A Really Great Dog

I've been pondering lately how much Ray has changed since we took him in. He has morphed into a truly excellent hound. Not that he wasn't always, but now that some of the puppy has left him and now that he has a bit of training under his belt, he has really become a wonderful dog.

I mean, he does have relapses now and then, like the day he ate a mirror, a pair of glasses, and a shoe, and the other day when he ate another one of my lip balms, and the night before last when I put a couple of salads on the coffee table in the family room and came back to find him picking through one (He wasn't eating it just picking things out of it and leaving them on the table. He hates vegetable matter which is why I figured it was safe. My bad.). But, for the most part, Ray has become a really good dog.

Then I start to think, has he become a good dog? Or have we become better dog parents? I look at the things we do to make sure that Ray has the opportunity to be good: gates across the laundry room, hook and eye on the cat room door, screen protector on the front door, kitchen trash in the bathroom, lots and lots and lots of exercise, lots and lots of interaction with people and other dogs, the kabuki dance we go through every night putting dinner on the table so that no food is left unattended (the other-night's salad notwithstanding), daycare so that he's not left alone for too long; and I think there's no reason for Ray not to be all that he can be.

Ray is a great dog. And although we started from scratch, and although we had many, many moments of complete idiocy, we have become much better dog parents (so far) (knock on wood) (I hope I haven't jinxed it) (uh oh, maybe I shouldn't have said anything) (I take it back - Ray has become a great dog all on his own.) (Oh no, what have I done....)