Is it just Ray?

Some time ago now, we were out on a typical walk with Ray. I had hold of his leash and just watching him , and chatting with Carol, as we made our way down a road.  At one point, he was moving forwards, but his head was turned to the left. An obstruction (I cannot remember what it was) was in his path… and Ray bumped his head on it!

We had a bit of a laugh but thought nothing more of it. I can clearly remember (as a child) cycling directly into a concrete lamp post due to much the same reason!

Just over a week ago, this time with Carol holding the leash, we both watched him bump into the end of some wire lawn edging… again he was not looking where he was going.

A few days ago we were returning home, and we had to cross a driveway where “Buddy” (a GSD friend of Ray) lives. There were two vehicles in the driveway, one of which was very close the side walk. As as we got there, Ray started looking around, no doubt to see if Buddy was out, but he clearly did not see the rear of the car near us as we crossed the driveway. His head made a nice thud as he walked into the molding around the bottom of the car body!

I have recently been reading about a dog’s sense of smell, and I am getting the feeling that their whole world is driven by scents. i.e. They really don’t care what anything/anybody looks like, as long as they smell right! (We can learn so much from that!). We have seen Ray track a treat down in our back garden, and push his nose right passed it! Presumably the scent had a little detour, and regardless what he may have seen, the scent trail was going to rule!

All this seems to make sense but while I am envious of his scenting ability, and can understand the importance of it to him, I have  to wonder why he does not grasp the significance of looking where he is going! If this is going to be a regular occurrence, perhaps I should check our local pharmacy for “dog safe” Advil for those canine headaches?

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48 thoughts on “Is it just Ray?”

  1. Oh, Ray, how I adore you!
    Charlie has definitely clocked himself in the head a few times. Most notably, although not entirely his fault, was a hilarious occasion when he happened to be sleeping on my lap while I was working. He had his head slightly under the table my computer was on and I sneezed, loudly. It was enough to make all the animals raise their heads but Charlie jumped so high he whacked his head hard. I’m not sure if he was more upset by being woken up by the loud noise or by whacking his head 🤣!!!

    Callie is almost always looking where she is going, unless she hears small children – then it is about getting to them as fast as possible to say hi 😍.

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    • Sadly, Charlie’s experience has its humorous side! 🙂 🙂 Ray has had some close calls with kitchen drawers. He has been checking out the floor while a drawer has been opened just above him but, to date, I have been able to hold his head down until the drawer was closed! (He really is spoiled!) 🙂

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  2. We agree with the point dogs are led by scent. When we walk Emma her nose is her guide. A little while back she was so engrossed with a scent in the grass she missed the 6 deer standing 25 feet away. She’ll often walk into to things because she’s so busy sniffing. Love the idea of Advil for dogs… we’re sure they have it or will soon.

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  4. Mmm… I think I must be twinned with Ray, as I bump into everything – even things I know are there! It does, though, sound like he might have a sensing or sight problem.

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  5. Elsa clunked her head the other morning on an vehicle we were going around and certainly the sheep dogs often did. Then I read that dogs’ peripheral vision is different from ours. The binocular field of vision in dogs (where the visual field of both eyes intersect) is approximately half of that of humans which probably explains why.

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  7. Choppy has hit her head on many things throughout her life, and she seems fine – our kitchen table in particular seems to get hit a lot, like she doesn’t remember/pay attention to how tall it is. I sometimes wonder with that one if she still thinks we have the older, taller table and just forgets this is a new one.

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    • We are monitoring him. Most of the time he seems fine, and if he does not look where he is going then he will continue to bump into things! There are isolated situations where we do wonder, and will “keep tabs on him”! 🙂

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  9. LOL! I like Kate’s idea of the helmet. 🙂
    When Ray is on a mission nothing stops him!
    As for running into things, yeah I may have done that once or twice. My kids may say different, but who are you going to believe? 🙂

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  11. It is really interesting. He sets priorities and all that is not priority is cut off at that moment. But then again…. why doesn’t the pain of bumping his head teach him to rethink about the setting of his priorities… lol

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  13. I think through all your posts, what strikes me is how observant you and Carol are of Ray 🙂 And I think, we all come to trust and rely on our strengths right. Perhaps, a dog is also wired to that and when there are good scents of treats as a bonus, why not! I wouldn’t mind that as a human either 😀

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    • Hi Prajakta – As for being observant? It is rather necessary in order to understand his personality (and of dog habits in general). It makes life far more harmonious if we can understand why he does things. The best Ray example would be his early habit of barking and lunging at people. Once we knew (the trainer noticed and advised us!) what his issue was, then it could be addressed. That same concept applies to people in that if we learn and understand (see a situation from the other person’s perspective), then again harmony is easier to achieve. 🙂

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  14. so true that dogs are so driven by scent. Charlie will see deer running ahead, but be more interested in smelling their path than watching them. He will ignore my voice and commands he typical obeys if he is on a strong scent. I’ve never noticed him bump his head into something though while smelling.

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  15. I wouldn’t worry to much dogs are pretty resilient when it comes to these things.I remember one time when Speedy was about 6 months old and it was one of the first times he went out side in the front garden,he was tearing around at full speed (hence the name Speedy,he was really fast back then) and he turned suddenly in my direction still at full speed and went smack straight in to a tree he shock his head and then threw me the filthiest look as if it was my fault (I was laughing mind as it was so comical to see) this was before we knew what was wrong with his left eye but it did highlight that something wasn’t quite right with his vision.But He survived his collision with the tree with no ill effect as I am sure Ray will survive his little mishaps,xx Rachel

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