Birthday Party!

December 29th is a very special day for both of my dogs. It is Jessie's birthday and this year she turned nine. I've known her since she was 4 months old and it is amazing how our lives have intertwined since that first meeting. She was the first ICAN dog I furloughed and sometimes I still marvel at the fact that after a failed first placement she ended back up with me.

December 29th, 2010 is the day I brought Morey home as my service dog. I had originally said "no" to having Morey as my service dog (you'll have to go back to the start of this blog to read about that story) and when I was given a second chance I eagerly said "yes!"

It is fun that I am always home on the 29th to celebrate this special day. Buddy, my mom's rescued Shih Tzu comes as an honorary guest. All of the dogs are quite willing to wear birthday hats as long as they are well compensated with tasty treats!

 

The birthday treat this year was peanut butter cupcakes (for dogs). All of the party guests were very patient to wait to try the cupcake until we had sung "happy birthday".

 

Given how Morey stole Jessie's Christmas present, he had to go in the other room while Jessie chose her birthday present. We put 5 toys in a row and then let her choose one. It was funny to watch her "try out" two of them by picking them up and squeaking them once, but once she saw this duck she pounced on it and ignored the rest of them.

Jessie and her birthday duck

      December 29th is a pretty fun day for people and dogs at our house!


Rain, Mud and Ice

Unfortunately we didn't get to experience any snow while we were home for Christmas. When we arrived there was horrible flooding that had closed some of the roads near our house and had created a "lake" in our front yard. I think Morey liked this new addition to Grandma's house and he splashed around the edges when he went out, turning from a yellow dog into a yellow dog with brown feet and brown spots. Morey's frolicking earned him a foot bath after he came inside but it didn't deter him from his antics.

Mud on the feet and grass stuck under his nails-looks like Morey is in need of a paw-dicure!

It turned cold soon after the rain arrived and the lake turned into an ice skating rink. Instead of splashing, Morey enjoyed stepping on and playing in the ice. He doesn't seem to mind the cold weather and neither does Grandma so it works out perfectly. They play outside together while I watch from inside. That's how I do winter these days!

Christmas!

At our house, each of our dogs has their own stocking and they get to look inside and pull out the surprises. Morey likes this tradition and it's so cute to watch him pull his presents out.

Is that for me?



This is kind of hard to get out



Jessie was quite interested in Morey's poultry flavored toothpaste!

Jessie got a new Nylabone for Christmas. Morey doesn't really chew on bones but when he saw Jessie's new bone he went over and snatched it from her. For the next 20 minutes he lay there chewing on Jessie's bone. Thankfully Jessie is a very gracious girl and she was content to enjoy her toy and special treats that she had also received until Morey got tired of her bone.

I had given Grandma Morey's "wish list" but she felt that giving a dog toothpaste for Christmas was kind of like giving underwear to a kid- practical but not very exciting. In order to make up for that less than exciting gift, she also gave him a squeaky chameleon.

Most of Morey's toys are soft and fluffy. This toy is latex and when you squeeze it its tongue and tail unroll. Morey liked it, but he was also a little scared of it. It was very funny to watch him alternate wanting to play with it to being a little hesitant about it.

There are some things you can't capture with words or pictures, so I am attempting to include video for the first time. Depending on how this works you can look forward to more videos in 2014!

Family and Friends

Morey likes to come to Grandma's not only because of the people, but also because of the dogs. Jessie and Buddy are permanent residents but there are also a lot of other visiting dogs who come and go. Morey is very easy going and so he gets along well with the other "guests".

This visit Morey got to spend a few days with Yuma, a golden retriever who belongs to Jamie Young,  the woman who bred Morey and who has the moms and pups live at her house until they start their service dog training. Yuma is kind of like Morey's aunt since she lived with him during his first few weeks of life. Jamie had a new litter about to be born at her house and so Yuma came to our house to make it a little less hectic during the whelp.

Morey and Yuma

Yuma, Morey, and Jessie snuggling on the bed

It is funny to have Morey, Yuma, and Jessie together because they are all slightly different sizes and colors. They get along really well, as you might be able to tell from this picture! They all share toys, bones, and attention and sometimes they even share the bed with me! :)

We spent a lot of time snuggling and cuddling this Christmas. Whenever I am with Jessie and Morey together I am reminded of how blessed I am to get to share my life with these special dogs!

