The Pet Expo was held at the Palmer Event Center. As we approached the entrance and Morey saw all the dogs he started to get very excited. I knew there would be even more dogs inside so I sat outside for a while to let him adjust and calm down a bit. A group of people sitting outside with their dogs laughed at Morey's obvious excitement and they offered to let him meet their dogs. Once Morey has met a few dogs and is reminded that they don't all want to jump and play with him he usually settles down and so I gratefully took them up on their offer. Morey met a very large Tibetan mastiff which looked like a Great Pyrenees, a very calm Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mix, and a small fluffy dog. These introductions did seem to calm Morey down and so we bravely ventured inside.
There were tons of booths, exhibits, dogs, and people in a rather crowded area and I spent the first few minutes with my eyes on Morey, trying to make sure he was behaving himself and looking for any potential triggers. When Morey decides he wants to pull and go somewhere (which doesn't happen often under normal circumstances) I am pretty powerless to stop him and so it is important to be proactive and engaging to keep him focused on me. In this environment, even the tastiest treats don't have as much value as all the stimuli around him so I relied on my voice and my chair to keep Morey's attention. It took about half an hour before Morey settled down to the point where I could actually take my eyes off of Morey long enough to look at what was around me.
There was an agility course in the center of the exhibit booths and you could wait in line to go through the course with your dog and a trainer from one of the dog training companies in Austin. I thought Morey might enjoy agility so we waited in line. We were right behind a bulldog and Morey kept sniffing its face. Maybe he was trying to figure out if it was a dog! When it came time for our turn, Morey got very excited, especially when he figured out there were treats involved! The trainer held his leash and let me call him through each part of the course. I think Morey had done some basic agility work during his training in prison. Agility helps dogs build confidence and exposes them to new sensations so it can be a great thing for service dogs.
Morey seemed like a bit of a show off as he went through the course. He did excellent at the jumps, clumsily weaved through the weave pulls, awkwardly balanced on the teeter-totter, and willingly went up the A-frame (although he scrambled a bit on the way down). It took him a few tries on the tunnel before he realized that I wanted him to come through the tunnel to get to me but once he got it he ran through several times. Compared to a lot of the dogs who were scared and unsure, Morey took on each obstacle like a champ. The trainer was quite impressed and I admitted that his service dog training contributed quite a bit but still felt proud of my Morey!
It was so fun to watch Morey do this event. (Sorry there are no pictures; I was too busy going through the course and Morey was in motion so he would have just turned out as a yellow blur). Morey is really a "trainer's dog"; he loves to learn and is willing to try just about anything. I often feel bad that I don't make it more of a priority to work with him on training games because he enjoys it so much.
After the agility excitement, I met up with a friend and we wandered around for a while longer. At times, Morey would break out in some spontaneous barking and my friend expressed his surprise, as Morey usually acts like such a perfect dog. I was also surprised, but attributed it to the overwhelming excitement of the environment and Morey's enjoyment freedom from acting like a service dog.
I had parked across the street from the Event Center, in the place where I usually take Morey swimming. He was looking so hot after our walk to the car that I decided to let him take a quick dip before going home. Morey found the pond and waded right in, wandering around and cooling off. It looked quite enjoyable and I wished I could join in! When I became too hot, I called him out of the water and we went back to the car.
Here is a tired, wet, and very happy Morey on the trip home!
(He wasn't too happy about the bath that came afterward!)
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