Two Minutes of Fame

The Daily Texan, UT's student newspaper, recently did a project featuring some of the students and staff from the Services for Students with Disabilities office (where I work). Morey and I are featured in one of the interviews which you can check out in video #7 here: http://www.dailytexanonline.com/disabilities . Although I was the one being interviewed, Morey still managed to get some camera time. Good thing I like him so much or I might be jealous that I always have to share the spotlight!

Birthday Celebration

My internship placement holds monthly birthday celebrations and with 3 birthdays in April there was a lot to celebrate! In honor of the celebration Morey was once again forced to wear a birthday hat. Despite all the compliments he received he still wasn't very excited about it (as you might be able to tell from the picture!).

 

When one of the staff members saw Morey she wanted to take his picture and asked "Can you get Morey to sit?" As soon as she asked it she laughed and said "What am I saying, of course you can get Morey to sit!" She was impressed that he looked right at the camera and I had to admit that he gets a lot of practice!

 

Too Much Fun

Last weekend Morey and I went to a rugby gathering at "Stevie's house". When we showed up I found out that one of my other teammates had brought his new dog, a husky named Whiskey. Morey and Whiskey's first introduction happened in a hallway with Morey on leash and let's just say it wasn't an ideal situation. Once the dogs were both outside, however, they greeted each other quite nicely and then basically ignored each other for the rest of the afternoon. Whiskey just didn't seem to appreciate the enthusiasm and antics of the labs!

I can't say that was the case with Stevie. She and Morey were happy to see each other and Stevie pretty much followed him around the whole time we were there. The only place she didn't follow him was into the pool. Morey seemed to have a goal of emptying the pool by jumping in, swimming around and then getting out and shaking off a large amount of water. Stevie wanted to follow Morey into the pool but the first step was too deep and when she tried to walk in she ended up face first in the water. While Morey was swimming in the pool Stevie would stand on the edge and bark. She accidentally fell in a few times and seemed to enjoy it while she was in the water. Once she gets a little bigger hopefully she'll be able figure out the stairs!

Pool Party!

Wet, dirty and happy!

 Morey and Stevie alternated some indoor play time with the outdoor pool time. I have to admit Morey might have hogged the toys because he didn't realize the difference in size and strength between him and Stevie.

 

After a few hours all the dogs were worn out enough that I could manage to get them to hold still long enough to get a "group picture".

The Aftermath

 

 

Morey pretty much conked out once we got home after his 4 hours of fun. I could barely get him off the couch to let him out one last time before bed. The following day Morey was still "hung over" from all his fun. He moved slower than I've ever seen him and it was like we had time traveled into the future and Morey was suddenly 15 years old. Thankfully it was nothing that a full day and night of sleep couldn't fix!

Happy Easter!

Growing up in a family with 4 girls, Easter always involved pretty dresses and sometimes Easter hats. When I had Jessie, my first service dog, this tradition was extended to her and she would wear a bonnet to church on Easter (even though that was more than 5 years ago there is still a woman at my home church who talks about how cute Jessie looked in her Easter bonnet).

I didn't think it was appropriate to dress Morey in a bonnet so this Easter he wore his collar and bowtie to church. He hasn't worn it since the wedding we went to almost two years ago and I figured Easter was a good occasion for him to be a little more formal.

Why miss a chance for a photo op when we're both dressed up?

Naturally, we got lots of requests for pictures of Morey. Kathy is our choir director and she has become a very dear friend to Morey and me. In this picture he was getting ready to lick her face!.

 

Our church has an Easter Egg hunt for the kids between worship services. I figured that event would be a good time to break out the bunny ears! Morey doesn't even seem to notice his collar/tie but the bunny ears are not his favorite. He was a good sport about it though and appreciate the extra attention it got him!

 

After church we were invited to Easter dinner by a family from church. Morey and I had been to their house before to introduce him to their dogs (Lucy and Morey had gotten along well, but the older dog, Princess, did not approve of Morey being in her house). Morey remembered their house and was very excited when he went in. They had put their dogs away since there would be so many extra people in the house and Morey could hear them barking. He was slightly confused when I put down his blanket and told him "bed". He clearly thought he was going to get to play and didn't understand why he was being put in "time out". Poor Morey!!

 

When we got back home we opened the Easter package that had been sent by "grandma". There were Easter treats for me, but there was also a treat bag filled with Easter eggs for Morey. He liked the new bunny toy he got but was even more interested in the contents of the eggs. Since it was Easter I let him try one of each of the treats which he thoroughly enjoyed.

