Preparations

Well, Rachel and Josh, Murphy's mom and dad are going to be in Vegas for a convention through Tuesday. Murphy is going to stay with Rachel's sister on Friday and Saturday then come to stay with us on Sunday and Monday (and part of Tuesday). So today, before they left, Josh and Rachel dropped off Murphy's bed and breakfast.

I put Murphy's bed on the floor next to Ray's and Ray immediately went over to check it out. There was probably enough Murphy-hair in the bed to build another dog but Ray was more interested in redecorating. He sniffed for awhile then picked the bed up in his mouth and flapped it a bit (not a small feat - it is shaped like a couch and is rather dense), then got in and dug around a bit (was he looking for his friend in the couch cushion? Not too sure what he was doing), then got out and pushed it a bit with his nose, and finally, satisfied with his re-model, Ray wandered away.

I looked at the final placement of the beds. The few inches that had separated them was now gone. They were plastered against each other. Ray was ready for his sleepover.

Where's Ray?

Some days you just gotta pull the covers over your head and go to sleep.

We Need Your Input

I see a lot of people at the dogpark that look a WHOLE LOT like their dogs. It has really made me wonder about Ray and I. Do we look alike?

So this weekend, when Ray was feeling neglected, I pulled him up onto my lap for a little quality time. I snapped a few photos of us while he was in his quiet reflective mood. But I can't tell. I think I'm too close to the subject. Do we look alike? What do you think?

A Milestone? Or Sarcasm?

The other day when Rachel and Josh delivered Ray to my front door, he jumped up to greet me, tail wagging (then he did the same thing to Carlos which kind of ruined the affect, but still...). This may not sound like much to people with dogs, but it was a big deal to me because Ray NEVER greets me this way.

I had just been jokingly complaining to the staff at Just Fur Pets that it's kind of embarrassing, the way Ray greets me when I go to pick him up at daycare. He briefly acknowledges my presence, then goes shopping. This is in direct contrast to any other dog that is being picked up by its owner. Usually there is a frantic, emotional scene of unconditional love when dog and owner are reunited after an entire day of separation. It's extremely touching. With Ray it's more of a "Hey, howya doin'. Say, WHAT'S THIS? A BONE? WHAT'S THIS? DOG FOOD? WHAT'S THIS? ANOTHER BONE? WOW, THERE'S STUFF EVERYWHERE!!!!!!" kind of thing

So, the day after I had complained to the staff, Ray came home from 'school' and actually seemed happy to see me. I was thrilled, (even if it was only for the benefit of Carlos).

But then, the next morning when I went out to collect the paper from the bottom of the driveway and re-entered the house, Ray greeted me at the door. He turned an enthusiastic circle, tail wagging. Now, I have the sneaking suspicion that it was all just doggy sarcasm.

Turn that Thing OFF

Someone was standing at my bedroom door, whining. It was 5:45 a.m. I got out of bed, blundered into my robe and sweatpants (it was COLD) and stumbled down the stairs with a rubbery nose pressed into the back of my thigh. I slid opened the door to let Ray out, pausing to make sure that he didn't start yelling (sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't). I was sliding the door closed when the blind hound fooled me once again and yelled, then took off across the yard into the treed area of the back, yelling like crazy. I ran to get my shoes and bolted out the door to try to shut him up before he woke the whole neighborhood.

Ray was excited, bumping into trees, and pacing the fence that separated our yard from the neighbor's. I called to him. He started to come to me and was almost within arms reach when he turned and took off again to the far side of the yard, yelling the whole way, followed by me, yelling at him (in what I like to think of as a whisper). I grabbed his collar and led him into the house.

I went back to bed putting the hook on the bedroom door to keep Ray at bay. He whined briefly then curled up on the futon with a deep sigh. A minute later, my alarm went off. I slapped it off. Two minutes later the arrrrrooooo alarm went off. I spoke soothingly to Ray and told him that everything was fine. He growled and grumbled a bit but settled back down. Five minutes later the arrrrooooo alarm went off again. I wondered where the off button was.

Rrrray the Blind Dog

Yesterday, Rachel and Josh bought a bone for Ray when they picked the dogs up at daycare. They left it with me when they dropped him off home. It was late in the day and Javier and Carlos were just finishing up. The dogs were wrestling around the front hall.

After everyone left, I fed Ray and the cats but decided to give Ray the bone later. He was ready for bed anyway, and if it turned out that it didn't agree with him, I didn't want to get up in the middle of the night to let him out.

So today when I got home from work after picking up the dogs, even though the crew was still here working, I gave Ray his bone. I left him in the house because there was still construction material on the patio and went to join Javier and Carlos outside. The kitchen cabinets had arrived and the guys were moving them into the garage for the night. One big box remained but there was no room for it with the others so I started to shift things around on the front porch. All of sudden, there was a yell from Carlos. "Rrrray!" he said, (roll your 'R' when you read that in you head) and pointed to my clever dog who had managed to escape from the house by maneuvering through the minefield that was the garage, and was prancing gaily through the front yard, bone held high. He was headed for the backyard, smiling broadly around his prize.

I chased him down, grabbed his collar, led him through the gate past the equipment on the patio, and turned him lose. Rrrray took off to look for the perfect place to bury his treasure and the guys finished clearing things up. We were all one day closer to finishing up the (large undisclosed amount of money) dog door project.

Ray, Protector

Ever since the construction started, Ray hasn't been sleeping in the kitchen. We were really wondering what we were going to do with him at night, but the issue kind of resolved itself.

When it's not in the kitchen, Ray's bed takes up an amazing amount of floorspace in front of the fireplace. P.C. (pre-construction), Gregg would let Ray out for a mid-night pee, drag the bed into the kitchen, put up a dog gate to close one door opening and slide the pocket door shut for the other, just before he, himself, headed upstairs to bed. When the construction started, we closed off the kitchen to all dogs and cats. So now Gregg just leads Ray back to his bed in front of the fireplace and Ray goes to sleep. He could come upstairs if he wanted, but he doesn't. He just sinks into his bed with his usual groan, curls himself into a little ball, and falls immediately and deeply asleep.

But a new wrinkle has emerged since Ray started sleeping in his new spot. In the middle of the night he wakes up and howl/barks. This is Ray's noise when someone is approaching the front door, or when he hears something that we don't (like a dog coming down the street), or if something startles him. It is accompanied by raised hair on his back and his deep menacing growl. At one, two, three, or four in the morning, it is a noise that really gets our attention.

At first, Gregg or I headed downstairs to see if everything was OK and to make sure that there were no marauding pirates or zombies trying to gain access to the house. But now we just head downstairs to reassure our blind guardian who is sitting up in bed, staring into the darkness, hackles raised, that everything is fine. We give him a pat or two and tell him that he can go back to sleep. We've got his back.

Gregg is convinced that Ray has nightmares but I think that maybe Ray hears noises that waft down the chimney and into his subconscious. I'm hoping that when he moves back into the kitchen (and onto the heated floor) that things will go back to normal. Until then, we'll just have to get used to the midnight howl of our loyal protector.