I had a "first" experience as a service dog partner the other day. We were out on campus and I stopped to let Morey have a potty and sniff break in a landscaped area covered with some bushy vines. He "hurried" and sniffed and then without warning bolted away from me-with enough force that I was almost yanked out of my wheelchair. Thankfully I was holding the leash loosely, but even still it was the closest I have ever come to being pulled to the ground by a dog. I yelled Morey's name out of surprise, fear, shock, and astonishment at what he had just done. He slunk back to me looking apologetic and then instantly bolted away again, running in circles around me and acting rather insane/demented. I was still confused about what was happening and tried to get him back under control, but he kept twirling and biting himself to the point where I was getting really concerned about what had happened to my dog. Then I saw the ants.
Texas has fire ants that I have heard many people complain about. As a wheelchair user, I am spared this experience for the most part (I suppose ants could crawl up my chair and sting my feet-not that I'd even know-but that's rather unlikely) but other people suffer bites/sting that hurt, sting, and itch...as Morey now knows. I'm not sure if he actually got bitten, but his potty/sniff spot was crawling with ants that I hadn't noticed before. I think poor Morey had ants crawling on him and that's what made him act crazy as he tried to get away from them. Once I realized the problem I took him away from that area and tried to brush off any that I saw. He was kind of antsy (pun intended) the rest of the day.
I learned 3 things from that experience:
1) Never ever wrap the leash around your hand where it won't come off if pulled
2) Look for environmental reasons for a dog's strange behavior
3) Always look for ants before releasing your dog to hurry!
Morey
Morey, My 2nd Service Dog
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Mistaken Identity
The other day Morey experienced a case of mistaken identity. As we were leaving the office one of the student workers, who has a complexion similar to Sabaa, one of Morey's favorite co-workers, came out of Sabaa's office and walked by us. When Morey first saw her open the door and come out he perked up and got very excited (Sabaa had been out of the office for several days prior to this and so Morey hadn't seen her for a few days). The student worker doesn't really know Morey and so she walked by him without saying anything to him. He watched her walk by with a look of consternation on his face-not understanding why one of his favorite people was ignoring him. I laughed when I realized what he was thinking and took him over to the student worker so he could see it wasn't Sabaa. Once he sniffed her and realized that it wasn't her, his ears went down and he walked away. Just a case of mistaken identity, not his favorite person ignoring him. Whew!
Working Behind the Scenes
The other day I had a very interesting revelation. The entire staff in our office had to go to a division-wide staff meeting across campus. We went over together and Morey was polite enough to push the door button for us (one of his favorite tasks). Once we were outside one of the women who works at our front desk said "Wow, that was really neat. I hear him squeak his toys in your office but I didn't know he could open doors." We continued on to the meeting and rode the campus bus to get there. Morey got on like a pro (the bus driver was scared of dogs which made things a little interesting) and quietly settled down in a small space in front of me. As we were getting off, the same co-worker said "He is really well-behaved."
I realized that most of my co-workers had never really seen Morey work. They don't see him open the doors to the building, retrieve the things that fall under my desk, or, a rare event now that I live in blazing hot Texas, help me take my coat off. These are all things that Morey does to help me at work, but all of it happens out of sight of most of my co-workers. What they do see is Morey playing ball after hours and squeaking his squeaky toy. None of them have ever said anything about it, but I realized that based on what they do see, Morey appears to be just a pet that I bring to work. Now that I am aware of this, I will try to be more cognizant of how Morey's role appears to my office. Not that I feel the need to prove Morey's helpfulness to me, but I think it's an interesting point to think about how much work Morey is doing behind the scenes that never gets seen or recognized by anyone but me.
I realized that most of my co-workers had never really seen Morey work. They don't see him open the doors to the building, retrieve the things that fall under my desk, or, a rare event now that I live in blazing hot Texas, help me take my coat off. These are all things that Morey does to help me at work, but all of it happens out of sight of most of my co-workers. What they do see is Morey playing ball after hours and squeaking his squeaky toy. None of them have ever said anything about it, but I realized that based on what they do see, Morey appears to be just a pet that I bring to work. Now that I am aware of this, I will try to be more cognizant of how Morey's role appears to my office. Not that I feel the need to prove Morey's helpfulness to me, but I think it's an interesting point to think about how much work Morey is doing behind the scenes that never gets seen or recognized by anyone but me.
