Shopping with a Service Dog

Morey is a pretty happy go lucky dog, willing to go and do just about anything, but one activity he does not enjoy is going shopping. This has been the case with almost every service dog or service dog in training I have ever had. I think it's a combination of things: it usually takes a while, it's a lot of stop and go, and there is not much room to maneuver. The aisles are usually narrow and there is barely room for a chair to get through, let alone a dog and a chair. That means Morey either has to go in front of me, walk behind me, or, his personal favorite if we are clothes shopping, walk beside me underneath the racks of clothes, causing them to brush along his back (maybe it feels like a massage?) Just about the time he lays down and gets settled, I decide I want to move along and see something else so he has to get up, follow me five or six steps and then repeat the whole process.

I usually get a lot of sighs and pathetic looks from Morey when I take him shopping. I also get a lot of surprised looks from people who will come around an aisle, focused on whatever they are looking for, and then see a dog laying on the floor in front of them. This is especially funny when I happen to be out of sight and they try to figure out why there is a dog in the store. You can almost see the lightbulb go off above their heads when I reappear.

In most cases, I try to leave Morey at home when I go shopping (which isn't too hard since that's an activity I usually avoid as well), but this past week Morey had the pleasure of going shopping with his grandma, aunt, and me. Poor dog! He was a good sport, but clearly did not enjoy the shopping trip as much as the rest of us did. When we got home, I made it up to him with some extra ball time!

Morey's Vacation

Morey seems to be enjoying his vacation in Indiana (and needless to say, so am I!). He likes being spoiled by his aunts and grandma and has gotten all sorts of new treats to taste and toys to play with. He likes to play with the other dogs here, although he is still learning that body slamming is not a good way to make friends with a soft golden and a shih tzu. He and Jessie, my retired service dog, compete for attention and if you talk to one, chances are good the other one will come over as well. Although in the past if I asked another dog to work for me, Jessie would push her way through to do the job first, this time she seems very content to let Morey do all the work. I think she has adjusted to retirement quite nicely!

Morey and I have gotten to see some friends from ICAN and it was fun to see how excited he got when he recognized the volunteers and trainers who worked with him in the past. It has been very gratifying for me to see how, even when Morey is excited and distracted with toys, treats, and favorite people , he will redirect and focus back on me with just a quiet cue. Even when he is on vacation, Morey is always on call for me whenever I need him.

Road Trip to Indiana

We left at 6am and drove and drove and drove and drove. Morey had his spot on the back seat of my van and quickly went back to sleep (after all, he had to wake up at 5am- way too early for him!)

We stopped 3 times in 18 hours; basically whenever we needed gas. Morey's aunt would take time to run him around any nearby grass and give him a chance to stretch his legs. Then we would load up again and keep driving. I know dogs don't really have sense of time, but I could just imagine him thinking "Are we ever going to get wherever we are going?" It kind of felt that way to me too!

We arrived home at midnight and my sister and I were both exhausted after 18 hours on the road. Unfortunately, Morey had been sleeping all day and he wasn't exhausted. He wanted to play with Jessie, my retired service dog who lives with "grandma", and she wasn't really thrilled about that at midnight. But, my wonderfully adaptable Morey reluctantly settled down and slept for the rest of the night. He definitely got his beauty sleep during those 24 hours since he slept about 20 of them!

Change is in the Air

Once again I have heard our fans clamoring about what Morey and I have been doing lately. But this time, my lack of writing is because we have been too busy, not too boring, to post updates. The past few weeks have been rather eventful for us! Here's some of what we've been up to recently...

Our office at work is moving to a new location down the hall and so I had to pack up all my office "stuff". Morey was curious about all the boxes but began to get concerned when I started packing. He hunkered down on his bed and watched while I packed up all my stuff. I was also packing for my trip back to Indiana and so the packing continued at home. By his panting and pacing I could tell Morey was stressed, so we took frequent breaks for play and ball time.

My sister, Morey's"aunt", flew down to Austin so she could drive back to Indiana with me. When she came to my office, Morey recognized her immediately. He has a special wiggle and bounce that he only does for certain people and he did it for her. It's amazing how dogs recognize people they know, even after months of being apart.

The next day I had to work, but Morey got the day off to stay home with his aunt. I think he liked not waking up early and being able to sleep late. Lazy boy! : )