Ray the Wonder Dog
I've had plenty of posts recently that have alluded to how much I've been wanting a dog. I'd been scouring shelter listings (and had all my coworkers looking with me!). Our ideal had always been a greyhound, but they've been hard to come by in our area. So while I was dreaming, I kept a running list that I called, "Dog of the Day" so that I didn't get too attached to any particular dog until the time was right.
Then one day in late January I let Thomas pick the Dog of the Day. As we scrolled through listings, a new one came up: a greyhound. "Micah!" I said, and turned the computer. "Oh. I think your search is over," he said. We sent a message to the organization that same night and by the next day we'd completed an application.
Ray was a red brindle greyhound--actually, a lurcher. He was 2 or 3 years old and had come from the underground racing world. His description said he was gentle and sweet and loved to play with his stuffed animals. He'd never been around kids or cats, something that had excluded other Dogs of the Day from serious consideration, but there was something about Ray. He was worth getting to know. The organization that had him was brand-new, and he was their first adoptable dog. He'd been with a foster family for just over a month, and she said he'd been the easiest foster imaginable.
Fast forward a little over two weeks. We'd been shopping like crazy: a bed, a crate, dog food, toys, bones, all the things we'd need "just in case." I had pages of notes from phone conversations with his foster mom. I'd reread greyhound books, how to childproof a dog, how to train a greyhound, the best foods and exercise regimes and ways to pet them. We'd had "Team Nebi Dog Training" camp--a sheet with instructions on best ways to be around a dog. The kids had quizzed each other on car rides on what to do and what not to do. All that was left was to meet Ray.
He came to us on a Saturday. The kids knew he was coming to visit; what they didn't know was that if the visit went well, Ray would get to stay. The visit could not have gone better! He was quiet and reserved, but slowly, surely, that tail began to wag. He took to the kids instantly--tentatively at first, but with growing confidence. And Micah and I fell head over heels. There was just something about Ray. We knew in a second we'd say yes.
His foster mom told us, "Ray loves his people." Nothing could have been truer. Ray's happiest moments are by our sides, and he wails when we aren't in sight. As long as he can curl up next to us, see us from his bed, or be at our feet, he's the happiest dog on earth. He cries when the kids leave for church and school, and can't contain himself when they get home. He's fallen in love with the stuffed animals we have for him and today has discovered the kids' stash of stuffed toys. I wish I could have gotten on camera how happy he was with himself!
Ray's only downfall was night shift. I had worked the night we got him, so the next day, while everyone was at church, I tried to sleep. I dragged his bed up to our room, where he sleeps at night, pet him a good long time, and laid down to sleep. He went a little crazy. Every few minutes he raced downstairs, then tore back upstairs and whimpered at me. Over and over. I took him outside, I brought his bed back down, I tried everything. Ray didn't like night shift, period (we have a lot in common, as it turns out...). So finally I dragged my pillow, blanket, and sleepy self downstairs to the couch. I pet him and got him settled and we both slept like babies--for twenty minutes, until everyone came home! But it's become our new habit. We curl up in the living room side by side, and we sleep there for hours. We've found a way to make it work--hallelujah!
Ray's favorite time of the day, I think, is bedtime. The kids get into their PJs, brush their teeth, and then gather around to read a chapter of whatever book we're reading as a family. And Ray plops himself down in the middle of it, completely covered by little hands and wet kisses. I wish I could capture his half-closed eyes, the look of Heaven-on-earth on his brindled face. If ever a dog loved his kids, it's this dog. And if ever three kids were convinced they were all his favorites, it's these kids.
Ray may have been a bit of a risk, but the best things in life are. It's three days in, and it's hard to imagine that there ever wasn't a Ray the Wonder Dog.
Welcome home, my furry friend.
Then one day in late January I let Thomas pick the Dog of the Day. As we scrolled through listings, a new one came up: a greyhound. "Micah!" I said, and turned the computer. "Oh. I think your search is over," he said. We sent a message to the organization that same night and by the next day we'd completed an application.
Ray was a red brindle greyhound--actually, a lurcher. He was 2 or 3 years old and had come from the underground racing world. His description said he was gentle and sweet and loved to play with his stuffed animals. He'd never been around kids or cats, something that had excluded other Dogs of the Day from serious consideration, but there was something about Ray. He was worth getting to know. The organization that had him was brand-new, and he was their first adoptable dog. He'd been with a foster family for just over a month, and she said he'd been the easiest foster imaginable.
Fast forward a little over two weeks. We'd been shopping like crazy: a bed, a crate, dog food, toys, bones, all the things we'd need "just in case." I had pages of notes from phone conversations with his foster mom. I'd reread greyhound books, how to childproof a dog, how to train a greyhound, the best foods and exercise regimes and ways to pet them. We'd had "Team Nebi Dog Training" camp--a sheet with instructions on best ways to be around a dog. The kids had quizzed each other on car rides on what to do and what not to do. All that was left was to meet Ray.
He came to us on a Saturday. The kids knew he was coming to visit; what they didn't know was that if the visit went well, Ray would get to stay. The visit could not have gone better! He was quiet and reserved, but slowly, surely, that tail began to wag. He took to the kids instantly--tentatively at first, but with growing confidence. And Micah and I fell head over heels. There was just something about Ray. We knew in a second we'd say yes.
His foster mom told us, "Ray loves his people." Nothing could have been truer. Ray's happiest moments are by our sides, and he wails when we aren't in sight. As long as he can curl up next to us, see us from his bed, or be at our feet, he's the happiest dog on earth. He cries when the kids leave for church and school, and can't contain himself when they get home. He's fallen in love with the stuffed animals we have for him and today has discovered the kids' stash of stuffed toys. I wish I could have gotten on camera how happy he was with himself!
Ray's only downfall was night shift. I had worked the night we got him, so the next day, while everyone was at church, I tried to sleep. I dragged his bed up to our room, where he sleeps at night, pet him a good long time, and laid down to sleep. He went a little crazy. Every few minutes he raced downstairs, then tore back upstairs and whimpered at me. Over and over. I took him outside, I brought his bed back down, I tried everything. Ray didn't like night shift, period (we have a lot in common, as it turns out...). So finally I dragged my pillow, blanket, and sleepy self downstairs to the couch. I pet him and got him settled and we both slept like babies--for twenty minutes, until everyone came home! But it's become our new habit. We curl up in the living room side by side, and we sleep there for hours. We've found a way to make it work--hallelujah!
Ray's favorite time of the day, I think, is bedtime. The kids get into their PJs, brush their teeth, and then gather around to read a chapter of whatever book we're reading as a family. And Ray plops himself down in the middle of it, completely covered by little hands and wet kisses. I wish I could capture his half-closed eyes, the look of Heaven-on-earth on his brindled face. If ever a dog loved his kids, it's this dog. And if ever three kids were convinced they were all his favorites, it's these kids.
Ray may have been a bit of a risk, but the best things in life are. It's three days in, and it's hard to imagine that there ever wasn't a Ray the Wonder Dog.
Welcome home, my furry friend.
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| Our official adoption photo. |
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| He couldn't contain himself when she came home from preschool. |
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| Ray at his original rescue place, fresh off the race track. His racing name was "Wild Wheels," which kind of suits him! |