Show Off
The last office behavior I will mention for now is Morey's attention seeking behavior during meetings in my office. Typically Morey just hangs out under my desk while I am meeting with students or staff and acts like a model service dog. But lately (as the pendulum has swung in the other direction-read my post Confessions of a Service Dog Partner for reference), he has begun to display some attention seeking behaviors that I have quickly responded to.
After a few repeated instances of this, I once again began to realize a habit in the making and have already put steps in place to eliminate it. When I have meetings, usually with people who like Morey and have a history of past affection/petting him, Morey has started to roll around on his back making moaning noises, going to get squeaky toys and make them squeak, and rubbing his face on the floor with his butt in the air. All amusing behaviors, but not in those circumstances. He seems to be wanting us to stop talking with each other and focus on him, the motivation behind most attention seeking behaviors.
This type of behavior has resulted in Morey being ignored or sent to his "bed" aka under my desk. He responds quickly to both and I don't think this will be a long-lived problem. But, it does make me aware of the repercussions of allowing people to give Morey so much attention when he is "on the job". Over the next few weeks I will be making some changes in Morey's office rules to get him focused back on acting like a service dog instead of a circus animal. He excels at both, but since I am currently needing a service dog so we will work on developing those behaviors and eliminating the circus behaviors...at least at work!
After a few repeated instances of this, I once again began to realize a habit in the making and have already put steps in place to eliminate it. When I have meetings, usually with people who like Morey and have a history of past affection/petting him, Morey has started to roll around on his back making moaning noises, going to get squeaky toys and make them squeak, and rubbing his face on the floor with his butt in the air. All amusing behaviors, but not in those circumstances. He seems to be wanting us to stop talking with each other and focus on him, the motivation behind most attention seeking behaviors.
This type of behavior has resulted in Morey being ignored or sent to his "bed" aka under my desk. He responds quickly to both and I don't think this will be a long-lived problem. But, it does make me aware of the repercussions of allowing people to give Morey so much attention when he is "on the job". Over the next few weeks I will be making some changes in Morey's office rules to get him focused back on acting like a service dog instead of a circus animal. He excels at both, but since I am currently needing a service dog so we will work on developing those behaviors and eliminating the circus behaviors...at least at work!
Mystery Behavior
There is another office habit that Morey has picked up that has me puzzled. I currently have no working hypothesis and am still in the information gathering phase. Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Observed behavior: Whenever a co-worker comes into my office, Morey goes and gets a drink before going to greet them. A long drink, not just a few laps. After he has completed this behavior, which is now almost a ritual, he will go and eagerly say hello (usually timing his after- drink drool flinging until he gets close enough to "share" it with them). Lovely.
Facts:
Only does it with co-workers, people he is familiar with and likes, not with any other people who come in my office
Has access to water at all times of day
Possible motivation: ?
The people he does it with are my co-workers who love him and give him lots of attention. Possibly he feels overwhelmed when they say "hi" and goes to get a drink as a way to calm himself before greeting them?
-Seems unlikely, as my co-workers always interact with him very appropriately, not in a way that seems overwhelming (at least from my perspective)
He sleeps under my desk most of the day. Maybe when he gets up to say hello to them he remembers that he is thirsty and goes to meet that need before getting petted.
-I might be exaggerating Morey's laziness and his lack of motivation to meet his physical needs
Any other opinions/theories would be welcome. I'll post updates on this mystery once I have done more research and have more information to report!
Observed behavior: Whenever a co-worker comes into my office, Morey goes and gets a drink before going to greet them. A long drink, not just a few laps. After he has completed this behavior, which is now almost a ritual, he will go and eagerly say hello (usually timing his after- drink drool flinging until he gets close enough to "share" it with them). Lovely.
Facts:
Only does it with co-workers, people he is familiar with and likes, not with any other people who come in my office
Has access to water at all times of day
Possible motivation: ?
The people he does it with are my co-workers who love him and give him lots of attention. Possibly he feels overwhelmed when they say "hi" and goes to get a drink as a way to calm himself before greeting them?
