Last night as Ray was once again indulging in an orgy of playing with kitty toys, I wondered to myself what really is so much fun about a basket of teeny tiny catnip stuffies, a crinkke tunnel, and a bunch of string?

And why is he so much gentler with many of these toys?  After all, I would assume that one shake of the crinkle tunnel in the jaws of Godzilla would result in huge rips in the fabric.

Although the kitties like to “play string,” how much fun is it for an 80 pound puppy to fly through the air to catch the end of a string?

Then it hit me…does Ray think he is a kitty cat?

This weekend my hubby and I had occasion to spend the afternoon with good friends, hanging out, drinking a few …um …sasparillas…eating tasty snacks and watching some football.  Our friends have an 18 month old Great Dane, Winston, who is just the sweetest boy in the world, though he may or may not completely realize that he isn’t truly a lap dog.

As is usual for me, I spent much of the afternoon on the floor.  Furniture can be overrated and I enjoy a nice cuddle with a willing canine.  I think our hosts were concerned that I was uncomfortable or put upon, as like many good dog owners, they want to make sure their dog is friendly and also mannerly.  My husband kept telling them that it is a normal occurance at our house.  Me on the floor cuddling with a dog. 

The funny thing about those of us gathered together yesterday is that just over a year ago, none of us had dogs and now between the three couples and the single person there, we have five total dogs with Winston being the oldest.  Being that we’ve all gotten our dogs as puppies, it’s hard to say exactly how they will grow up and what their personalities will be.  I’m just happy and fortunate that Ray enjoys cuddles as much as I do.  I might be slightly heartbroken if he ended up as a D.I.N.O.S.

Is your dog a cuddlebug?  Are you?

Remember when I was a baby and Mommy let me play upstairs in Kitty World?  Well, I do get to go up there occasionally, but Mommy has been so busy getting things in and out of storage that Kitty World was pretty messy for awhile.  She’s still trying to get some stuff packed into storage, unpacked from storage and other things donated away but recently she and I went upstairs to Kitty World where all the cool things are because she said I needed to let off some steam.  What does she mean by that?  The Ray-Ray isn’t steaming.  Sometimes Mommy just doesn’t make any sense, but I love her anyway.

Anyhow, we went upstairs and the first thing I did was check out the kittie’s toy basket.  They get all the cool things like little jingly balls and strings.

I love all the little dangly jingly things the kitties have to play with but I don’t think they like their toys very much because everytime I come to invade their territory visit, they have the same toys up there.  Everyone knows if you play with a toy, usually you only get to play with the same toy a couple of times before it gets eaten.

Those strings are fun too, they’re like the kitty version of my rope tug-tug toys.

The strange thing about kitty world, though, is that I never see any kitties there.  I’m starting to wonder if they play different games without me.

When we were finished with removing my steam (ha, whatever, Mom) we went back downstairs, but I was feeling kind of sleepy and I just wanted to lay down for awhile.  But I juuuust might have sneaked a little something down in my big mouth.

Because after all, kitty toys are the best!

Enjoy your weekend, Everybuddy!
~Ray-Ray

Because we hit up so many different locations on Ray’s birthday tour, we amassed quite a collection of doggy birthday presents.  He got treats, an antler split, a smoked bone, a squeaky snake, and a Squeezz Stick in addition to his big-boy food. 

Naturally, I knew that a lot of this would need to be rationed out because just like a child, Ray would get too excited over all of the toys and end up playing with none of them.  So, the antler he received right away.  I found a nice thick one with nubs on it so that it would last longer than a regular split antler.  Regular splits last less than a week around here and full unsplit antlers are I-don’t-have-anything-else-to-play-with-so-I-guess-I’ll-play-with-this toys.  Splits are so much more instantly gratifiying it seems, so when we start feeling like Ray is overloaded on bully sticks, we try and encourage the antler use.

The snake was a hoot because it’s billed as being indestructable and each section contains a squeaker that is supposed to continue squeaking even if punctured.  The eyes lasted about 14 minutes before they got picked off, the head has a gaping wound in it and each squeaker is nearly flat and completely soundless.  The nice thing, though, is that there is no stuffing in the snake.  Glad we had a coupon for that one.

I was feeling pretty good about the Squeezz Stick, too.  It’s a Kong product and had a recessed/protected squeaker in it that might hold up better.  It did.  It took nearly 4 hours of play before the squeaker stopped working and nearly the same amount of time before Ray picked one of the nubs off enough to leave a gaping hole in the toy. 

