Raphael

This is Raphael who is 5 years old now. He is named Raphel after the Angel St. Raphael, the patron saint of healers. All 3 of us needed healing after the death of one of our dogs the day before.

We found Raphi at the Caddo Parish Animal Shelter. If you live anywhere near here, go to that shelter. They have great dogs.

We adopted Raphi the day after our dear furry friend, D'Artagnon died. D'Artagnon was also a Caddo Shelter Dog. He was a chocolate lab/chow mix. Dart, as we called him, died at the age of 13.

We were so heart broken. Especially Jessica. Dart was her dog. She wanted another puppy so we went back to Caddo. Raphi was one of 11 puppies. He was the last one of the litter left. He was in a cage, just like Dart, and when Jessica spoke to him he cocked his head to the side, just as Dart had done 13 years ago. I had to turn my back as the tears flowed down my cheeks. Jessica scooped him up and said "Mom, Dart has sent him to me." We went straight to the vet to have him checked out. Our vet looked at Jessica and said "You know D'Artagnon sent you this dog." So maybe Dart did have a hand in us getting Raphi.

Raphi had blue eyes as a puppy. Even today his hair is as soft as a kittens. He is very gentle and also really scared of everything! If we are scolding one of the other dogs Raphi dives underneath a table next to my chair. His bark is loud and BIG! If a stranger arrives he barks just like Dart did when strangers approached him. He does a bark/howl and takes 2 steps back, bark/howl, 2 steps back, bark/howl, 2 steps back. Chicken. At least he sounds ferocious.

Raphi is the largest dog we own. He is absolutely beautiful. His tail curls over his back and white hair flows from the tail. His hair is long and when he runs he reminds me of Lassie on tv. He has a gentle soul and plays so well with other dogs. Our dogs that is. He is terrified of people and strange dogs. We work on socialization, but when a 70 lb. dog doesn't want to do something it is hard to make him!

Raphis' best friend is Chloe one of our other dogs. She only weighs 15lbs but they are great buddies. When we let them out of the back door they race to the lake, circle the yard, and stop at the door again. This happens everytime the back door opens. His second favorite activity is fetching a ball. He will only do it a few times then he lies down with the ball and refuses to chase anymore.

Once in a while Raphi will get out to the fence without our knowledge. He never goes far. It's like he thinks "Uhh this isn't right!" and he runs home.

I guess the worst thing Raphi has done is jump up in my face and hit my right eye with his nose. The result was a black eye ~ for me. I had some difficulty getting people to believe that my dogs' nose gave me a black eye! If Raphi steps on your foot you will remember it for a while. He also has a powerful paw which he uses to ask for things. Like "get up, I gotta go outside, I want to eat, can I have one of those you are eating?, scratch my back, don't stop scratching my back!, shakes hands, etc. He communicates very well for a non-verbal furry puppy dog!!