Junior Aviator

My trip home for Christmas was long and chaotic. I arrived at the airport at 10am for my flight at 11:15. My flight was delayed which allowed me to take Morey out (see Lesson Learned). My flight was delayed again and then cancelled. I was rebooked on a flight leaving at 3 which then ended up being delayed until 5:30. Since we had been at the airport all day, I had to take Morey out again before our flight actually left. That made three trips through security at the Austin airport!

I always pack 2 meals for Morey, just in case of situations like this. I was supposed to land in Indy at 5pm and at that time I hadn't even left Austin! Morey ate a quick dinner in Dallas and then we had fun going from terminal C to terminal D, then back to terminal C after a last second gate change. I was so thankful to finally get on the plane to Indy!

On the flight there was a girl traveling as an unaccompanied minor. She pre-boarded with me and when the flight attendant heard it was her first flight she gave her a Junior Aviator Logbook so she could keep track of all her flights. I made a comment about how that was a fun idea and the flight attendant asked if I would like one for Morey! I laughed and thought it might be a good way to keep track of Morey's travels. At the end of the flight as we were leaving the plane, the flight attendant handed me a Junior Aviator Logbook with the first flight signed by the captain, first officer, and flight attendant. I wonder how long it will take Morey to fill up the whole thing?



Morey's Junior Aviator Logbook

Morey's first flight logged in his Aviator Logbook

 

We landed in Indy around midnight and then waited around for my luggage that never arrived. After waiting in line for it to be tracked and arranged for it to be delivered the next day, Morey and I were both ready to be picked up and taken home. Thankfully the rest of our trip was much more enjoyable!

Lesson Learned

I live about 15 minutes from the airport and so usually before I head out on a trip I have Morey go “hurry” at home, that way when we arrive at the airport we are ready to go right in. When I headed home for Christmas I followed our usual routine, but as we were going through security, Morey started acting strange. He kept staring at me, which usually means he has to go out. When I asked him if he needed to “hurry” he perked his ears up which usually means he has to go. I got through security and found out my flight was delayed. Morey was still giving me “the look” so with a sigh we went out of security and visited the dog park. Morey did have to go and after relieving himself we went back inside and through security again. Nothing like going through security twice in 20 minutes!I think from now on we will visit the dog park before we go through security- just in case!

On our second trip through security we were in line behind a tiny dog wearing a Christmas sweater. It was sitting on top of its soft-sided carrier and being pulled along by its owner.

Festive dog at the airport

Morey was interested in it, but maintained his composure like a professional. There was a woman in the line next to us who was carrying a Yorkie but Morey didn’t seem to notice that dog. As we were waiting for a flight there was another little dog that appeared to be wearing a service dog vest. I keep an eye on Morey’s body language when we are in airports because he often spots dogs before I do and if I notice him getting excited I can redirect him more and make sure we put ourselves in a position to avoid any conflict. I am pretty good about anticipating Morey's reactions and reading his body language but I never know how the other dog is going to respond and so I prefer to keep our distance from other dogs when Morey is working.

Harder than it Seems

One helpful task that Morey does for me is hitting the automatic door buttons. It’s not that I can’t push them but since they often aren’t right by the door it is helpful to have Morey run and push them so I can stay on path to the door. Morey knows when I say “touch” he should look around for a button ( I should use a different word since technically “touch” means to touch what is in front of the dog). Because automatic buttons are all shapes and sizes they can sometimes be hard for Morey to locate. The standard blue squares are pretty simply, but I have also seen silver rectangles, silver circles and small round black buttons. Sometimes Morey needs a hint or a point in the right direction if he doesn’t recognize it right away.

Another challenge is when other “things” are on the wall next to the automatic buttons. At one of the doors at my work building there is a card reader next to the button.

 Morey sometimes gets confused and tries to “touch” the card reader instead. He knows to keep pushing until the door opens and he gets frustrated when the door won’t open. He will keep touching the button over and over with his nose and then sometimes tries to use his paws. It can be difficult to redirect him to the actual button when he gets that focused!

A more disturbing distraction is when the emergency fire alarm buttons are located close to the automatic buttons. The way they are designed I don’t think Morey could trigger the alarm but it always makes me nervous when I send him to touch a button next to a fire alarm.