 

And with that, Morey thought the day ended much better than it began!

Business Trip in Wildcat Country

I recently had the opportunity to go to a conference held at the Univ. of Arizona in Tuscon. The conference was the Food Allergy Research and Education's College Summit and it brought together ~80 people from colleges and universities all over the country to discuss and develop best practices for working with students with food allergies.

 

Because of my work schedule, I had to take a later flight than most of the other attendees. They had all walked from the hotel to the university together for the evening session but I knew I would have to find the way on my own. It wasn't too far and I had a map so I wasn't worried about it. However, U. of A. happened to be hosting a "Spring Fling" carnival that had closed the route I was supposed to take to get to the conference location. I tried to take a detour but finally ended up asking several students for directions. After an unanticipated tour of the campus, we finally arrived at our location.

Most of the route had been downhill, which worked well for me, but Morey had gotten quite a brisk walk. I had mistakenly left his bowl back at the hotel and realized I was going to have to find a way to give him water because he was panting pretty hard. We were having dinner as part of the evening session and I asked one of the wait staff if they had a bowl they could use to bring Morey some water.

 

They were quite accommodating and promptly served Morey a fresh bowl of water. It was probably one of the most fancy bowls Morey has ever had! Unfortunately they put it down right as they were trying to quiet everyone down to start the presentation and in a quiet room Morey's drinking has never sounded so loud! Because I had arrived late a lot of people hadn't seen me enter with Morey and several heads turned to see who was making such loud drinking noises. The man sitting next to me smiled and said "Just don't pick up your water glass now or they will think that is you!" Good advice! After what seemed like a very long time, Morey finally finished his drink. I promised myself I would be more diligent about having a water bowl with me at all times.

 

We spent a lot of time at the conference sitting at large round tables that had tablecloths on them. Several times people on the other side of the table hadn't even noticed Morey and got a bit of a surprise when his tail (or occasionally tongue) brushed up against them. It was dark under the table and must have made a good nap location because several times Morey started barking and whining in his sleep during the presentations. I felt bad about disturbing his dreams but he didn't seem to have any problem going right back to sleep again!

 

The hotel was .8 miles from the location of the conference. They had a shuttle running back and forth in the morning and evenings but it wasn't accessible. The conference organizer had asked if I wanted transportation but I told her I would be fine. After long days of sitting it was nice to get some exercise and the weather was perfect. There were other people who also wanted to walk back and so I had a chance to get to know some of the other attendees during our travels. Because of the slope and quality of the sidewalks I appreciated having both my FreeWheel and Morey to assist me.

 

Because the conference schedule was so packed we didn't have a chance to fit in much fun or exploring the area, although we did make use of several nice grassy areas for ball playing purposes. Morey was a little concerned because there were a lot of signs around referring to "Wildcats" but I assured him that we weren't likely to meet any of the feline type of cats while we were there!

Family Fun Day

The folks I work with at my internship periodically host "Family Fun Days" on the weekends. It's a chance to hang out and socialize with each other as well as family members. Since I am new, I hadn't had a chance to meet the families of the people I have been working with and it was fun to do so in a relaxed environment.

The event was held at a neighborhood park. Even though it was held it April it was actually pretty chilly that day. The adults were bundled up but the dogs and kids didn't seem to notice! Morey and I were among the first to arrive and Morey immediately struck up a friendship with Will, the three year old of one of my co-workers.

I had brought the "flinger"', a magical invention that allow you to throw a ball much farther than you can using your own arm power.


Will was fascinated by the flinger but he couldn't quite "fling" it correctly. Morey was very patient as Will repeatedly "threw" the ball less than a foot away. After Morey fetched it Will wanted Morey to drop the ball so he could pick it up and throw it again and so I told Morey to "drop". Will then started trying to give Morey the command but just kept pointing at the ground instead of using any command. When his mom asked him "What do you tell him?", he replied "Please"! Holding back my laughter, I told him that Morey knows the word "drop" so then Will began telling Morey "Please drop, please drop". Unfortunately Morey did not respond to Will's very polite request and so I quietly told Morey to drop so he seemed to be following Will's command.

