I see that term bandied about quite a bit and since the majority of the blogs I read are centered around Pit Bull-type dogs, I imagine quite a few of these dogs are “Power Chewers.”  Sometimes I think Ray fits into that category and sometimes I don’t.  For instance, when I first started giving him Churpi-chews it would take about a week or so for him to chew the entire thing.  The last time I gave him one, he had it entirely eaten before we finished our dinner.  At that price, there will be no more Churpi-chews for Ray-Ray.  Hooves have been a great and inexpensive replacement, as we can get those for just a few dollars and they do last well more than a week.

Bully sticks are a highly favored treat for Ray and a twelve inch bully can last almost 15 minutes if we’re lucky.  We use them mostly at the beginning of a football game since they tend to settle Ray and get him more focused.  We’ve also been favoring the frozen stuffed kong, using the recipe that Pitlandia posted the other day.  I had been freezing Ray’s kongs, but not using a lot of the mix-ins so he was clearing the contents pretty quickly.  Ray loves his kongs, we’ve been using them a lot more for feeding, though we do still use his bowl as well.

Antlers are something that Ray is very mezzo-mezzo about.  He prefers the split elk antlers but right now only has his deer antlers, one with a large nub and one more tapered.  Because that is what we have available right now, he has been chewing on those more lately.

For some reason, the antler seemed much more fun on this day than on previous days.

A few weeks ago while at an Outreach/Adoption event, I was disconcerted that so many people called Honor “fella.”  I guess it’s hard to tell from a face and I wonder if certain dogs are assumed to be boys and certain ones are assumed to be girls.  Anyhow, that got me thinking about all of the fancy trimmings I’d read about for so many adoptable dogs and on a whim a couple of weeks ago, I grabbed some of my granddaughter’s head bands and stuffed them in my adoption bag. 

I didn’t know who I would be handling that day but these headbands are great because they are so stretchy that they can fit on a variety of sized dogs.  After that a sweet reader asked how they were made, so I thought I’d share.

Back in May when I was planning Asia’s baby shower I wanted to really do some fun things that didn’t necessarily involve playing traditional shower games but still get a lot of interaction going.  What we came up with was this:

We set up a table full of supplies so that guests could decorate onesies and/or headbands.  We bought white onesies in a variety of sizes, the stretchy crochet headbands, feathers, rhinestones, flower tops, glue, puffy paint and other types of trimmings and just let the guest’s creativity run rampant.  I got lots of the supplies on ebay where I was able to get some really great prices and variety of supplies.  Who knew you could buy stemless flower tops?

I’m wondering if I can use any of these supplies to figure out a way to make bow ties or some other dudely accessory.  What do you think?

Today was the beginning of a nice three day weekend for me, but it wasn’t all about the relaxing.  Ray had an appointment to have his stitches removed this morning, so we had that ordeal  task to start off the day with.  While I can basically touch Ray anywhere and check for lumps, bumps, scrapes and anything else an adolescent might get into, he’s not as desensitized with others.  He’s not great at getting his nails trimmed, so I reasoned that having someone poke scissors into his leg might not go as planned. 

To make the trip easier, I brought one of his blankets from home, a pocketful of his favorite treats and a bully stick to keep him occupied.

Waiting for someone to take these pricklies out of my leg.

I figured we’d have a better go of it if he were occupied with some of his favorite things, but Ray had other plans.  First, I don’t even know if I mentioned this before, but Ray is a nervous pee-er, so he kind of let loose on the floor, the knee of my jeans and a portion of his blanket.  Twice. 

Finally with the doctor, the tech and the mommy not getting anywhere, they suggested that if I leave the room they might have better luck with him…which they did.  After a few minutes out came my bouncy, happy boy without his prickly stitches.   hummmpf.

Then to add insult to injury, on a tip from our friends at Pitlandia I stopped to cash in on some Halloween Haul on sale for Ray, too.  Since he loved the pictures of Athena in her superhero attire,  I got him this great Captain America t-shirt.  The only problem is that the XL was juuuust a little snug.

Besides, while Ray-Ray is many things, a superhero really doesn’t fit is personality.  No, with all the sweet comments he gets on Facebook, both on his and my pages, everybody knows Ray-Ray is a Rock Star.

We used to make sure that was the first thing we said on the first day of every month when we were kids.  I have a facebook friend who still posts it every month on the first.  Usually I’ve forgotten until about the third cup of coffee in the morning so I don’t know if this qualifies, especially since the morning is now nearly over, but here it goes, “Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit.”

Today Ray is eleven months old and since we are creeping up the actual birth day, I’ve been trying to think of a fun celebration idea.  I have a few possibilities in mind, among those getting him together with one of his littermates, doing a doggy party and, of course, some type of give away.   I’ll just need to keep noodling them around until something clicks.  We also forgot to mention that wrote a guest post for Peace Love & Whiskers which came out yesterday.  It’s Sparkle’s story.  I’ve written about her a few times and this post was in “her voice.”  Even more exciting is that another friend is considering  translating  it and publishing it in the Netherlands on the birthdate he shares with Ray to help raise awareness.  Squee!