                     As you can tell, opening doors is a lot more complicated than it first seems!

Blue Genie Baazar

My friend Heather and I went to the Blue Genie Christmas Bazaar, which is held in November and December and features Austin/Texas artists and their handiwork. We went after work and that meant Morey came with us. He was quite patient because shopping/browsing is one of his least favorite activities. Thankfully it was large enough to have space for us to easily navigate without being in everyone's way.

In keeping with the spirit of "Keeping Austin Weird" there were several random animal statues throughout the bazaar. I wondered if Morey would be hesitant about approaching them, but he didn't even seem to notice their animal-like shapes. Still, I couldn't resist the opportunity to have Morey's picture taken with this baby elephant!

 

 

Clean Bill of Health

Morey recently had his annual vet visit and vaccines and got a clean bill of health!

He always eagerly runs right into the vet office, excited about all the dogs and being able to socialize with all the employees (he doesn't wear his vest so he is officially off duty). All the staff love him-who doesn't?- and he loves all the attention. He usually sniffs all around the exam room and then listens to the sounds of all the other animals while we wait.

Morey obediently got on the scale and sat quietly while he was weighed. He weighs 81 lbs which means he has lost one pound since last year. I did put him on a diet over the summer because he was starting to get a little chunky and it seems to have done the trick!

Morey eagerly went with the vet tech into the back room where all the other animal noises were coming from to get his blood drawn for his heartworm test. I could hear the vet tech talking about Morey and what a great dog he is (making me quite proud : ) When they brought him back he came right over to me and was then a little hesitant about approaching the vet and vet tech again, especially after he got his two vaccines.

I had mentioned Morey's reaction to the TSA's rubber gloves after last year's vet appointment and so the vet took his temperature under his arm instead of in his butt. I am sure Morey would have been grateful if he was capable of understanding what he had just avoided and I was grateful that the vet was so sensitive to his preferences!

The vet told me that she wouldn't do anything differently in how I was taking care of Morey. That made me happy because more than anything I want Morey to be happy and healthy! Sometimes it can be hard to keep these things in balance. For example, giving him more treats/food might make him happy in the short term but I know being overweight can lead to lots of health problems. And even though Morey doesn't like to have his nails trimmed, I am diligent about doing it once a week to prevent him from having to walk differently due to long nails. There are days when I don't feel like staying outside and playing ball with Morey, but I still make it a priority for him to get exercise at least once a day. And Morey has now come to like getting his teeth brushed since I have found poultry flavored toothpaste!

I want Morey to be around for many years to come and I am committed to doing whatever I can to keep him healthy. It's encouraging to know that I am doing a good job!

Desk Dog

The other day I was taking a break at work by watching a video of a corgi racing around a merry go round (A Corgi Named Meatball Rides a Merry Go Round) . I had the volume up and when Morey heard the dog barking he came over to my desk looking interested. Since he had enjoyed watching the Purina Dog Show so much I wanted to see if he would be interested in watching this video.

I asked him to do an "up" on my desk and after a moment, he noticed the dog and as you can tell, he was quickly captivated! Maybe while he's up there he can start answering emails for me!

Holiday Helper

This December it has actually felt like winter here in Austin! We've had record breaking lows for the first part of December and recently had the 6 coldest days in a row for the month of December. I mean we are talking about frigid 30 degree temperatures (don't judge! :). With this weather it really has been starting to feel like Christmas and so Morey has gotten into the holiday spirit, turning from a service dog into a holiday helper!

We heard that Santa was coming to campus and naturally I decided to take Morey. Before taking his turn with Santa we had a discussion about what he was going to ask Santa for as his Christmas gifts. In the moment, I think all he actually wanted was to take off the reindeer antlers!

Santa didn't have quite a big enough lap for a big dog like Morey, but thankfully there was a stepstool provided so that Morey could reach Santa's ear. He was a little confused about why he was getting up on Santa's lap because typically he only does that with me.

 

After visiting Santa, Morey and I decided to do some Christmas shopping on campus. My purchases were light enough that Morey could carry the bag for me once we were done. Not only is this helpful to me so my hands can be free to push, but it also spreads a bit of holiday cheer. I think everyone we passed on the way back to my office smiled or commented on Morey's adorableness. It was kind of fun to watch people who were looking down or lost in their own worlds look up and smile when they saw Morey trotting along with his antlers and a bag in his mouth.

