Ray – Big Paw!

I guess that with dogs, and people, you never totally get to know them completely. There are always little surprises, and of course circumstances can cause changes in behavior.

Ray has generally been unobtrusive with us. When he is waiting for something to happen (invariably food related) he will quietly wait on either his chair or his bed. His choice is usually opposite to what we ask! “Ray – just wait in your chair” generally dictates that he curls up on his bed. “Ray – just wait on your bed” …. well you can guess where he goes!

He has a commanding “voice” when necessary, and yet a single subdued “Woof!” is what he uses to let us know that he wants to come in from the garden. If he needs to go outside, he will stand facing the door and wait for one of us to get the message, or he’ll come and find us… and then stare at us.

If he loses a piece of kibble under his crate, the refrigerator, or the stove, or any other place he cannot get into, he will just stand and “point” with his nose.

He has his excited moments of course but, in general, he is a very quiet and accommodating dog.

If I happen to sleep past his usual breakfast time, he will come into my bedroom and nudge me with his nose! Not a sound is heard!

Yesterday evening I had dozed off on my bed and I started to wake up realizing that Carol and Ray were coming in my general direction. I am not too sure what Carol said, but I think it was “Where’s Colin? Go and wake up Colin!”

What I do remember is Ray leaping up onto the bed and then walking over me (literally) to get a treat (perhaps) from Carol. I was laying still and looking up at a furry mid section (and still remembering his weight as he stepped on me), when he decided to turn right around. My survival skills dictated I turn my head to one side fast, rather than risk a paw (or two) standing on my face… but all was well.

This morning, I once again woke up to a gentle nudge from a cold nose, and saw two big brown eyes looking at me! I think I have a pretty good “handle” on Ray now, but I am still at a loss to understand how he can be so thoughtful and gentle in some situations, and be totally clueless in others! How does he rationalize being gentle when he needs me to wake up, and yet walks over me in other circumstances?

37 thoughts on “Ray – Big Paw!”

  1. Callie used to just wait quietly in the morning or start to get fidgety, but now Charlie wakes us up, by 6 am every day, by starting a wrestle fest with Callie 😂, poor girl!
    I know the stare though. Neither of them bark unless they are playing, so they both just stare. Charlie will get fidgety as he is a puppy, but Callie will just sit up and stare at you, lay back down in a huff, and then sit back up to stare.

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    • Ray does not react too well to being suddenly woken up. It was explained to us as “startle response” and could have been developed as a survival skill during his time as a stray. (Details of how I discovered that “the hard way” are in his book “Who Said I was up for Adoption?”). I mention that because I am told that I do not wake up too congenially (?) either! Perhaps he recognized the similarities and decided on the gentle approach to waking me up! 🙂

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  8. Sounds like Ray has the words chair and bed mixed up. Next time you want him on the chair, tell him bed and see what happens… It was obvious you weren’t supposed to be sleeping in the middle of the day since Carol wanted you awake, so a different tactic was necessary to make you remember that!

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  14. Maggie, bless her, can stare me awake. I may be sound asleep but somehow sense I’m being looked at. In the shadows I’ll just be able to make her out sitting quietly to attention at the foot or side of the bed looking at me. She must hear my eyelashes move as once the desired effect of willed consciousness has been achieved, the foot comes up as she tells me she either wants to go out, or ‘move over, I want to get up’.
    Dogs. How we love ’em. 🙂

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