, I agreed with her.

It was pretty hot by the time Ray and I neared home. We were only a couple blocks away and were at a corner getting ready to cross the street. A car was coming up the street with his turn signal on, so I told Ray to sit while we waited for the car to turn in front of us. Ray sat. Then flopped.
"Come on Ray," I said pulling on his leash. Ray was stretched out, not moving.

Ray, demonstrating his flop technique on the couch

I could see him breathing though.
I knelt down behind him and tried to pry him off of the pavement with my hands. I could see the car slowly turn the corner and pull over to the curb. Oh, crap, I thought to myself. I had Ray propped up almost into a sitting position but he was pulling a Gandhi and leaning against me trying to flop back over. A man with a very concerned look on his face took a couple of steps towards us.
"What's wrong with him?" he asked.
"He's lazy and stubborn," I responded laughing, because at the first sound of the man's voice, Ray sprang to his feet and was lunging in the general direction of the guy. I swear Ray uses his flop as a ploy to meet people. The man laughed and shook his head.
"I've never seen that before," he said as he got back into his car and drove away.

Did you hear a dog? I thought I heard a dog?

Ray Meets a Wolf

I'd had so many people tell me that I should take Ray to the dog park that I finally decided maybe we should go. I went across the street and asked Sandra if she and Maddie wanted to go along. Sandra was agreeable so we all piled into my car and drove on down.

Ray and Maddie act like brother and sister. That is to say, they ignore each other until Ray crosses that imaginary brother/sister line, then Maddie slaps him down. The brother and sister rode together in the backseat in silent doggy companionship.

When we got to the park, a man was getting out of his monster SUV, a dog was in the back looking out the window. 
Sandra looked out her window at the dog and said, "I wonder what kind of dog that is?" 
I looked at the 'dog' and had a sinking feeling. The dog got out of the car and it was a monster on spindly legs. We exited our car as well, dogs on leashes.

Sandra asked the man "What kind of dog is that?"
"It's a Shepherd mix," he replied.
"Is it mixed with wolf?" I asked. 
"Yes, he's half," replied the man.

We followed him to the park at a discreet distance. I didn't have a good feeling about letting my blind dog loose with a wolf hybrid. I hadn't heard good things about them.
"Just our luck that we go to the dog park on the same day as a wolf," I said to Sandra.

Dog/Wolf in center, 

Ray in back left playing with Border Collie mix

Despite misgivings, we continued on. The park turned out to be a large, rectangular, open field. The two long sides were abutted by wooded areas, benches on concrete platforms were there for the humans, a huge rock the size of a Lincoln Towncar was there to provide a jumping off spot for the dogs and an obstacle for the blind hound. A mud hole along one of the fences was also there, but probably not on purpose. Everything a dog could want with the exception of a fire hydrant. All fenced-in with chain link. The area was so large that I wondered if I would be able to catch Ray and leash him when I was ready to go.

Sandra let Maddie off of her leash and I walked Ray along the fence for a bit, trying to show him the perimeters. He wasn't really paying attention because of the other dogs. I was worried a bit about Ray running into a tree and hurting himself but the thought of him being able to run around without the leash was just too tempting. All of a sudden, I realized that I had forgotten my camera in the car. Sandra volunteered to hold him while I ran to get it. "Show him where the rock is!" I yelled as I headed back to the car.

When I got back, we turned Ray loose. He immediately identified a border collie mix as his playmate of choice and started to yell. And yell. And Yell. AND YELL. For the next forty five minutes Ray hounded that dog and yelled at him. The dog was playing with a lab mix and both of the dogs headed for the trees. Ray gamely followed, conking into trees when he got too excited to feel them coming. I stood by, yelling "BE CAREFUL" when he got too close to something (it works when we are on walks - not so well when he's playing with other dogs). I went into the woods after him, hooked him to the leash, and pulled him back into the open field. The smaller dogs followed but when Ray started yelling again, they dove for a hollow under the huge rock closely followed by Ray. 
"BE CAREFUL!" I screamed as Ray trotted straight for it. 
Ray flinched and swerved. I was sweating a bit in nervous fear for my dog. Again I hooked him to the leash and dragged him to the center of the field. The border collie left. I heaved a sigh of relief.

The humans had been moving in a straggling group, following the dog action, but were now standing together in a small clump in the middle of the field. I went to join them now that Ray was out of the woods (literally). The wolf was circling the clump of humans. We were all talking about our dogs. A young girl (in her twenties?) was there with a Golden Retriever named Brinkley. She was watching him closely.

Sandra, Ray, and Maddie with Toby in the background

"He found the mudhole last time we were here," she said, "I want to keep him away from it."

The man with the dog/wolf was saying how Toby (the dog/wolf's name) was terrified of kids. I replied that Ray had three priorities

1. Dogs
2. Kids
3. People

in that order. 
The man replied, "Toby only has one priority, dogs." 
I looked at Toby who continued to circle the clump of humans, ignoring the dogs. I was starting to feel like lunch.

Ray and Toby

All of a sudden there was a blood-curdling scream. 
"BRINKLEY, NO!!!!!!!!!!" 
The young girl was running across the field. Brinkley had found the mud hole (which was more like a mud bath - the muddy water was chest deep) and was having a BLAST. The young girl came back to the clump of humans, dejected. Brinkley gamboled up grinning from ear-to-ear and shook himself off (obviously a jokester). We ducked for cover.