I recognize that Morey is a very special dog and am glad to be able to share that specialness with other people!

 

The Kindness of Strangers

Traveling with Morey is always an adventure! Thankfully on our Thanksgiving trip everything went quite smoothly. On our flights to Indiana we had an empty seat next to us, which meant Morey had a little more room to stretch out. However, he spent most of the time with his nose up on the seat, which is his way of asking if he can jump up (typically on my bed or the couch). Sorry Morey, I don't think the next passenger would appreciate getting a yellow fur coat!

Can I please sit here?
 

On our first flight on the way home, a nice flight attendant moved Morey and me to business class! Although I was served dinner, apparently they don't make dining arrangement for canines traveling in business class. Sorry Morey! My seat mate on that flight was a grandma from New Zealand so I learned a lot during the flight. As she asked about how Morey travels I mentioned that sometimes the air pressure bothers his ears during landing and giving him ice sometimes helps. When we started our descent, she called the flight attendant and requested a cup of ice for Morey. Everyone wants to make sure that Morey receives VIP treatment!

On our second flight things evened out because instead of being in the bulkhead where we usually sit, we were back in row 20. Morey had to squeeze his way into the tiny space and then when the passenger next to me boarded we had to do some interesting rearranging so he could step over me and Morey (for which he was quite apologetic). Morey kept moving around, trying to get comfortable or at least as comfortable as possible. When I made a joke about Morey missing his pillow at home, my fellow passenger offered to let Morey use his scarf as a pillow! I thought he was joking at first, but he was entirely serious and when I politely declined he continued to offer. I explained that the flight from Dallas to Austin was so short that it wouldn't hurt Morey to be a little uncomfortable.
Once again I was surprised by people's thoughtfulness when it comes to Morey's comfort!

Favorite Things

Morey got to do some of his favorite things while we were home for Thanksgiving. Grandma has some favorite toys that Morey gets to play with when he is there.

It's hard to choose which toy to play with!

 Morey also got to watch some of his favorite movies and shows. One of his favorite movies seems to be Marmaduke. He usually watches about an hour of the movie before falling asleep. Lady and the Tramp is his second favorite movie, which is interesting since there aren't real dogs in it. Must be pretty good animation if he can recognize the pictures as dogs!

 

This year Morey got to watch the Purina Dog Show with his friends.

Jessie wanting assurance that she is as pretty as the dogs on TV

Morey watching the French bulldog strut its stuff around the ring

Morey trying out different looks after watch the dog show


 

               Morey also enjoyed spending time with his friend and mentor, Jessie.

                                                           And with me, of course!

          Morey also got to be a greeter at church and helped to pass out bulletins.

 One of his favorite things to do at Grandma's is to play with her bucket of tennis balls! Luckily Grandma doesn't mind going out in the cold to play with him (while I watch from inside).

              Morey is thankful for all these things and more on this Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving with Family and Friends

Morey and I went back to Indiana for Thanksgiving and got to celebrate with not only human family and friends, but also some canine ones. My family has been involved with training many different service dogs and often we are asked to care for them while their families travel. I always enjoy getting to see some of the dogs that have been part of our lives in the past.

This year we got to share Thanksgiving with Bridget. My family puppy raised Bridget until she went to prison for training. She was then selected to be a breeding dog and had several litters of puppies with Morey's dad Jammer (making her kind of like Morey's step-mom I suppose). Bridget is now a reading dog and accompanies her human partner to her work at a library.

L-R: Bridget, Buddy the shih Tzu, Jessie my retired service dog, and Morey had a great time!

I was told that Bridget doesn't like to play with other dogs that much, but she and Morey certainly enjoyed some vigorous play time together!

                               They also got to enjoy some time outside in the chilly weather!

Stir Crazy

I talk about my relationship with Morey as a partnership. He helps me and makes my life easier and happier, but I also have responsibilities to take care of him and make sure he is as happy and healthy as possible. Morey is a pretty low maintenance dog and when all his needs are met he is a very easy dog to live and work with. When his needs aren't met, then life gets a little interesting.

