Due to some ongoing sleep issues, I tend to wake up around 5:00am totally “wired”, so I boot up the computer and get some work done. As a result, I am usually in bed by 10:00pm however, Carol is usually awake for another hour or two and so gets Ray’s undivided attention!

Ray’s typical final routine of the day is to go outside and relieve whatever needs to be relieved, and then to immediately come back and wait to be let in. After that he will wait for Carol to close his gate (restricting him to the kitchen area) and then go to his bed and settle down for the night.

The other night however, Ray decided to make things a little more interesting (he does that a lot!). He went outside as usual but, after a few minutes, there was no sound of him coming up the back steps. Carol waited for a few moments, but still no sound of Ray, so she went to see what he was doing.

I am going to digress here because Ray has an interesting “chill-out” position which has brought comments from numerous people. When he lays down, with his front legs ahead of him (he can rest his head on them if wants to), he will generally cross them. Typically his right front leg is crossed over his left front leg. If anybody is around, he will usually have his head raised presumably so that he can stay in tune with all that’s going on around him. If you can imagine Ray in that position (head held high and front legs crossed), you can probably understand comments he gets such as “He looks so regal” and “What a distinguished looking dog”

Now back to the story:

When Carol found him, he was laying on the grass with his legs crossed and seemingly very content to stay there. Some excited coaxing “C’mon Ray it’s bed time” did absolutely nothing. She came back inside and turned all the lights off. Ray would certainly not want to be left outside while we were both inside, but on this occasion he clearly preferred to be outside! A quick check confirmed that he seemed very comfortable in his “regal” position!

This was apparently close to midnight and, while Ray was obviously not concerned about being in the dark (he was after all running as a stray for quite some time before being caught by OMHS*), this was totally out of character. I understand that a number of other ploys were used to no avail but then she had a “master stroke” of genius …………….. “TimBit!”**

Ray was in and settled on his bed in a matter of minutes! What an interesting “guy” though! Over two years with us now, and he is still surprising us with his idiosyncrasies

*Oakville & Milton Humane Society

**Refer “The Black Shopping Bag” – Mar 26, 2015