Worry, Worry, Worry

This morning Ray and I went to the dog park and then to get some dog food at Just Fur Pets, his daycare place. When we arrived at Just Fur Pets, one of the local rescue groups was there having a dog adoption day. Usually when there are lots of dogs and people around, Ray is SO happy, but this time he was oddly subdued.

"Wow," said Mirella, the owner of the daycare, "Ray is really behaving himself today. Good BOY Ray." Ray was standing with his leash slack, his brow furrowed. Usually he's straining at the end of the leash trying to get some shopping done, or if there are dogs and people around, trying to meet and greet.

I stood talking to the rescue folks for a bit. They were exclaiming how Ray looked exactly like a dog that they had adopted out the week before, except "Larry" was a tricolor (they thought maybe a Treeing Walker Hound). Everybody loved Larry and his foster mother really missed him. Ray stood still, looking concerned.

We went to the back of the store to pick up a bag of food and then to the check out, Ray continued to be a good boy. Then it dawned on me that maybe Ray had spent many Saturdays at adoption days like this one when he was at SQ Rescue and living with his foster mom. Maybe he thought I was going to give him away. We left the store, Ray trailing me a bit. "Don't worry Ray," I said, "I'm not going to give you away." I kissed him on the top of the head. Ray jumped up in to the car and we headed home.

When we got there, we did some gardening. Ray helped me dig up a rhododendron that had been mostly uprooted in one of the snowstorms (well, technically, Ray dug it up again after I moved it to a new spot, then went back to the place that I had removed it from and enlarged the hole enough so that he could lay in it.) Every time I moved to work in a different part of the yard, Ray got up from wherever he was, and moved with me, lying down within ten feet of where I was working. I thought maybe he was still worried about being "let go", so I went over to where he was flopped over on his side. Ray rolled, exposing his underside for a belly rub. I stroked his belly and whispered to him "Don't worry Ray, I'll keep you 'till the day I die or the day you die, whichever comes first." I don't know if I imagined it, but I swear I could see the tension leave my blind hound. I'm sure he believed me.

A Spring Ray

So can a blind dog read minds? I was on the phone with Ray's foster mother, Amber. I was walking around the backyard and checking out the new growth and flowers, (seeing if I had any plants remaining after the piles of snow this winter and a blind dog peeing on everything in sight since last summer.) As I was talking, I noticed that two Trillium that I had planted the summer before were coming up. They were only about three inches tall but I was excited. I didn't think that they would be affected by snow but I really didn't think they would make it through Ray tromping all over them. As this thought went through my head, Ray walked over and laid down on them. Then, finding that spot not as comfortable as it could be, he got up, dug a shallow depression, and laid back down, the fragile plants scraped aside with a small mound of dirt.

sigh.

Ray gets Good Advice

Yesterday my friend Laura and I were taking Ray for a walk around the lake. A little girl on a bike was coming down the trail towards us. When she got close enough, she said, "Can I pet your dog?" "Of course!" I replied, "It would make his day if you pet him!" The little girl got off her bike and came up to Ray who, as usual, was beside himself with joy. "I have a dog," she said "He's an Airedale Terrier mix." She pointed down the trail. "Is he following you?" I asked. "My mom has him on a leash," she replied. By this time we could see her mom and her dog.

Ray was flopped over getting a belly rub when her mom came up with the dog. Ray, all excited that there was a little girl AND a dog, got up to sniff but missed the dog by about a foot. "Ray's blind," I told the little girl. Ray had decided the dog wasn't as interesting as his new friend and was getting more pets. The little girl (maybe 9 or 10 years old), looked Ray square in the face and said. "You're no different than anyone else. You can do anything you want." "She would know," said her mom. "She was born with only two chambers to her heart. There are supposed to be four. She's already had three open heart surgeries so that they can make her heart do the job of one with four chambers."

Ray could tell that his new friend was no different than anyone else and that she was doing what she wanted. She was giving him a great belly rub and rubbing his ears.

Ray has a Boyfriend

I don't know if I've mentioned Ike. A big, unaltered yellow lab that lives down the street and around the corner. Ike is a sweet, sweet dog that carries a torch for Ray. Every time Ike gets loose (at least once a week), he heads down to see his boyfriend. And Ray loves him back, just not in the way that Ike has in mind. When Ike gets to our house, (I put him in the backyard until his owner gets here) Ray is always beside himself with joy.  They race around the yard until Ike starts to get ideas. Then his owner clips a leash on him and leads him away. Ray follows him sadly to the gate. Ike's owner tells us that Ike doesn't to other dogs what he tries to do to Ray. Ray is the love of his life (at least until Ike gets snipped.) Like I said, a sweet, sweet dog.

I'm thinking of getting a Ray a button to clip to his collar that says "I LIKE IKE."