This fall has been very busy for me and after a few weeks of not prioritizing taking care of myself, coupled with some extreme weather changes (record high and low in one week!), I got pretty sick. Coming home from work one day I went straight to bed and woke up 14 hours later. By my side the whole time was faithful Morey sleeping right beside me. It's a good thing he can be a lazy boy!

For the next three days I spent most of my time in bed sleeping or on the couch watching TV. I fed Morey and let him out, but that was about all the energy I had. After three days of this I could tell Morey was starting to get a little stir crazy. He started wandering around the house, grabbing any of his toys he found and bringing them to me. Normally we don't play fetch in the house but I made an exception since this was going to be Morey's only possibility of exercise. I threw his toy several times and he would run and grab it, jump on the couch next to me and then launch himself off the couch and over our low coffee table to get his toy. Who knew we had an obstacle/agility course in our house the whole time?

After tiring of playing fetch, Morey got a case of the "zoomies". Dogs with the "zoomies" can be quite entertaining as they race around like whirling dervishes, often going in circles and sometimes falling down when they get going too fast for their legs to keep up. Morey rarely engages in such silly behavior but since I wasn't able to give him exercise, he found his own way to use up some excess energy. Thankfully everyone and everything in the house survived Morey's "zoomies" and soon he was ready to jump back on the couch to keep me company.

I am now recovered and can give Morey his usual amount of exercise once again. Although once it gets cold we often end up playing ball in the halls at work instead of outside. Sometimes you have to get creative to take care of your canine companions!

Bending the Rules

Morey and I have been together for almost 3 years now and we have pretty much figured each other out. We've established habits and routines and sometimes things are so automatic that I barely need to give a cue before Morey knows what I want him to do. This level of teamwork and comfort is convenient, but it can also present some training and safety challenges.

When things become too routine, it can be easy for a dog to stop listening for the cue and just anticipate and act on what comes next. This is often the case for things like jumping in and out of the car; I open the door and Morey knows I am going to say "jump" to get either in/out. Before I know it, I open the door and he jumps in/out before I even say it. While this might seem not seem like a problem, there are situations where this could be a safety issue. It also erodes the working relationship because instead of looking to me for direction, Morey starts acting on his own. At a time when service dog partners seem to have it all figured out, I have seen many start to struggle for these very reasons.

It's not always easy to recognize the start of this slippery slope. In fact, it's often when things have completely fallen apart that you look back and find how it all began and then have to work to put it back together. This fall, I began to notice some signs that Morey and I were heading in this direction and I quickly put steps in place to get us back on track.

One of the classic areas to start having problems is going in/out of doors and this was the case for us. Now that I live in a house with a fenced in backyard it is easy for me to open the door and let Morey run out to "hurry". Once he takes care of business he comes back to the door and I open it to let him run in. One day I opened the door just a crack and Morey tried to barge his way in. Surprised, I reacted by closing the door in his face. He looked up at me in surprise and then sat down, reverting to his days in ICAN when pups are asked to sit before going through any doorway. It wasn't that Morey had forgotten his training- it was that I wasn't holding him to that standard and if I didn't expect it, he wasn't going to do it. I slowly opened the door again and instead of running through it, he looked at me expectantly, waiting for permission to come through. I made him wait a few seconds and then released him. Because I recognized the problematic routine I had established and knew how to respond, Morey has quickly caught on and no longer tries to barge through the door.

Another problem with long time service dog partners happens when the person lowers the cue standards. Accepting a dog laying halfway on their bed instead of all the way might not seem like a big deal but it can lead to a "creep" of cues until they are no longer useful or until the person is doing more work than the dog. Knowing this problem doesn't always keep you from falling into it yourself and recently I found myself in this situation with Morey.

When we were playing ball he would spit the ball out in my general direction instead of delivering to my hand or lap. Alternatively, he would stand next to me with the ball but when I took hold of it he wouldn't let go. When I realized I was playing tug of war with his ball so I could throw it for him, I realized how ridiculous I was being. He was the one who wanted to play ball and yet I was doing more work than he was! Immediately I let go of his ball and decided that if he wanted to continue playing, he would have to deliver the ball directly into my hand. Again, this was something he was familiar with and knew how to do, I had just let him get away with something different. It didn't take long for him to figure out the new rules to our game and he was soon dropping the ball directly into my hand. I still have to remind myself that if he drops it at my feet it is his responsibility to pick it up, not mine.

