Riding the Lift

I have always wanted to get pictures of Morey and I riding a lift to get into a bus, but usually don't have someone with me who can take pictures. So, when we were in New Orleans and got to ride a streetcar with a lift, I asked Sabaa to document the experience. This is one of Morey's skills I am very proud of!

The first dog I trained to ride a lift was Morey's dad Jammer. This happened while I was still in college and I contacted the campus shuttle bus manager and asked if I could schedule a time to come train my dog to ride the lift. They were really helpful and I went to the garage when the accessible bus was "off duty" and was able to get Jammer comfortable with the experience of standing on a small metal grate while it lifts up in the air.

With Morey I didn't have the opportunity for such a good training/introduction to riding a lift. We were at a rugby tournament and it takes forever to load 15 people one at a time onto a bus. I sat next to the lift and got Morey used to the noise and fed him tasty treats whenever it got close to us. I had him get on and off a few times without it moving and he was fine with it. When it was my turn to load up, I had Morey stand next to me on the lift and asked the bus driver to go up just a few inches to see Morey's response. If he was going to freak out and try to jump off I would prefer if it was 3 inches off the ground instead of 3 feet! Morey looked surprised at the movement, but didn't act concerned so we continued up to the bus. Ever since that first time, Morey has been great at riding lifts and we always get smiles and compliments when people see us load up together.

 

When we got on the streetcar, there wasn't much room so you can see how Morey made use of the small space he could squeeze into!

Morey has ridden in cars, vans, trucks, buses, airplanes, and now has added streetcars to his many modes of transportation!