Ray met a Border Collie on the way 'round. She was in the front yard and not on a leash, but her human was in the yard on a ladder. She came charging up barking but as soon as she met Ray her tail started wagging (he has a way with the girls - except maybe Halle). The dog really wanted to play, she was zooming here and there and Ray (on his leash) was trying to keep up with her. She'd run by and Ray would "look," but by the time he'd start after her, she'd be 20 feet in an entirely different direction. Just as he would figure out where she was going and start in her direction again, she'd be somewhere else. That started Ray baying. I think maybe it was out of frustration, but it could have been excitement. We decided to keep walking.
When we got home, we put Ray in the backyard and headed out for a couple of estate sales and to Home Depot. Since his excursion upstairs, I needed more hardware to install a baby gate across the bottom of the stairs. I want to keep Ray from getting into cat territory and I want the cats to feel like they have some place safe to stay. More importantly, I want to keep Ray out of their food. Apparently, it doesn't agree with him. (Gives him wicked gas.)
While we were out, I bought Ray a softball at a sale for $1. Ray loves balls but he can't track them and loses them fast. I've been putting them in with bags of beefy rawhide chews to 'marinate' for a couple of days. I want them to have a scent that he can follow, but I think maybe I don't leave them in long enough or maybe I should use something else to scent them because the scent doesn't seem to linger. I roll them through the grass and he follows them and picks them up and brings them back to me to play tug of war with. Then I roll them again.
Ray's favorite ball is a Weasel Ball without the weasel on it. He ripped off the furry bit in about 10 seconds, but the ball is good for at least 10 or 15 minutes of (supervised) fun. He can follow the noise that the little motor makes and he likes the feeling of it in his mouth. The only problem is he can open it up by biting on it and it has to constantly be screwed back together.
When we returned from our errands, Gregg immediately took off for the grocery, and I installed another gate - I told Gregg that I like to think of it as living in a gated community.
The cats were very interested in the drilling and sawing, but Ray was distressed. The thought of all that delicious food upstairs just beyond his reach made him go lay in the mulch outside, sulking.
The minute I finished the gate Moonie came down to try it out. I'm hoping that she'll be braver now that she can stay on the other side of something and watch Ray. Before, she was totally out of sight in a different room. Hopefully, she can get a closer look to see what's what.
The cats were very interested in the drilling and sawing, but Ray was distressed. The thought of all that delicious food upstairs just beyond his reach made him go lay in the mulch outside, sulking.
The minute I finished the gate Moonie came down to try it out. I'm hoping that she'll be braver now that she can stay on the other side of something and watch Ray. Before, she was totally out of sight in a different room. Hopefully, she can get a closer look to see what's what.
That evening we were invited to go across the street for cocktails. We decided to leave Ray in the house, unsupervised, with the back door open so that he could go out. I wanted to test out the gates without being gone too long and this seemed a good opportunity.
Apparently the gates worked fine. Ray, stuck downstairs without anything to do, found something. When we walked through the door, we saw roving and yarn all over the place.
Ray was asleep on the couch but got up when he heard us come in. I looked over at the lid that I had made for the roving basket and it was still in place. But one of my knitting bags and a felted bowl that had contained needles and yarn, were on the floor. It was their contents that were scattered hither and yon. A bag of roving that had been sitting on a table in the corner of the family room had taken the biggest hit.
I shrugged and started to pick-up.
Gregg called out from the kitchen "Hey, do you want rice with the hamburgers tonight instead of buns?"
An odd question.
"Fine with me," I replied. "Why rice?"
"Because I can't find the buns," said Gregg.
I picked up a handful of torn roving. It was mixed with breadcrumbs.
"Oh," I said. "I think I know what happened to them. I'll go get some more." We were both laughing. Gregg got out the vacuum and was cleaning up the crumbs when I left.
Ray was asleep on the couch but got up when he heard us come in. I looked over at the lid that I had made for the roving basket and it was still in place. But one of my knitting bags and a felted bowl that had contained needles and yarn, were on the floor. It was their contents that were scattered hither and yon. A bag of roving that had been sitting on a table in the corner of the family room had taken the biggest hit.
I shrugged and started to pick-up.
Gregg called out from the kitchen "Hey, do you want rice with the hamburgers tonight instead of buns?"
An odd question.
"Fine with me," I replied. "Why rice?"
"Because I can't find the buns," said Gregg.
I picked up a handful of torn roving. It was mixed with breadcrumbs.
"Oh," I said. "I think I know what happened to them. I'll go get some more." We were both laughing. Gregg got out the vacuum and was cleaning up the crumbs when I left.
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