My intent was not to be negative, and I’m certainly not trying to disparage any toys or companies, this is just more of my frustration in finding fun and functional toys for Ray.  I feel like the person who wants to wear cute shoes but is only able to wear orthopedic footwear.  There has to be some toy with a squeaker that lasts longer than a few hours out there.  Anyone? Anyone?  Bueller?

Ray has a new favorite vegetable.  It makes him screech in anticipation.

He loves kale!

Everyone knows by now that Ray is pretty much a Mama’s boy, but I did want to share that he is also an indiscriminate lap sitter.

With Asia.

With his Daddy.

Also, thanks everyone for the thoughts and advice around microchips and tags.  I love the collar that Pitlandia suggested and will add that to my wish list.  I also never even thought about having him scanned occasionally to make sure the chip is still there. (Thanks, AnnPaws!)  Finally, I went back to the HomeAgain registration and updated his info so that people wouldn’t be looking for a 35 pound dog!  I also want to upload a photo now that he is close to a year old. 

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone.  We are so thankful for all the friendships we’re forging and for the wonderful blogging community in general.  See you Monday!

I’ve mentioned a time or two that I sometimes freak out over certain things.  Anesthesia is one.  When Ray was neutered and again when he had him growth removed, I freaked a little bit over the ghastly thought of what if?  What if the rock he ate this morning causes adverse affects?  What if he doesn’t come out of the anesthesia?  What if what if what if!!   Luckily this often works itself out and I can contiue my day in a fairly productive manner. 

Along those lines, though, I panicked for nearly the entire time that Ray-Ray was unprotected.  Not by vaccines, but by a microchip.  Ray came home with me when he was only seven weeks old because by then his litter was weaned and Sparkles was more interested in becoming someone’s forever baby than in dealing with her own.  I think that bringing him home that early has left him with some deficient social skills that even his puppy classes couldn’t give him but as he grows I still try to expose him to as much as I feel we can successfully handle.  There were times, though, that I found myself wishing I could just leave this little monster in the proverbial pumpkin patch.  This jumping, nipping, leash wrestling little puppy was overwhelming at times but by the same token was the light of my life. 

Anyhow, on our first visit to the vet, I had asked to have him microchipped but was told they prefer to wait until the neuter and do it while he is anesthetized so for the next couple of months I felt like he was unprotected and I was a neurotic mess each time we set foot outside.  The problem now that he is chipped, is that I want to be able to communicate this fact very easily and effectively.  The first question I would ask about a lost or found animal is whether or not it is chipped but I wonder if that is the first thing others would think?  Would most people check?  Would they know how to or where to?  I really wanted to get a tag that would explain that fact.  I liked a tag suggestion I saw …ummm….was it at Love and a Six Foot Leash? …about a reward?  I’m not sure but naturally the talk about local shelters being filled with Pit Bull type dogs are abundant.  Unfortunately, around here the shelters are not full of Pit Bull types, if you catch my meaning.  That scares me even more.  I thought a nice tag saying something like “Ray-chipped and loved” might work, but of course I would need my name and number on it.  Maybe my husband’s name and number as an alternate.  Ray’s name, of course, should go on there so at this point we have a book hanging from his neck.  And we’re talking about a dog who is easily stimulated.  By that I mean he doesn’t do well with dangly, jingly tags.  I even bought one of those fancy tag clips from Sirius Republic.  He ate it while it was on his collar!  At least that is what I think happened because I found his bent tag on the floor, the connecting ring opened and nothing else.

So what do you do to keep your pooches safe and easily returned if that unspeakable event happened to separate him/her from you?

Sometimes I’m dense.  It takes me longer to see the forest through the trees, so to speak, so it has always kind of shocked me that people constantly ask me what kind of dog Ray is.  No one has ever assumed (at least verbally to me) that he is a Pit Bull.  Though his dna came back as “not a pit bull” I still consider him a Pit Bull type and lead with that.  So a typical converstion goes like this:
Stranger, “What kind of dog is that?”
Me, “He’s a Pit Bull type.”
Stranger, “Really?” This is usually followed by any number of follow up statements which compel me to explain the American Bulldog/Boxer/mix and how Wisdom Panel doesn’t actually screen for APBT but does screen for Staffie and Am Staff, etc.  Ok my round about point being that I always considered Ray to obviously be a Pit Bull.  Yet, we have neighbors who thought he was a dalmation and I guess I can see why.

Until I saw this picture that my husband took last night.

It made me wonder if perhaps Wisdom panel meant that the “mixed” part of him was this?