Freedom

I love to watch Morey run. Seeing his athletic body in action running, chasing, jumping (usually after a tennis ball) gives me a second-hand sense of freedom. He is not bothered by human boundaries like sidewalks or landscaping-he just goes over, under, around, or through these obstacles. He is so totally alive and luxuriating in his abilities as a healthy, young, active dog and it’s a pleasure to watch him.

Watching his freedom of movement is even more meaningful to me because of the restrictions I often feel because of my disability. Not necessarily restrictions in what I can do (because I can do anything : ), but in the ease and access I have to move freely. For the most part, my path of travel is restricted to designated pathways; usually cement sidewalks and roads. I can’t (easily) take shortcuts, jump over obstacles, run up or down hills, or frolic off the beaten path.  I can’t splash through puddles or streams, wade in the lake, or feel the grass beneath my bare feet. Morey has none of these restrictions. He goes where his nose leads him, with no direct destination in mind. He changes routes, rolls in the grass, jumps over rocks, and runs just for the fun of it. He jumps in and out of the water (when he gets the chance) and can easily race up and down hills. He will flop down in the grass for a short rest and then take off again, chasing a new smell that caught his attention. 

Watching Morey take such delight in all these activities brings me a type of contentment and satisfaction that I rarely experience in other ways. There are those who would say that in that moment, my spirit joins Morey’s as we experience that aspect of life together. I like that explanation because Morey has become an extension of me. Watching him almost makes me feel that I am taking part in his antics and adventures and at least for a while, I am as free as my dog; running and jumping and thoroughly alive and caught up in the moment.

Called Out in Class

When I take Morey to class, he usually just curls up and goes to sleep and you don’t even notice he is there. Sometimes he does snore or stretch, but other than reactions to that, his presence is usually ignored (at least after the first week). Because we head to class right after work, Morey has been a little more antsy during my summer classes. It is too hot to let him play ball during the day, so I don’t have the option of exercising him before class. He is still very good, but because he is more awake and interactive, there have been several amusing incidents with Morey and the reactions people have had during class. For example, last week during class, Morey sneezed. Everyone automatically said “Bless you” and then simultaneously burst out laughing as they realized that it had been Morey. 

In a different class, Morey stretched and grunted at one point during the professor’s lecture. The professor turned sharply and looked at me and then went back to lecturing. A second later he looked back at me and said “That was the dog making that noise, wasn’t it?” I nodded and he replied “I was trying to figure out why and how someone would make that noise. Now it makes sense that it was the dog!” We all laughed and I mentally made a note to warn professors at the start of the semester that if they hear strange noises coming from my desk area to blame it on the dog and not me! Especially if it is snoring or groaning! : )

The best story happened tonight in class. This professor has included Morey in our discussion and always asks him if he has a point to make or a question to ask when Morey makes a noise. Tonight he was telling a story /jokeabout a psychiatrist who had a client confide in him that he had done all these deviant behaviors. After listing several deviant things he had done, the client said he had abused a dog. “Well,” the psychiatrist said, “Abusing a dog is not a good thing, but in context that doesn’t sound like the worse thing”. At that moment, Morey stood up and yawned vocally-sounding exactly like he was reacting to the story the professor was sharing. The timing was too perfect and the entire class burst out laughing. The professor looked at Morey and said “I wasn’t trying to offend you with this story, and I’m sorry if hearing about dog abuse upset you.”  Throughout the rest of the evening whenever he would ask if we had any questions, he would turn to Morey and say, “But I don’t want to hear a word out of you.” in a joking way.

Summer classes are pretty intense; 5 hours a week for 9 weeks. Many of the students have the same schedule as me and are in the same room for 2.5 hours four nights in a row. Morey has added an element of humor to class, which has helped relieve some of the stress and motonony of the semester for both the students and the professors. And as reward for another job well done after class he gets to engage in one of his favorite activities; playing ball.

It's That Season Again

The other day as Morey was waiting for me to load into my van I noticed he was “high stepping” in place. He is usually very patient to wait for me and for a moment I was puzzled. As he shifted the weight off his paws as quickly as possible, I realized that the pavement was burning his feet if he stood in place for too long. I quickly had him jump up in the van to cool his sizzling paw pads. 

I remembered this was an issue last summer as well when the temperature got to the high 90s and 100s. My usual routine is to have Morey load first and unload last so he is safe and protected while I get myself and my chair in and out of my van. That day I had changed things up, but I am now much more aware of asking Morey to stand on hot pavement. I also need to allow him to walk on the grass beside the sidewalk when possible. 

