One of the frequent comments made by people after reading “Who Said I was up for Adoption?”, was how much they liked reading Ray’s perspective on things. When the book was being written, the intent was to write a simple autobiography, but then the idea came that Ray’s perspective would add a whole new dimension to his story. Is it still an autobiography?
As the story of Ray started to come together, I realized that within certain events with him, there were often happy sub-events. Putting that another way, there were an increasing number of stories within the original stories. The decision was made to isolate them and note them as “Smiley Moments” for when they made me happy, and “Tail-Wag Moments” for when Ray was happy. It seems to have worked extremely well!
Below is a “Tail-Wag Moment” from “Who Said I was up for Adoption?”
All profits from “Who said I was up for Adoption?” will be directed to the Oakville & Milton Humane Society (who initially took care of Ray), and the book can be purchased direct from Friesen Press, or from online book retailers like amazon, barnes & noble, goodreads etc. Click book cover in right column for more information.
What I love about the parts in the book that are of Ray’s perspective is the fact that to get Ray’s perspective you must of paid attention to him. I mean REALLY paid attention to him. To me this is what all of us should do. If everyone truly looked at an animal’s possible perspective (because, of course, we are still observing & guessing for the most part), I think we would have a lot happier animals in the world and would be treating ALL animals differently (including farm animals, animals in entertainment, etc.).
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Hi LeeAnn. Agreed. I guess the difference is seeing the animal as another thinking, feeling creature vs seeing it as an accessory to ones life. I am constantly amazed at the people I see, taking their dog for a walk but the dog is quite a few feet behind them, and they’re on their cell phone. The poor dog tries to sniff, or pee, and the leash suddenly goes tight and the dog is dragged along! I would assume that the novelty of having a dog has worn off, and walking it is now a chore. That is so sad for the dog, and the owner is missing out on so much.
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What you’ve said is so true and it is so sad.
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All we can do is keep spreading the word. The selfish may never change, but the others may just need to be enlightened about the possibilities. 🙂
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Very, very true! 🙂
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🙂
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Colin you make Ray’s perspective so vivid to your readers, it is like we are almost there witnessing the scene. Ray must be so proud of his dad 🙂
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I really don’t know quite what he thinks of me, but probably sees me as a delinquent pack member because I don’t always respond to his wishes. He has however witnessed me blocking a number of “challenging” dogs, and he was well aware of what I had to do to retrieve him from his thoughtless jump through the railings of a high level lookout platform. That could easily have been the end to his life. (Full story is in his book).
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Ha! The wee doggie, Monty, has figured out he can get a response by tossing his toy from a high perch, such as the arm of the sofa. He waits for me to hand it back to him and tosses it again. I’d get a treat if he could reach them! I am going to read your book…
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Hi Martina. I do hope that you get an opportunity to read “Who Said I was up for Adoption?” It was a very interesting book to write because I went from knowing nothing about dogs, to bringing almost 80lbs of rescued attitude into my life. The book covers the first 18 months of living together, which was an emotional roller-coaster. Ray had a lot of issues, and I needed a lot of education… and it’s all in the book. Enjoy!
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Haha…love that perspective. Dogs who are not into ball chasing must look at uprights with the thought “well, you threw it, you go fetch it.”
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I think that is exactly what he thought, or simply “this game is pointless.”
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Exactly. Why did you throw it anyway? LOL
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🙂
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I have missed a lot of Ray this past month and this made me smile – he probably thinks that humans sure make entertaining pets 🙂
How have you been??
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Hi Prajakta – Yes I am sure he just sees us as the “hired help” and the local entertainment. Some of the looks on his face as we go through our day are priceless, and we can only guess what he is thinking!
All is well here, especially now that our heatwave is over and the temperatures are more reasonable. 🙂
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I highly recommend this book. It is a great read and well worth the price!
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Thank you so much for that endorsement Rae. 🙂
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Ha! Oh yeah, Ray. That’s pretty much how Mom plays fetch, too. All by herself.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
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Humans can be so strange can’t they Cupcake. Woof! Ray.
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Well done YOU!
DakotasDen
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Thank you 🙂
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I would say it is RAY’S autobiography as well as yours. 🙂
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Well he didn’t actually write anything, so perhaps it is my autobiography and Ray’s biography? 🙂
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Oh, you are not thinking like a dog blog author!
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True! 🙂
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I can see this happening. After all, you didn’t need his help if you could clearly see the ball. Humans can be odd but they have the treats.
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It seems so peculiar when you try to see it from the dog’s perspective! I remember being told never to shout at a barking dog (if you want it to stop barking) as so many dog owners do, because he thinks you’re just barking with him/her! Perspectives are a wonderful thing! 🙂
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