While Morey was home in Indiana, he met lots of new friends, both human and canine. Jessie, my retired service dog, and Buddy, my mom’s shih-tzu were his primary companions since they are full-time residents at the Shryock household. Neither one of them was exactly thrilled about playing with Morey, althoug they graciously accepted his presence and the attention that was lavished upon him. While we were home, Morey met several guests who were visiting at the Shryock house at the same time we were. One dog, who became Morey’s wrestling partner, was Yuma, a golden retreiver who is retired from breeding (many of her pups have gone on to become service animals). Morey and Yuma had similar ways of playing involving lots of body contact, growling, and snarling. All completely harmless but sounding quite ferocious.
Another one of Morey’s new pals was Declan, a black lab service dog who is the second ICAN dog I ever trained. His family was going on vacation, so Declan came back for a visit. Although they were only together for 24 hours before Morey and I made our way back to Texas, they made the most of it. Their play consisted mostly of bouncing up and down, and tugging on toys.
After Morey’s experiences in Indiana, he has a much more appropriate way to greet new dogs. Now, instead of being defensive when he meets a new dog, he perks up in excitement, wondering if this is going to be a new play partner. It has taken six months of hard work, classical conditioning, and positive experiences to change Morey’s thinking and reaction to strange dogs, but the results are definitely worth it!
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