Fox and Hound

Lately, when Ray goes out to pee in the early morning or late evening, he yells. Not just a single yell like he used to do, but a continuous string of excited yells. Nose to the ground, he runs frantically around the yard, stopping every couple of feet to yell. Or he will stand still with his nose pointed up, his flues flapping, as he takes in deeeeeep breaths and then yells to curl your hair.

I've decided that the fox that lives somewhere around here is toying with my dog. Fox jumps the fence (or walks the top rail) and runs back and forth through the yard just to drive Ray crazy. It appears to be working magnificently.

The yelling probably wouldn't be that big of a deal except that it occurs at 4, 5, or 6 in the morning and 11 or later at night. So Gregg reminded me that if someone calls the police on Ray, first time we get a warning, second time we get a fine, and third time we go to jail. And he pointed out kindly, it wasn't going to be him that was going to go to jail.

So I decided that we needed to take action. One of the good things about Ray is that he has an off switch. It's called his leash. The minute I grab his collar and clip on his leash, the yelling stops (of course, now that I've said it, it will never happen again. Ray loves to prove me wrong. It's his hobby). It's like magic. Sometimes I put his leash on while we're at the dogpark just to give everyone's ears a rest.

So now when Ray goes out in the morning and evening, it's on the end of a leash. At least until Fox decides it's not so much fun to taunt a blind dog. Or until Ray realizes that he can't just run around yelling whenever he wants to. Or until we get tired of walking around in the cold and dark with a dog in the middle of the night.