March 15, 2013 was the day that our beloved Ray came home with us. To be honest, he was not particularly beloved at that time, but rather just a dog that we had grown attached to and wanted to give him a second chance.
As I had never had the responsibility of a dog before, I knew that I would be leaning heavily on Carol’s expertise which was based on a number of dogs in her past. It wasn’t until much later that I realised Ray was a challenge to both of us. This became crystal clear one day when we were talking about him and Carol commented that she had never experienced a dog like Ray before! Her past dogs were all friendly and generally welcomed attention; had no separation issues; crate trained easily and, in general, were very “low maintenance” in the context of them fitting into family life. It seemed to me that Ray was everything that Carol’s past dogs were not!
Needless to say, we were both thrown into a crash course on how to work with a dog who is carrying significant emotional baggage (scars from a previous life) and all the insecurities that those aspects entailed. When compounded with Stage 2 Heart-worm condition, we knew that our education in matters canine was going to be a long and varied program!
Looking back, and as noted in numerous prior Posts, it has always seemed to us that he truly wants to please us. He took to being trained quite readily, and very rarely has he disappointed us. On the negative side, I have felt his teeth (and he was not playing), and been on the receiving end of a couple of threatening lunges. These were, however, more a result of poor communication between Ray and I rather than any vindictive intent on his part. We clearly had to learn some basic traits of each other before something close to harmony would prevail.
As this is Ray’s 2nd anniversary with us, and while it is of course always interesting to reflect on past challenges, we cannot help but also celebrate where we all are today. Only a few days ago when laying on my bed listening to some music, Ray jumped up and stood alongside me, and looked down at me. He is really big in that situation! He then proceeded to lay down and pushed his nose under my chin where he stayed for just a few moments. Those few moments of having that large furry face snuggled up to mine were priceless!
Happy 2nd anniversary with us buddy! May there be many more!
A New Direction Perhaps? 
Woohoo! Congratulations! Here’s looking forward to many more. 🙂
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Thank you. I wonder what stories he will create for me in the next 12 months? 🙂
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Happy Anniversary! And here’s to many more!
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Thx Sarah, and please say “Hi!” to Choppy for me. Woof! Ray.
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Will do!
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Ah shucks, That is one if the sweetest things that I’ve read about Ray. I bet that snuggle made you smile. and secretly it probably gave Ray a feel good moment when he surprised you with the snuggle.
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He certainly did catch me a little by surprise, and I did smile!
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Happy Anniversary to all! Where will this journey take you next? I’m looking forward to reading about it.
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The future? Well, first of all, allow me (and Ray) to thank you and all the other Followers for sharing our journey. This blog was specifically planned to cover our journey starting around 18 months AFTER Ray adopted us and, at this point in time, I really cannot see an end. This is good! The time frame from me looking at possibly adopting a dog, to when this Blog starts, is being covered in a book which will be a fundraiser for our local humane society (OMHS). It is currently being reviewed by OMHS after which I start looking at getting it into the market place. The book is called “A Dog’s Life? (A Story about Me and Him)”. Please stay tuned!
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Happy anniversary indeed! we have never had dogs with fear aggression issues until Forrest..nearly 12 years on and he makes our world complete…he never has attacked another dog..loves the cats and sheep and loves Doc our other pup…sometimes the ones who are the biggest challenges are our greatest friends.Hugs fozziemum
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Happy anniversary! The Ides of March paid off for you! 😉
Many things are worth working for and it seems all the work/progress you have made with Ray is making him comfortable enough to give up some snuggles! How adorable.
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Happy Anniversary Ray! Lovely post Colin.
I attended a 6 week dog psychology course several years ago which was very helpful. The person taking the course said that dogs want to please us, it’s just getting the message across about what pleases us! Those with recall problems needed to remember that ‘a dog has to want to be with you’ and she recommended the repeat, praise and reward training method. Hubby used cheerios breakfast cereal as Maggie’s reward, and she knew which pocket the little box was in!
From your posts you’ve come a long way with Ray, and as for him snuggling into you, albeit for just a few moments, that’s priceless, and will stay with you forever.
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