Exercisim

It's been cold. Really cold. Because of it, Ray and I have been limited to a quick walk around the block in the late afternoon when the temperature finally reaches about 20º (-6º C). Obviously, this is not enough exercise for a bored, blind dog and Ray lets me know it in a variety of different ways.

• He whines. 
• He gets into stuff. 
• He whines. 
• He chases the cats. 
• He whines. 
• He counter surfs. 
• He whines some more. 
• He follows me around the house, whining. 

Whining is not my favorite dog noise. Ray knows this and uses it to his advantage. It's the number one reason he gets walked two or three miles every single day. If he doesn't, he whines.

But there is nothing I can do about the cold weather, and since it wasn't supposed to make it to 20º until three in the afternoon, an entire day of whining stretched before me.

I thought of giving Ray a rawhide bone to distract him, and although giving Ray a rawhide bone does keep him busy him for a good while, it has a downside. Bones must be immediately planted after a quick two or three turns around the coffee table. It takes forever to find a good burial spot in the backyard anymore, (I'm surprised the bones aren't stacked three-deep), and with the coldy-cold-cold weather and the snow covering the ground, I had to eliminate the rawhide bone as a distraction. 

Thankfully, I had a bag of rawhide chips. For some reason, rawhide chips are not constrained by the same rules as rawhide bones; they do not require immediate burial and, unlike bones, can be buried in couch or chair cushions in an emergency. (I don't make the rules, I just write about them).

Ray was happy to accept the chip and immediately started around the coffee table with it. Knowing my role in the scenario, I picked up my coffee cup and followed.

After about ten trips through the hallway and kitchen and around the coffee table, I was getting dizzy. I stopped and changed direction. Ray did too. The game continued. After the next ten trips I realized that Ray wasn't going to give up. He was determined to get his exercise by doing laps.

I left him to it but found myself wondering if an exercise video showing Ray's strict regimen would have any commercial value.