Sillybutt on Ice

If I haven't expressed how much Raylene likes the cold, let me just cover that now - my dog is a yeti. Ray LOVES cold weather, it seems like the colder the better. She wants to stay out and play long after everyone else has come in. It doesn't matter if the wind's blowing, it's dark or snowing, Ray's out there entertaining herself, or if she's lucky, playing with Magi.

The top of our backyard pond has frozen more than usual this winter due to the unseasonably cold weather we've been experiencing. Raylene can't get enough of the ice! We've given up trying to keep her off of it. She lays on it, leaps onto it and digs at it.

But her favorite thing is to frolic with sweet gum balls - yes, the pointy, brown, pain in the butt castoffs from my neighbor's sweet gum trees. Lieu loves to chew on them as well, but never have I seen him prance and dance with them the way Ray does, especially across the ice! It's absolutely magical to watch at night under the lights, but of course I couldn't get any video of that. Too bad the Olympic figure skating trials are already over, Ray would definitely take the gold!

I have visions of her falling through the ice and having to scoop her out or worse, but it's worth the worry to watch her have so much fun. Jason assures me that she's safe, the ice is plenty solid. And when it does start melting, he breaks it up to discourage Puppy Shackleton from exploring. Then she has a grand time trying to grab chunks of ice from the pond and running around the yard with it.

The pack and their people enjoyed a beautiful day in the backyard yesterday,  taking advantage of the 60 degree day among all of the bitterly cold ones. There was plenty of chase, wrestling and stick chewing to be had. Ray also worked on her tunnel to China in the digging pit and found her way to the top of the compost bin to bark at the neighborhood dogs. Such a busy, busy girl. I took advantage of the warm weather by giving the yard a thorough poop scooping. Such is the glamorous life of a super dog mom.

Lieu Teaches Ray About the Digging Pit

Lieu introduced Raylene to the joys of the digging pit. She took to it very quickly and seems to get a big kick out of it!

The dogs do actually dig in this space we've set aside for them. We have to remind them occasionally but the whole pack loves their pit. In case you were wondering how we made it, we churned up the dirt about 1 foot down, cleaned out the larger rocks and mixed a few bags of sand into the dirt.  It hardens but breaks up quite easily and makes for great digging.

Adventures in Puppydom

It's hard to believe that it's only been two weeks since Raylene Ray(Ray) Sillybutt G2 entered our life. It seems like we've already had a month of adventures together as everyday brings something new. Her Royal Puppiness is developing quite the personality and definitely likes to have things her way She's growing like crazy and we have to let her collar out a notch every 2-3 days. Here are some of the things we've learned or experienced this week:

1) If Ray is napping you will find her in one of two places -  under the dining room table or in between the couch and coffee table ottoman under our legs. She has to know where everyone is and what they are doing (a true heeler!) so the dining room allows her a good vantage point for action in the living room or kitchen. Ray only naps by the couch if we're watching TV and is very particular about the boys coming into "her" territory with "her" people. She doesn't really stretch out with the other dogs on the dog beds much and forget about snuggling up together for a nap! She gets very hot while she sleeps, we're guessing as a result from having spent her early days outside, so she seems to seek cooler spots. Ray's sleeping habits seem peculiar after moving beds to follow the sunbeams around the dining room for the boys.

2) Snuggling is not a high priority. Not only is Ray not interested in napping with us, she's not much interested in being held or sitting with you for more than about 5 seconds. When she's not eating or sleeping, it's go, go, go! And she's bouncing from one thing to another, much like your typical preschooler. We've been lucky and so far she hasn't destroyed anything important, sticking mostly to chewing on her toys, me, and a recent discovery, sticks!

3) Sticks go hand-in-hand with Ray's new favorite pastime, going outside. She, like Magi, has developed an obsession for the dogs behind us that they cannot see very well, but can certainly hear. Luckily it was nice this weekend so she could spend a lot of time outside, as she repeatedly told us she needed to be. We put a bell up for Lieu years ago when we were housebreaking him. He learned to ring that thing incessantly just so he could go outside, I can't imagine the constant ringing Ray would subject us to. Looking out the dinning room window is a good second to going outside if she has to settle.

4) Ray is learning to sit, walk on a leash and come. We've been trying to walk the whole pack every day if  weather allows so she's picking up the leash pretty well. Ray and I went to visit my folks this weekend and went on a short walk with my mom. She loves to meet new people and got to meet a family, including a dog and a little girl, on the Fassnight Greenway this weekend, too. Magi on the other hand does not enjoy meeting new people or dogs, but we keep trying.

5) Ray discovered the digging pit this weekend and had a great time excavating it with Lieu. Hope to have some video of that up soon. We don't expect to be able to keep her out of the pond this summer so combine that with the digging pit and I imagine we could have a hell of a mess on our hands.

6) Ray got her nails trimmed for the first time this weekend. Probably could have cut them a little shorter but played it safe, I cut one of Gypsy's nails too short once and she never forgave me. We've noticed some other insecurities so we sure don't want to develop any issues with nail trimming!

Puppydom, like childhood, is so short-lived, I know that this time of discovery and wonder will be over before we know it. I want to enjoy every bit of life that she brings to our world and love that I'll have Ray of Life to look back at this time in the years to come.