Another heat-related issue came to my attention today on the way to class. One of Morey’s favorite jobs is pushing the automatic door buttons. He knows where they are located in the buildings we frequent and he always starts eagerly looking at me when we approach, waiting for me to send him to go push them. Today as we approached the School of Social Work, I gave him the “touch” cue. He went right up to the button as always, but his nose stopped about half an inch away from the button. Unsure why he had hesitated, I put my hand on the button and realized that the metal was in the direct sunlight and was quite hot. I don’t blame Morey for not wanting to press his sensitive nose against a burning piece of metal! I remember warnings about asking your service dog to touch metal buttons in the winter because their noses might get stuck, but I hadn’t thought about the implications in the heat. I guess both Morey and I are still figuring out how to live and work during Texas summers!

Service Dog Relief Areas

Airports are required to have designated "service dog relief areas" clearly identified and when I travel (with or without Morey) I try to be aware of where these areas are located. Unfortunately, all of the ones I have found so far are outside the secured area. This means that you have to leave security, taking all your carry-on items with you, find the relief areas and let your dog use them, and then go through security again. As you can imagine, this process can take quite a long time and is only realistic if you have a very long layover.

If the trip is 6 hours or less (which most of mine are) I carefully monitor Morey's water intake before we leave and he doesn't have a problem holding it until he arrive at our destination. But on the way home from Nationals, we had a 4 hour layover in Chicago so I decided to find and let Morey use the animal relief area. It took 5 seconds for him to respond to the "hurry" command when we reached the tiny patch of grass and 40 minutes to go back through security. This is not a very user-friendly system and I had been tempted to let him use one of the decorative plants within the airport...it certainly would have saved a lot of time!

We recently took a trip back to Indiana and when we arrived Morey was very relieved to find the service animal relief area!

Play Ball!

Our summer schedule doesn't leave much time for fun, but I am careful to always give Morey a chance to play ball and get exercise. (Just because I create a crazy schedule that doesn't leave any extra time for fun, doesn't mean Morey should be deprived of his playtime!). Luckily there is an outdoor track and lacrosse field directly across from the School of Social Work and so after class Morey and I head over for some ball time. We both love the "Flinger" he got for Christmas from Grandma; I can throw the ball farther with much less effort. During the day it is too hot to play ball, so it works out well to have time in the evening when it is cooler.

The Flinger is long and hard for me to carry. As I was struggling to balance it on my lap I looked down at Morey who was carrying his tennis ball and realized he could carry his own toy. He is more than willing to carry it because it means playtime is coming!

After class I stop by my van to drop off my backpack and books and to pick up the ball and Flinger. I keep the Flinger in the seat pouch in my van and I can't reach it without transferring into the van. It's much easier to ask Morey to jump in the van and get it. The first few times it was difficult to direct him to what I wanted him to "get" because it wasn't on the floor like most of the items I usually ask him to retrieve. He has learned the trial and error process of hovering over an item and waiting for a "that's it" from me before actually picking up the item and moving on to something else if I don't respond. Getting the Flinger required him to look up, which is not part of his usual process. However, he kept at it and once he realized the items on the floor were not what I wanted, he expanded his search. I was watching him closely and when he looked at the Flinger I gave him an encouraging "that's it" and he grabbed it and pulled it from the pouch! Success! Now that he has that figured out it doesn't take him long to grab his ball and Flinger and for us to be on the way to playing some ball.

Summer School

Although rugby is over for the season, which means I should have more free time, Morey and I are just as busy as ever. I am taking 2 summer classes and they each meet twice a week so Monday-Thursday we put in a full day at work and then head straight to class until 8pm. Because of this busy schedule, there may not be many exciting posts this summer, but hopefully we will still manage to have some fun to report!

Bowling

Morey had a new experience the other day when I took him bowling. Well, actually, I was going bowling and he came with me because it was too hot to leave him in the car. He was very good, as usual, but was quite interested in taking everything in. He seemed rather concerned by all the noise and also because I was doing something with a ball that didn't include him. He kept a close eye on me the entire time.

As you can see from the pictures, he started out guarding everyone's shoes under the table. As the evening went on, he kept creeping closer and closer to me until finally I called him over so he wouldn't be breaking his "Stay" command. Morey had already had a long day at work, had accompanied me to the gym, and was now joining me for an evening outing. I decided he deserved a break from a long day of work and so he got some belly rubbing privileges. That made everything all better!