Busy at Daycare

I've been busy at work. Ray has been busy at daycare. Here is an action shot taken by one of the really nice people at Just Fur Pets.

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Ray Playing 4-way Tug of War (there's a rope in there somewhere)

Well, How 'Bout That

I took Ray to the dogpark this morning and came home cold. I hit the shower to warm up and when I came out Ray was passed out on our bed. Normally, he is not allowed on the bed but I could see that he had chosen to lay in the only sunny spot in the house (besides the windowsills, which have cat perches attached to them) and I figured he was cold after his sojourn at the dogpark so I decided to let sleeping dogs lie.

Can you see the grin on his face? He thinks he's pulling a fast one.

Usually the sunny spot on the bed is Hugo's sunspot of choice and Hugo was in the bedroom pacing nervously (Hugo always paces nervously). As I started to get dressed, I watched as Hugo stretched his neck out as far as he could to see what the heck that dog was doing on his spot. The I watched, flabbergasted, as Hugo jumped up on the bed and lay down on the corner farthest from the dog. He obviously wasn't very relaxed but WOW! what a step forward.

Try taking a picture of a mostly white dog on a light background and a black cat on a dark background in the same frame. Not good results but you get the idea.

Later in the day, Ray found the mink stole that I had bought him at an estate sale weeks before and stashed away and forgotten about. He ripped it up a bit then posed briefly to show how it should be worn before dismembering it completely

Eggs for Breakfast

I woke at 7:00am to the thump, thump on the kitchen door. I got up, went downstairs to let Ray out, moved his bed to it's usual spot in front of the fireplace, and turned on the space heater in the family room. Another cold morning. 

I let Ray in and I fed him then went and lay down on the couch. I flipped on the TV. Ray came in and curled up on my feet. It was toasty warm. Gregg came downstairs and and we watched as someone prepared eggs benedict with chipotle hollandaise sauce. It looked good. "I think I'll have eggs for breakfast," I said as I headed to the kitchen trailed by my trusty hound. 

Gregg came into the kitchen with me, took the eggs out of fridge and said "We need eggs. We're almost out." I opened the carton to see five eggs nestled in their little cardboard cradles. Enough for breakfast. I wrote eggs on the grocery list then went back into the family room to turn off the space heater. Gregg settled down with the paper. 

I heard Ray settle down contentedly with something in the front hall. I headed back to the kitchen and looked over to see him with the carton of eggs, the bottom ripped off of two of the egg cradles, and Ray lapping at the gooey contents of two broken eggshells.  He had contained the mess nicely in the carton. The considerate dog had left me enough for breakfast.

Back at Daycare

This week is my first week back at work full-time since I don't know when, so Ray is back at daycare.

The first day I dropped him off, I felt kind of bad. He's gotten so used to being home with his family and going to the dog park everyday that, at first, he seemed a little depressed about being back to school. But in true Ray fashion, he quickly adapted to his old routine. I think it helps that he loves the entire daycare staff. Every morning he pulls me into the daycare and every evening he is a little reluctant to leave.

When I pick him up at the end of the day, I get an updated status report from Kristen or Chance (to see photos of them click on the links. http://www.raytheblinddog.com/2009/07/special-needs-dog-not_23.html http://www.raytheblinddog.com/2009/08/random-ray-photos.html "Ray played with Harry and Hurley ALL DAY today. He should be good and tired." "Ray played HARD with Porkchop today, then he laid down for a nap just before you got here." "Ray took a nap this morning but he was really wired when he woke up so he played and played for the rest of the day." (that was today). Usually when Ray gets home he

1. eats dinner
2. tries to raid the cat dishes
3. plays with his bone a bit
4. lays down for a good chew
5. hits the hay

Today he skipped steps 3 and 4 and went right to 5. I think it's been a long, very fun week for Ray and he has one more day to go. It's not over yet. Looks like I'll be full-time for the entire month.

Nicknames

Ray's Nicknames

1. Raybone - (Jean)
2. Raymond - (Gregg)
3. RayRay - (Some of the daycare providers and my office mate, Melissa)
4. Frito Head - (When he starts to smell like Fritos)
5. Little Whiny Baby - (When he's just standing around whining)
6. Poor Blind Dog - (When he's feeling sorry for himself)

Moonie's Nicknames

1. Moon Pie
2. Moonie Moon Pie
3. Miss Pie
4. Pie

Hugo's Nicknames

1. Huey
2. Baby Huey

So, how many of Ray's fans have pets with nicknames? Would you care to share them in the comments?

Ray's in the Doghouse

I was taking a shower to get ready for work. I turned off the water and opened the shower door to grab a towel when I heard a ripping sound. What the...?

I grabbed a couple of towels and didn't even take the time to dry off or wrap them around my dripping wet body. I headed out of the bathroom, through the bedroom and into the upstairs hallway.

There was Ray shredding the CRAP out of something. I looked at the mess on the landing and followed the trail down the hallway to Gregg's office.

I stooped down just inside the doorway (still dripping), wrapping one of the towels around my wet hair. There was a shoebox with the lid shredded and only one, new, tasseled loafer residing in the box. Gregg had made a special trip to an outlet mall to get shoes for his hard-to-fit feet and had dropped the box on the floor just inside his office. It must have been the bag that the shoes were in and the paper that was wrapped around the shoes that Ray was shredding. I felt a cold nose on my naked back and Ray's tongue as he started to dry me off. I suppressed a hysterical urge to giggle.

Then it hit me. Where was the other shoe? I could feel the blood draining from my face and a cold hand grip my heart. I went back to the mess made by the blind dog.

There was the tasseled loafer in the midst of the mess of ripped paper. De-tasseled.

Gregg took the news surprisingly well.

"Lesson learned," was all he said when I told him.

Wow it's Cold.

It's been really FREEZING here. Temperatures in the 20's with strong, biting winds. Ray has been cooped up in the house for two days with nothing to do. In trying to minimize his exposure, we've only gone for a couple of walks around the block. Oddly enough he's been a good dog (just as I finished typing that, I looked over and saw him with his nose in my boot, trying to chew up the innersole). I've thought of taking him to daycare so that he can get some playtime but I will be working full time for the next month and he will be there everyday. So for now, Ray will have to deal with his post-holiday doldrums and make do with just us and the cats.

Also in the "oddly enough" department, just recently Ray has decided that Hugo is faking meanness and really wants to play with him. No matter how much Hugo hisses and growls and spits, Ray's tail starts to wag, his ears deploy in Dumbo mode, and his paw, as white cane, tap, tap, taps around as he tries to find his friend. Hugo is appalled and has once again retreated to the upstairs. I try to remain optimistic that this state of events will reverse itself.