 I don't know why service dog partners want to do the work for our dogs, but I have seen it happen quite often, especially with retrieving. Rather than have the dog bring an object directly to a person's hand, people will try to lean out and grab it. ICAN dogs are trained to seek out a person's hand for delivery of an object but if you always reach out and find them there won't be a need for them to bring it to you. They are also trained to hold onto an object until given the cue "give" but sometime people don't hold their dog to this standard either. When that happens, the dog will bring you the object but will probably drop it within a few seconds if you don't reach out and grab it quickly (something not all people with disabilities can do). I've tried to be strict about both of these standards with Morey, but when I'm not I know who to blame.

Even though I use most of Morey's commands on a regular basis, there is still value in doing training sessions. This is not only valuable for Morey to stay sharp on his cues and tasks, it is also an opportunity for me to devote to ensuring that I am setting high standards and expectations so Morey and I can continue to work safely and effectively together for many more years to come.

Tugging Trouble

One of the tasks Morey does for me that I can't do for myself is to help me take my coat off. Because this is only a task that I need him to do for a few months of the year (especially living down in Texas!) at the start of coat season I have to do a little refresher training on this task. A more practical approach would be to periodically put a coat on at other times of the year and have him tug it off but somehow when it is 100+ degrees putting on a coat even for a moment sounds miserable. So we resort to coat-tugging lessons when it first gets cold.

One morning it was chilly and so I wore a light jacket to work. When we arrived I decided it would be a good opportunity for Morey to start getting this skill back in working order and so I held out my arm and asked him to tug. He eagerly came forward and in his enthusiasm to grab the cuff of my jacket he accidently grabbed some of the tender skin on my wrist. I screamed in surprise and pain and Morey let go and immediately dropped to the floor.

Once I had assessed the damage (he hadn't broken the skin but a small bruise was already forming on the inside of my wrist) and determined that I would survive, I turned my attention to Morey. He is a sensitive dog and I don't ever scream or yell at him so he was quite scared by my unexpected reaction as he was just trying to do what I had asked of him. I didn't want him to associate tugging my coat with being yelled at so I "jollied" him up with some happy talk and then asked him to tug again.

He approached me very cautiously this time, hesitating with each step. To give him a guaranteed success, I pulled my sleeve mostly off and asked him to tug that. He took hold of the very end of my sleeve and did a very gentle and hesitant tug. Once he had tugged it off, we celebrated with lots of praise and then his breakfast.

Thinking back over the situation, I realized that I had made two errors that had led up to this unfortunate incident. One was the timing of my request. When I arrive at work I play ball with Morey outside and then feed him breakfast once we get in my office. Because he knows he will be fed, he is usually more energetic and enthusiastic than usual which is not a good time to brush up on commands. I should have waited for a more settled time before trying to have a training session.

My second error had to do with how I set up the scenario. I really only need help getting off heavy coats that are more tight fitting (big bulky coats are easier to get off but they also get stuck in my wheels when I push so they aren't really practical to wear out and about). This means that Morey has to take a really firm grip on the cuff in order to exert enough force to pull it off. Because sometimes its hard for him to distinguish between the coat and my shirt sleeve, I usually hold out just the coat cuff and give him a target to tug on. The jacket I was wearing was really light fabric and kind of loose so I figured Morey could just grab the cuff without me holding it out to him (given that this was a refresher session I should have realized he might need more help, not less) and so Morey came in expecting to take a good mouthful of it like he usually does. Which he did, but in addition to the jacket he got my skin and thus the whole unfortunate incident occurred.

It's been several weeks since this happened and Morey still expresses hesitation when asked to tug my coat. As it has been unusually cold here lately, this has been a challenge for me because without his help I can't get off my warmest coats. I give Morey a lot of verbal encouragement as he tugs and lots of praise afterward and we are making slow progress at regaining confidence.

This incident made me appreciate the power of Morey's teeth and be thankful for his bite inhibition. His teeth are strong and capable of grabbing, ripping, and tearing yet he has excellent awareness of how much pressure he can and needs to exert with his teeth. It also made me realize how silly it is when people ask me if Morey bites. Of course he bites- he is a living creature with strong powerful teeth that he uses on a daily basis. Because of his training and socialization he doesn't typically bite people but he is an animal equipped with a powerful weapon set and as I experienced, accidents can occasionally happen.

