He started by chasing Hugo and yelling in the house (not allowed) then moved on to the shoes in the front hall. One by one he picked them up and settled down for a nice chew. I ate my breakfast between shoe removals then took him to the park to wear him out. But after an hour and a half he was still going strong and didn't want to leave. Usually, he drags his feet but will give in and follow me out but yesterday there was active resistance. When we got home it started to rain, hard, so Ray was stuck inside. I went into my office to check my email and could hear Ray rummaging through a closet. I thought of Gregg's newly-retasseled loafers and hightailed it into the bedroom to drag him out of Gregg's closet before new damage could be done. I returned to my office but could hear unidentified noises coming from the bedroom again. I ran back to see a skein of yarn on the ground some shredded paper next to a trashcan. No Ray. I followed the noises into the bathroom where he was rummaging through the bathroom trash. I dragged him out and went downstairs trailed by my troublemaker. Ray peeled off for the family room while I went into the kitchen. It only took me a second to realize that he was up to something. I found him finishing off a basket of bread that we had forgotten to remove from the coffee table the night before.
The rain had stopped for the moment so I opened the back door to let Ray out. After about 10 minutes, Ray returned with a prance in his step and slap, slap, slapping something against his face. It was a muddy, moldy rawhide chew that he had just dug up. I grabbed the chew, opened the bathroom door, threw the thing in the kitchen trashcan (where it currently resides) and closed the door - all in the blink of an eye. I returned to the kitchen got a new rawhide strip and gave it to Ray. Ray took it in his mouth and without moving his head dropped it on the rug, his message loud and clear. I went back in the kitchen and saw Ray out of the corner of my eye headed for the bathroom. He stood with his nose smashed against the door for a full minute then reared up on his hind legs and with his mud-clogged claws tried to dig through the door to recover his prize. I went into the bathroom, grabbed the icky thing, threw it out the back door and closed it after Ray. I cleaned the mud off of the bathroom door and watched as Ray took his strip and went to rebury it before I could steal it from him again.
At 1:00 I took Ray for a walk. At 4:00 I took him for another one. Between 1:00 and 4:00, Ray spent some time renovating his grave (for information on Ray's grave go to http://www.raytheblinddog.com/2009/08/this-morning-i-checked-my-mail-and.html), digging some new holes against the foundation, and digging a very nice hole next to the patio. Mud was flying high and far. It landed on top of the cafe table and lodged in the backs of the cafe chairs. I spent all of my time between 1:00 and 4:00 keeping an eye on my dog, sweeping the patio, refilling holes, and wiping off muddy paws every time he entered the house.
This morning I took Ray to the dogpark and let him run himself into the ground. After an hour and a half he walked up to me and leaned against me while I petted him. Then I clipped on his leash and he dragged me to the gate to go home. When he got home, he climbed up on his futon, went to sleep and hasn't budged since.
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