Dog Park Etiquette

I know I've mentioned before how Ray loves to prove what a liar I am. So this morning at the dog park he did it again.

We got to the dog park at about our usual time. And, as usual, it was crowded because it was the weekend. Ray trotted in and headed to the far side of the park to meet and greet a couple of dogs that I hadn't seen before. I followed in his wake because I saw a group of people that I knew not far from where Ray and dogs were sniffing each other. When I reached the group, the woman who's dogs Ray was sniffing called out and said, "Could you get your dog away from my dogs." "Excuse me?" I replied politely. "Could you get your dog away from my dogs before he attacks them," she said coldly. I walked over to where Ray was still sniffing the dogs and grabbed his collar to drag him away. "My dogs are rescues," the woman said, "And I don't want them to be attacked." "My dog is a rescue too," I replied, deeply offended, "And he would NEVER attack another dog. He's blind." I led Ray over to the group of people and let him loose. "Go," I said to Ray who immediately turned and headed back to the woman's dogs. I followed him over and grabbed his collar again and led him away. "Go," I said to Ray who, again, immediately turned and headed back to the woman's dogs. The woman, convinced that Ray had evil intensions, clipped leashes on her dogs and left the park.

Ray ran around and played with his favorite dog, Nikki, for about an hour. Nikki, whose favorite thing is to pick up a toy that another dog wants (or steal another dog's toy) and keep it away from them, had found something good and was playing tug of war and keep away with Ray and Cherry. I don't know what happened next, but Ray and she were in a rip roaring fight. I dragged Ray off and put on his leash. Nikki retreated to a safe distance and sat down to chew on the prized toy.

I thanked my lucky stars that the unpleasant woman hadn't been there to see the fight, and that Nikki's mom, Fran, is totally reasonable when it comes to dog behavior. "Nikki," I called, "Are you all right?" "She doesn't look too concerned," said Fran. She called Nikki over and clipped on her leash. We left the park together, the dogs walking next to each other, tails wagging. They touched noses, all was forgiven.

Which brings me to my TOP TEN LIST of DOG PARK RULES (arrived at after hours and hours of in-depth dog park research.)

1. If you don't want your dog to be around other dogs DON'T TAKE IT TO THE DOG PARK. (Some people just want their dog to chase balls or play with toys. But dogs have their own ideas about what they want to do. So if you want your dog to only play with you or toys, stay home.)
2. If your dog has to wear a muzzle, DON'T TAKE IT TO THE DOG PARK. (I don't know why I should have to include this rule. Seems like it should be common sense. But last week a guy brought his muzzled dog to the park and turned him off-leash just as Ray was walking by. The dog immediately attacked Ray. We went home. As we were walking out the gate, the dog was attacking another dog.)
3. If your dog attacks two dogs in a row, TAKE IT HOME. (We were at the park one morning when there were only 4 dogs in the park. A woman brought her dog in, who immediately went after Ray, then each of the other three dogs, two of them at once. Only then did she take it home.)
4. Don't expect that there will never be dog fights and try not to overreact when there are. Dog's are like kids, sometimes things just spin out of control (like today) and sometimes there are two dogs that, for whatever reason, don't get along.
5. Don't overreact when your dog is getting humped or is humping another dog. (There was a woman who's dog was randomly humping dogs. Every time he started, the woman threw a fit. She was attracting quite a bit of attention. Her husband stood around looking uncomfortable and miserable).
6. Don't wear nice clothes to the dog park and don't get mad when a dog jumps up on you. Not all dogs are well-trained. So expect to get dirty.
7. If you notice someone's dog taking a dump, and they are involved in a conversation with someone, point it out to them. It's easy to become distracted and most people are grateful that you let them know.
8. Expect to get peed on. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Try to figure out who the serial pee-ers are and keep an eye on them.
9. If your park doesn't have running water, bring water with you. It's amazing how quickly the bowls empty out. Especially if you have a blind dog running around kicking them over and stepping in them
10. Try to enjoy yourself. Walk around and talk to people. You always have a conversation starter ("What kind of dog is that?" and "You have a beautiful dog." are two good openers).

If you have a dog park rule that you want people to know about, post them in the comments. I know I'm interested.

Photos of Ray at his Sleepover

Well, Chance from Just Fur Pets (for a photo of Chance see http://www.raytheblinddog.com/2009/08/random-ray-photos.html ) finally came through with the photos of Ray while he was on his sleepover.

Ray Playing with a German Shepherd Puppy

Ray and the German Shepherd being Refereed by a Boxer

Passed out by the Water Bowl

Too Much to Drink?

I wonder...

I remember reading a study about how  cow flatulence was a real concern because it produced so much of the greenhouse gas, methane. I wonder if scientists have studied hound dogs. I think they can give cows a run for their money.