I think Morey and I will both recover from that incident but it was a good lesson and reminder for me. Because Morey is so perfect, it is easy for me to get complacent and not use my dog training skills as much as I should. As is often the case, when a dog misbehaves, it is often the fault of the handler.

Happy Halloween!

In addition to birthday presents, Grandma also brought Morey his Halloween costume. I felt some pressure for Morey to live up to the standard and expectation of cuteness that we set the past 2 years and will let you judge for yourself, but I think this was his best costume yet!

Morey made his first debut as a pirate at our church's No Fear celebration.

Beware Morey the pirate! If you cross his path on this Halloween he will steal your heart, demand your love and affection, and leave you with only a pile of yellow dog hair in return!

This family-friendly event offered a variety of non-scary games, activities, crafts, and contests. My Sunday school class was helping with the cupcake walk and so I put Morey next to me and spent the evening handing out cupcakes while Morey spent the evening getting his picture taken and being admired. Next year I think we will have Morey be his own attraction!

                              Morey and one of his favorite friends at church.

 The event was 3 hours and Morey patiently wore his costume the entire time. I gave him breaks from his eye patch, which was his least favorite accessory, but he patiently tolerated the rest of his costume. What a good boy!

 

I think Morey was quite dismayed when the pirate costume came back a few days later for actual Halloween. Everyone at work had been asking about his costume and I didn't want to disappoint. Morey wore his shirt and belt all day and put on the hat and eye patch for special appearances. When he had the eye patch on he became strangely still and didn't want to move at all so he only wore the eye patch for pictures.

 

We went around our building making visits and had several people stop by to see him and take pictures. His pictures posted on Facebook got a total of 110 likes (which confirms my suspicions that if Morey ever got his own Facebook page he would quickly have more friends than I do and I'm not sure if I am ready for that!)

 

Morey is such a patient and special dog. I try not to exploit his training, but on Halloween I do make unauthorized use of his socialization and training to have one of the best costumed dogs around!

All Play and No Work makes Morey Tired!

The rest of Morey's visit with his grandma and aunt was filled with fun adventures including a walk in the park, a trip to the schoolyard down the street where we play ball on the weekends, snuggling, treats, and lots of attention!

Morey is not used to such an active schedule and he slept well each night!

 

Morey got to sleep with Grandma in our guest room. Note to self: black sheets and yellow dog hair are not a good mix!

 

 

On the day our guests left we took them to the airport and then went to work. When we came home that night I noticed that Morey was not with me in the living room and assumed that he had gone in my room and jumped on my bed to go to sleep which he is usual routine when I stay up later than he wants to. When I went in my room to check, he wasn't there but I noticed that the guest room door was open. I peeked my head in and there was Morey- sleeping on the guest bed as if waiting for Grandma to arrive!

Morey doesn't understand about things like fall breaks, visits, and airplanes but he does understand habits and patterns so he was following the same routine as the past several nights. Worn out from all the excitement, he sleepily looked up at me wondering why I was disturbing his slumber but willingly relocated to my room for the rest of the night.

 

Birthday Presents

 Morey is used to carrying bags and ignoring the contents but once he realized that the contents of this bag were for him he eagerly dove right in!

 

This year Morey got a combination of gifts which included a toy, a treat, and a toothbrush.

Morey's birthday presents

Can you tell which present was Morey's favorite?

 

 As you might imagine, Morey wasn't too excited about the toothbrush but since he gets his teeth brushed at least 5 times a week he it was something he needed. Grandmas sometimes have to give practical gifts!

 

 Although Morey doesn't chew on bones much, he does enjoy chewing on antlers. He got one for his birthday last year but he chewed on it so much that it was getting too small to be safe. Good thing Grandma came through and gave him a brand new one. As you can tell, he wasted no time getting started on it!

Morey's toy this year was a small orange llama. Morey seems to prefer small toys for some reason and he took a liking to his llama right away. The llama has since acquired the name of Larry the llama and Morey often carries Larry around the house or enjoys snuggling with him.

 Morey had a very happy

 5th birthday and hopefully will have many more in the years to come!