A New Neighbor

This weekend, some new people moved in next door. Not in the house occupied by Ray's favorite boy, William, but on the other side of us. The house is a rental while our neighbors are overseas for a couple of years. Not an unusual occurrence in the Greater Washington DC area - there are lots of military and government personnel 'round here that deploy for extended periods of time.
Our new neighbors, who I met only very briefly yesterday, are interesting because they have a dog. A rather largish dog, about Ray's size. A fluffy black mutt by the name of Java that looks to have some Poodle in him. I've seen him out my bedroom window, but we (Ray and I) have yet to meet him.
I think Ray is interested, though. This morning, when he headed outside to retrieve a bone that he'd left outside the day before, Ray stood at the fence, bone in mouth, tail wagging. Java was just on the other side. Neither dog was making a sound.
I have high hopes for this friendship, even though, like Tucker, Java will only be here for a year.