We didn’t have many trick or treaters last night and I’m always amazed that Ray is not really a barker.  I gave him an empty gallon jug (we call it a crinkie) to chase around which kept him occupied quite a bit and whenever the doorbell rang, he’d look at the door but no barking.  His babysitter came with her little girl who gave Ray some treats through the gate while he concentrated on being small.

She had lots of fun giving “Way-Way” treats.  The only down side is that she wanted to give him so many I had to switch them to kibble so he didn’t end up with a tummy ache.

As of right now, I’m pretty well in weekend mode since I have tomorrow off, so I hope everyone excuses the random scatter that makes up this post.  Please feel free to wander by our Facebook page for more Ray-Ray. 

For some people it doesn’t last long enough and for others it lasts too long.  I do like puppy breath, but I don’t love it in that I didn’t notice it was gone until one day there was just…nothing.  Probably because he is still so young and because he is a chewer, he has nice white teeth and his breath smells like air. 

Clean teeth and a happy smile. 

I’ve read that rope toys kind of act like a floss and help keep plaque off of the teeth and if that is true, Ray should have some nice white chompers for life considering his obsession with his rope toys and any game of tug he can engage in.  But the other day, I realized I stick my fingers in his mouth all the time.  Ray likes to “hide” things in his mouth.  One of his favorite things to play with is an empty plastic milk jugs and the moment he gets the lid off, I say “Uh oh” and he usually knows to drop it right away.  Recenty he has begun to hold it in his mouth, back past his molars and between his teeth and cheek.  If I say, “Ray, what’s in your mouth?”  He turns his head away very nonchalantly as if to say, “Nothing, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mom.”  Usually I can get it by trading, but a few times I have just dug it out of the depths of his “massive Pit Bull jaws.”  I think he kind of likes that game.

Anyhow, I realized the other morning that all of this exploration in the depths of Rays mouth had probably set him up for some good hygene habits, so we dug this out to and started to use it.

We’re not up to the whole mouth yet, but are getting a pretty good portion of it because, after all a nice helping of poultry flavored tooth paste?  YUM!

Do you brush your pooches teeth?

When Ray was a little tiny puppy newly arrived at our home, he was happy and playful, but he wasn’t much of a tail wagger.  I found it a bit disconcerting because I although I could tell that he was happy, I wished for the normal outward sign afer all, who doesn’t like a little tail-wagging pup?

It kind of make you wonder, is he really happy or is he just a little chewy-monster who chases things? 

As he’s getting older, the tail wagging has gotten much more frequent and I’m learning a little better how to read his body language.  He and I have our rituals and I love that I recognize the specific small ways he shows affection.

This morning  I was enjoying my morning coffee as Ray was enjoying his morning Kong and we sat in a companionable silence near each other, with our own “treats.”  I happened to look at him just as he looked at me and as our eyes met, his tail wagged.  I love you, too, Baby Boy.

I wouldn’t even call it a lump so much as maybe a growth, but it started out looking like a bug bite or a pimple it was so small.  It was small and red like a bite and nearly flat.  The problem is that it grew daily until it looked like…not a bite anymore. 

I took Ray in to the vet a couple of weeks ago and we decided that if it grew significantly we would schedule the removal.  In that time it got to be about the lenght of my pinky fingernail, so I went ahead and made his appointment for this past Friday.  A day and a half before the surery, I was to begin giving him some Benadryl because if this ended up being a Mast Cell Tumor, those sometimes release histamines into the body when removed.  The Benadryl would be a precaution that wouldn’t hurt him if not needed.  How do you give a puppy Benadryl caplets? 

On a scrambled egg and peanut butter sushi roll up, of course!  These were the small capsules, 25 mg each, but you’d have thought it was the best treat ever. I guess if you’re Ray-Ray, it was.

As Ray told you yesterday, he did really well in the Vet’s office and we were happy that it was our favorite doc there to receive him and do the procedure.  She is young and patient and a Pit Bull type dog, owner who just thinks Ray is the cutest thing.  Love!

I dropped him off at about 8:45 and by 11:00 they were done and called to let me know that everything went well and that I could pick him up between 3:00 and 5:00.  When I got there, our poor little boy was still pretty disoriented and seemingly sore.  He stood quite a bit at home as if he didn’t want to lie down or lean on that leg.  And he whimpered.  A lot.  It was pretty heartbreaking to hear.  He also spent the first hour at home glaring at me through foggy eyes since I was the one to leave him alone at the doctor’s office.

.

So it will be a few days before we actually get the Histopathology report and we are hoping for just a benign growth.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.

In the meantime, Ray has been mostly leaving his stitches alone and has avoided the dreaded Cone of Shame. 

Thanks to everyone who sent their good vibes and please continue to do so while we await the test results.