Ray – dog catcher?

Ray is pretty good with most dogs now. Every now and then he will meet one and, for reasons only known by him, he will show complete indifference, but the meetings are generally quite happy occasions.

We had just left our driveway the  other day, and Carol had Ray’s leash, when we heard a bit of a commotion from across the road. We quickly saw a dog, which Ray had happily met a few times, freely running across driveways with its owner about 20-30 yards behind it Of course we all know (don’t we?) that you should never chase  your dog if it ever makes a successful bid for freedom. While the rationale is very sound, it can however be difficult to overcome the intuitive reaction which is to start calling it and chasing after it!

Carol took  advantage of the situation and called its name. It briefly stopped and looked across at us, and presumably recognized Ray as it then came trotting over with an apparent intention to play! Once it was close to Ray, we tried a few times (unsuccessfully) to grab its collar.

While our little game was being played out, the dog’s owner was getting closer and, at a moment when her dog had stopped long enough to checkout Ray, she was able to grab it and connect the leash.

I wonder what she would have done if Ray had not been there? I would have to guess that she could have been running around the neighborhood for quite some time!

23 thoughts on “Ray – dog catcher?”

  2. It is so hard to fight that instinct to chase after them rather than do something like running the other way, yelling like you are being chased! LOL. You’re poor neighbor. YAY RAY!!!!!

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    • We have three plans for such circumstances!
      Plan A = Scream out “TREAT PARTY”! Ray has learned that “treat Party” means lots of yummy treats are being thrown onto the ground and, him being highly food driven, has a high chance of success. ( https://meandray.com/2016/07/03/tp-treat-party/ )
      Plan B = Run in the opposite direction and hopefully he will see it as a game in which he wants to participate.
      Plan C = Lay down and moan! Hopefully he is sufficiently interested in our well being that he will come back to check us out!

      Due to the effectiveness of Plan A (used twice now with 100% success), we have not tested Plans B & C… but one day…. who knows! 🙂

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  3. Oh dear! You are so right, that chasing after your runaway dog is the wrong thing to do, but I suspect we are all guilty of that – at least the first time it happens!
    Well done Ray – you’re magnetic personlaity worked again! 😀

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  6. Cats barely listen (unless hungry) to start with. Add an enticing chipmunk and you’re not going to get it to come in until it’s good and ready. Dogs seem much more obedient although we’ve had a few lost dog notices posted in our neighborhood in the past couple of weeks. So sad.

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      • Yes there is that. Two were killed on our local interstate. One cutie is still missing (3 months) and I have a feeling someone picked her up. My niece has a dog that her boss picked up at an interstate stop in Virginia. No one was with the dog and she couldn’t leave it. She left her name and number with the people at the stop assuming the dog got out while traveling but no one ever followed up. The dog is now living the life of leisure with my niece and her family. I only wish they all had such a good ending.

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  9. Good dog Ray! Of necessity, all our dogs were perimeter trained in the suburb where we previously lived and I’ve noticed that, while we have no fencing here, Genis does not stray further than the edge of the lawn. At my age, running after a dog may have dire consequences!

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