Ray's New Friend

Ray stuck pretty close to me all weekend. Whenever I would sit still for more than a minute, he'd be there to sit next to me. I was flattered. After his greeting, I wondered if he missed me at all.

We quickly settled back into his routine of dog park in the morning and walk in the afternoon. On Saturday the "beagle pointer mix," Kinsey, was back (as seen in the video, Ray at the Dogpark http://www.raytheblinddog.com/2010/03/video-alert-ray-at-dog-park.html. Now that Kinsey is older, he looks even more like Ray than he did before. His owner said that they had run into another Redtick Coonhound at another dog park and had accepted the conclusion that Kinsey was, indeed, a Redtick. I grabbed a quick shot of them together (because they were just too cute).

Now on to Ray's new friend. As an introduction, I need to mention that Ray is an extremely good guard dog. Whenever someone walks by with a dog that he doesn't know, Ray goes into guard dog mode. Growls, deep menacing barks, hair up on his back. We are well protected from any marauding dogs in the neighborhood. Ray's new friend, Murphy, an Australian Shepherd, moved in across the street a few weeks ago. Every time her owner walked by with Murphy, Ray would scare the crap out of us by bounding off of whatever piece of furniture he happened to be lounging on and letting out on of his barks (totally different from his yell). We never hear the dogs coming, but Ray with his bat ears, hears them coming a few houses away.

So after a week or so of this, I finally grabbed Ray and his leash and chased down Murphy's owner so that Ray could meet this dog and stop barking at her. It worked like a charm. Murphy's owner, Rachel, wanted to know if there were dog parks in the area because she was used to bringing Murphy to one at their previous address. Just before I left for Vegas, we all went to the dog park together and I invited them over for a play date.

Today when Ray was bored I walked him down the street to see if Murphy could come out and play. She could, and they did.

It's a match made in heaven. Murphy is one year old (today) and full of energy. Ray is almost two and full of energy. They had a great time in the back yard. Murphy is a master at finding Ray's bones. She found a marrow bone in the yard and spent some time trying to keep it away from Ray. Then she found one of his rawhide chews in the house and another game of tease the blind dog ensued. They had a great time.

Hey, is that my bone?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's my bone.

Yep, that's my bone alright.

Here, I'll just take that bone.

Hey, Is that my Rawhide?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's my Rawhide.Yep, that's my Rawhide alright.

Here, I'll just take that Rawhide.