-Seems unlikely, as my co-workers always interact with him very appropriately, not in a way that seems overwhelming (at least from my perspective)
He sleeps under my desk most of the day. Maybe when he gets up to say hello to them he remembers that he is thirsty and goes to meet that need before getting petted.
-I might be exaggerating Morey's laziness and his lack of motivation to meet his physical needs
Any other opinions/theories would be welcome. I'll post updates on this mystery once I have done more research and have more information to report!
Joining the Conversation
Morey has picked up a few office habits that took me a while to realize. One of them is bone chewing. For the most part, he ignores the bones that I have in my office for him to chew on. However, when someone comes into my office to talk with me, Morey will get up and bring his bone over to where we are sitting and settle down for a nice long chew...as long as our conversation continues. Once the person leaves, Morey gets up and shows no more interest in the bone until the next time someone comes in.
After several times of this I realized this was not a random event. It's so predictable that my co-workers have commented on it. While I was analyzing possible motivations for this behavior, I have come up with the hypothesis (research has not been done to date : ) that it's Morey's way of "joining in the conversation". As a kind of calming behavior, he likes to bring his bone between me and the person I am talking to and chew away. Although the sound of bone chewing can get somewhat distracting, it also does have somewhat of a calming effect for the humans.
If any one else has a theory about Morey's bone chewing habit, I would be happy to hear it!
After several times of this I realized this was not a random event. It's so predictable that my co-workers have commented on it. While I was analyzing possible motivations for this behavior, I have come up with the hypothesis (research has not been done to date : ) that it's Morey's way of "joining in the conversation". As a kind of calming behavior, he likes to bring his bone between me and the person I am talking to and chew away. Although the sound of bone chewing can get somewhat distracting, it also does have somewhat of a calming effect for the humans.
If any one else has a theory about Morey's bone chewing habit, I would be happy to hear it!
Confessions of a Service Dog Partner
As with any relationship with a living creature, a service dog partnership is always changing, developing, and adapting-on both ends of the leash. That's why I like having a breathing, thinking, reacting dog to help me rather than a robot. My partnership with Morey is continually growing and changing, which keeps me from becoming too stuck in my way.
As a service dog partner, the rules I apply to my dog have sort of a pendulum swing to them. I tend to start out very strict- enforcing sitting while being petted, perfectly straight positional commands (heel, front, etc.), and requiring a down to be in a close, curled up position. Then, over time I tend to relax more and lower my standards. And accordingly, Morey lives down to those lower standards and starts seeking out attention, doing sloppy commands, and sprawling out all over the place when asked to do a down. When I finally come to realize how far we've slid, I have only myself to blame. My dog has done what has worked for him and received no instruction to do something different. Then, it's time for the pendulum to swing back in the other direction for a while to tighten up some of the slack that I have allowed.
Thankfully, I'm a dog trainer and so I know how to fix my own mistakes in this area. Morey will be finding that it's time for a mini-boot camp to get back into working condition and he enjoys training so this won't be too much of a challenge. Consistency is important with dogs and I need to be better about finding a midway point between my extremes. But until then, we'll just keep ticking away, back and forth, back and forth.
As a service dog partner, the rules I apply to my dog have sort of a pendulum swing to them. I tend to start out very strict- enforcing sitting while being petted, perfectly straight positional commands (heel, front, etc.), and requiring a down to be in a close, curled up position. Then, over time I tend to relax more and lower my standards. And accordingly, Morey lives down to those lower standards and starts seeking out attention, doing sloppy commands, and sprawling out all over the place when asked to do a down. When I finally come to realize how far we've slid, I have only myself to blame. My dog has done what has worked for him and received no instruction to do something different. Then, it's time for the pendulum to swing back in the other direction for a while to tighten up some of the slack that I have allowed.
Thankfully, I'm a dog trainer and so I know how to fix my own mistakes in this area. Morey will be finding that it's time for a mini-boot camp to get back into working condition and he enjoys training so this won't be too much of a challenge. Consistency is important with dogs and I need to be better about finding a midway point between my extremes. But until then, we'll just keep ticking away, back and forth, back and forth.
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