When you are partnered with a service dog there are times when you know you are taking your dog into a challenging situation. I try to avoid putting Morey in stressful or uncomfortable situations, but sometime it can't be helped. In those situations I always gain a new appreciation for Morey's excellent training and temperament and ability to take nearly everything in stride.
This week was a great example. I was planning to play tennis after work and since there wasn't time for me to take Morey home first, I knew he was going to have to come along. Anyone who knows Morey knows he has a love for tennis balls and it felt mean to take him to a tennis court and expect him to lay there while tennis balls were being hit all around him. But since there didn't seem to be another option, I made sure he had his own ball to take with him and off we went.
As it turns out, the tennis balls were not the only distractions Morey had to contend with. There was another dog at the tennis courts to add to the excitement. Roscoe was a small cream-colored cockapoo who was exuding enthusiasm and wanted to make friends with everyone on the courts. Morey was eager to return Roscoe's offers to play and exchange sniffs and wanted to take it to the next level with running and barking, which didn't work well while there were people playing tennis on the court.
It took me a while to convince Morey that even though there were balls and dogs in a large fenced area, he was supposed to lay quietly under the bench and not interact with either of them. He finally did settle but it was a good hour before he seemed to relax from his alert "down" position.
I felt bad for expecting such good behavior from Morey in such a challenging environment, but he made his trainers proud by settling and behaving like the professional service dog he is, despite being tempted by some of his favorite things. I guess it could have been worse if there had been a swimming pool and/or Morey's grandma had been in the area!
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