Wow, what a busy couple of weeks. Smack dab in the middle of our transition to a two dog household, Kevin's dad passed away. That actually gave all of us more time at home and helped ease in the dog transitions, I believe.
If you follow us on Facebook or Instagram, you have seen by now what a great pair we have here. My fears with Ray were that he always was so large and "in your face" when trying to initiate play, that he would crush another dog in his enthusiasm. Also, once he gets wound up, it is harder to calm him down, though we work on it a lot.
Julius is so good natured and sweet that he has really helped Ray become the great big brother that he is today. Julius steals toys and chews on Ray's neck and head while Ray is much more tolerant than I ever thought he could be.
Our two dog world isn't without challenges, though. When they play together I constantly watch them. Ray is very vocal when he plays which sounds like growling. He has always been that way, so the only way to tell when he's "had enough" is a nose wrinkle that goes along witht the sound. When I see that, I break up the play for a few mintues while everyone gets water or rests. This has generally worked out really well.
Over the weekend, we celebrated our Granddaughter's birthday with a pool party, tasty food and of course cake. Since we are still settling things with Kevin's dad's passing, we opted to let Ray sit out the party at the apartment and let Julius attend the party. It actually turned out that my sister got a touch of food poisoning the night before, so she and Ray chilled out with a long nap and each other's company.
Julius captured hearts left and right with his calm, sweet demeanor and even had my dad asking if he could have the Ju-Ju Bean. Ray and my sister came back towards the end of the party and got to enjoy a bit of poolside fun and sunshine after all. One thing is very apparent fromt the number of people coming and going in and out of the house and gate; my pit bulls are not good guard dogs, everyone is a friend and all are welcome.
Thanks for hanging in with us, I promise better updates with pics soon.
Losing a father...I don't even have words. I'm so sorry. I'm glad that the universe sent you Julius, at just the right time. And yay for Ray, for being even MORE awesome than we originally thought!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about Kevin's dad passing. But, I'm glad that things are going well with Julius and Ray!
ReplyDeleteI've been seeing all the adorable pictures on your facebook so I figured the boys were getting along, that's so awesome! I sometimes let Norman have more mingling privileges than Kaya also to make my life easier:) Their relationship so far reminds me so much of Kaya & Norman early on. I had thought that Kaya would be too pushy and dominant and possessive of things around him but instead she enjoyed all of his attention and his calmness helped balance her out. I can't wait to see more of these 2!!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that they have become such loving brothers! I am sorry for your loss!
ReplyDeleteSo glad that you had your new boy to keep you company after such a rough week! and we are SO glad that he is fitting right in! We've been loving seeing photos of Julius and Ray together!
ReplyDeleteHey I was just looking around your page, and I just noticed the new pic of Julius, and Ray in the upper right hand corner of your page! I just love it! I find it so adorable that the both of them have the same bow tie collar! <3
ReplyDeleteI'm also so sorry to hear about your family's loss. I can't imagine the pain...hugs
Yay! It sounds like Julius is a very good match for Ray :) We have been loving all the great pictures of those two handsome pups!
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry about Kevin's dad. I can't even imagine. I can only hope that the joys of watching Ray evolve into a great big brother to Julius and celebrating the birthday of your granddaughter helped to heal the wounds of that devastating loss.
ReplyDeleteEmily @ Our Waldo Bungie
www.ourwaldobungie.com