Ray decided that Brinkley was fun and started to follow him. Brinkley was beelining back to the mudhole. I ran after my dog, calling Ray. Brinkley entered the mudhole at a run, splashing the muddy water a good five feet out. Ray stopped dead when hit by the spray. I breathed a sigh of relief and stopped.

Ray, Toby the dog/wolf, and Brinkley the Golden Retriever

Both dogs came back to check on the human circle then off again. Ray lost his playmate for a moment and plowed headlong into the side of the wolf. I held my breath. The wolf didn't even register that he'd been hit. Ray picked himself up off of the ground looking a bit scared, then trotted off to try to find Brinkley.

I decided maybe I'd had enough excitement for the day. Sandra and I gathered our pets and headed home.

More Trip Photos

But, I don't have anymore. Really!

Nannie, can you read me a story?

Lazy-dog's tug-of-war

Getting into the game

Ray, do you need an ear rub?

Separated at birth?

Ray's Trip - the Final Chapter

Resting up before the trip home

Ray woke me really early Sunday. Dad and I took him for a walk around the block. I loaded up the car and we hit the road.
The trip was long. I tried to keep myself alert by reading signs (Dunn, (NC) The Dump Truck Body Capitol of the World. I wondered if there was a hot competition for that title) and singing songs. Ray snored.
When we were about three hours from home, I called a friend of mine who lives in Richmond.

"Hey," she said.
"Hey," I replied, "If I stop by will you feed me?"
"Well, I'll take you to lunch," she said.
"Uh, I got a dog with me," I said.
"I'll go to the grocery," she answered, "I'll come up with something."

When Ray and I got to Susan's, she came out to greet us. I rolled down the car window and was saying hi when Ray stuck his head out my window, he was grinning and his tail was thumping against the seat. As usual, he was thrilled to meet someone new.

Hi! Nice to meet ya!

I think greens is my color, don't you?

While Susan prepped lunch, Ray and I took a quick walk around. She lives on a golf course and it was quiet and cool and lovely. I could tell that Ray was really enjoying his walk and was thinking about buying a piece of property next to his new friend.

When we got back, Susan had the grill set up and burgers and chicken just waiting for the fire. We went out and sat on the patio which overlooked a little lake. Ray stretched out in front of the patio door and went to sleep. He was exhausted after his long drive and didn't wake up until the food was ready. Susan gave him a bit of burger (he was acting like he hadn't been fed in weeks) and sealed their friendship forever.

Just before we left, I took Ray for another turn around the area. We met a couple walking two mini dachshunds. Ray was entranced; he likes mini anything. I tried to get him to flop so he wouldn't hurt them (they were minute) and it was a struggle.
We piled back into the car, thanked Susan for a great lunch, and were gone.

Although we both had a good time on our trip, Ray and I were happy to get home.

I'm going to miss you.

Ray's Trip - Part 3. Ray has Two Mommies

Every day Ray and I would walk to John's and Yuko's so that I could turn Ray loose. Every day I would dig up Ray's bone and every day Ray would plant it somewhere different. Yuko's vegetable seedlings were taking a beating. Ray would wander and Yuko would yell, "Not there, Ray! That's turnips!" or "Not there, Ray! That's spinach!"

Every day Hannah would come outside and Ray would go crazy. As soon as he would calm down and start to ignore her, Hannah would start to singsong "Ray Ray Ray Ray Ray Ray Ray Ray." Ray would then go to her and try to lick her face and eat her hair. Hannah would spritz him and he would flop for a belly rub. 

Ray and Hannah

Every day Hannah and Yuko would visit us at Mom and Dad's. Hannah would play tug-of-war with Ray and we would all wait for someone to get hurt. But no one ever did. We would all loiter around the kitchen and Ray would try to snarf everyone's food or sip their coffee. We were having a really good time.

Cousins

On Saturday Mom woke up with a cold so she stayed in bed. Dad and I spent the morning installing a new shower head in the bathroom. We finished up just in time for me to head over to John's to meet Amber, Ray's foster mom, who was driving in from Columbia.

I was nervous. I thought maybe Amber would want Ray back and I wouldn't be able to say no because I knew that Ray would love to be with his old friends. I knew that, if I were Amber, I would want to have a great dog like Ray back. Even though there was no way to do it, I was trying to prepare myself to give Ray up if I had to.

Amber arrived right on time. Ray was beside himself with joy. We couldn't tell if it was because he remembered Amber, or if it was because Ray is ALWAYS beside himself with joy whenever he meets anyone.
Amber and I sat on the patio and chatted while Ray flopped in the yard sunning himself. Yuko, who was puttering around in her garden,  came to sit with us. Amber laughed at something that was said, when, all of a sudden, Ray's head came up and he 'looked' in our direction. He leapt to his feet and ran to Amber, licking her and jumping on her. It was like a lightbulb had gone off over his head, an "I remember NOW!" moment. Then he moseyed on back to the yard and the sun.
Before Amber left, she kissed Ray on his kissing knob (the knob on top of his head. I told Hannah it was good luck to kiss Ray on his kissing knob. She's all set for the rest of her life), and told him goodbye. After I closed the gate, Ray stood with his nose pressed against the wooden fence. I could feel the tears pricking against my eyelids.

 Bye mom, I miss you.