We recently decided to drive Ray to a park on the edge of Lake Ontario and the plan was to walk him along the lakeside trails however, we had just turned out of our street and were near Ray’s local park when we noticed a dog (Collie X) wandering aimlessly around. We stopped and looked for somebody who could conceivably be the owner, but there wasn’t anybody in sight.

Carol got out of the car, taking Ray’s leash with her, and started approaching the dog hoping that it would allow her to attach it to his collar.  This was a “non-event” because  he simply turned and wandered over to meet her! He accepted the leash without any issue and so she started to walk him back to our house.

Ray was distinctly unhappy about this scenario and vocalized his displeasure while I turned the car round and followed Carol and the Collie back home. She took him round to the back garden and let him off the leash while I took Ray into the house via the front door. We did not want any issues between them so that was our quick thinking plan until we could call the Humane Society and arrange a pickup!

Ray, not surprisingly, went straight through to the back of the house and watched the Collie through the window however he now seemed more excited than distressed. To complicate matters further the Collie then decided to come up the back steps, and curl up against our back screen door, so at one point there was only the screen door separating these two guys!

The whole tone of the moment was starting to make us wonder whether Ray thought perhaps he had a new friend? Carol leashed the Collie once again and took him back into the garden, while I leashed Ray and took him outside so we could arrange a “meet ‘n’ greet”. They both started the meeting ritual very well but, while Ray seemed very interested in continuing to get to know the Collie, the Collie decided to put the brakes on and made that quite clear to Ray with a short lunge and loud bark! Ray just stepped back seemingly perplexed but, not knowing whether Ray was a problem for the Collie or whether the Collie was simply frightened given the circumstances he found himself in, we decided to take Ray back inside and leave the Collie in the garden.

While we waited for the Humane Society van, Ray was constantly watching the Collie as best he could but was not showing any signs of aggression or general discomfort with the situation. It really did seem as if Ray thought that we had brought him a friend to play with.

The van arrived and the Collie was taken away. As soon as Ray was let out into the back garden, he naturally investigated the whole area “marking” as necessary and looking a little confused over the Collie not being there.

We returned to our original plan and, once more, headed towards the lake. The next day we checked with the Humane Society and the Collie and was back home where he belongs. Sorry Ray!