After the fetching fun wore off, I told Will that Morey could play hide and seek. While I covered Morey's eyes I gave Will the ball to go hide. He did a good job of hiding it but then wanted to show Morey where it was instead of letting him find it. Morey didn't care and they were both enjoying it so they turned it into a game of "hide and show" instead.

The park had a large grassy field and at one point Will and Morey set off running out in the field while those of us with less of a sense of adventure stayed in the picnic area. As we watched, all of a sudden Morey and Will both stopped. Morey flopped down and instantly I knew what had happened- they had found water. Will stomped around for a few minutes before running back (unfortunately leaving the flinger behind). Morey, however, continued to flop around in the standing water. He did come running back when I called him but by then he was covered with dirty water and was quite happy with himself. There was no way I could get out to where the flinger had been left and it was too far to send Morey to retrieve it, so Will's mom had to brave the squishy ground to rescue the flinger

More people had arrived during this time and they were warned not to let Morey get too close given the current state of his fur. All my co-workers were used to seeing Morey in work mode and this gave them a look into his life as a regular dog- wet, dirty and very happy! He was able to entice most of them to throw the ball for him at one point or another and once he realized how far some of the adults could throw he wasn't very interested in playing with Will's attempts anymore. One of my non-athletically inclined co-workers became an instant fan of the flinger because it dramatically increased her throwing ability. Her husband had an impressive arm even without the flinger and Morey got lots of exercise chasing all those balls.

Once Morey discovered the standing water, he made several more trips back to the low lying areas to splash around, often making a detour on his way back from fetching the ball. When another co-worker arrived with her two dogs, Morey's day was complete. He had dogs, water, balls and people to play with him all in one location. He was pretty much in constant motion for the entire time we were there. At one point I had to put him in a down stay because I could tell he was tired yet he wouldn't stop running. Once he had stopped panting so hard I released him and he went right back at it.

I was glad I keep towels in the car so when the event was over I could dry Morey off at least a bit before having him jump in the car (my backseat is always covered in a sheet and towel anyway but I wanted to get off as much water/dirt as I could). He was completely worn out from all the exercise and excitement and spent the rest of the day doing some serious sleeping, probably dreaming about the next time we have a Family Fun Day!

Morey's Social Life

Morey used to have several canine friends in Austin but sadly they have all moved away. One of my rugby teammates and his fiancée just got a new lab puppy and so I was eager to introduce Morey to a new potential friend. "Stevie" is a yellow lab and when we went over to meet her she had been with my friends for only a few days.



Stevie

 Morey hadn't been around a tiny puppy for a while and I wondered how he would react. I was not expecting him to bark and cry because he couldn't figure out how to play with this tiny dog, but that is exactly what happened. When Stevie came over and jumped up on him Morey backed up and barked, just not sure what to do. It took a few minutes but he finally settled down and soon they were playing nicely with each other. I wish I would have been able to take a video instead of pictures because it was hard to capture them while they were in constant motion!

 

We let them outside to play and Stevie followed Morey around wherever he went. Thankfully though she didn't follow him when he decided to jump in the pool and then run back inside to shake off. That escapade earned Morey more outside time while he dried off.

 

Both of the dogs were worn out before the evening was over. Between Stevie and the pool, Morey hopes he gets invited over again soon!

Spectator Sports

Morey prefers participating in sports rather than watching them. However, there are a few sports that do engage his attention as a spectator.

Swimming is one of Morey's favorite activities and I feel slightly cruel when I go swimming and leave him in a down stay at the edge of the pool. He usually watches me closely but has never tried to join me. I wouldn't usually put him in that type of situation but when I go swimming at the gym on campus after work there isn't really another place to leave him. So poor Morey must endure watching me engage in his favorite thing.

I recently discovered another sport that Morey enjoys watching: racquetball. I was watching my friends play and Morey quickly became fixated on the small ball that was ricocheting around the room. I think he would probably be scared if he was actually in the room and had the ball flying all around him but from our vantage point he was definitely interested!

Crowd Stopper

One thing you have to get used to when you work with a service dog is that random strangers will come up and start conversations with you about your dog. Usually it starts with the same basic three or four questions; 1) what kind of dog do you have, 2) is your dog a boy or a girl, 3) what is his/her name, 4) how old is your dog. I don't typically mind engaging with people and providing some service dog education but there are also times when I get really tired of answering the same questions over and over. Sometimes I will leave Morey at home or in the car just because I don't want to deal with the extra attention I know I get when he is with me. For the most part though, I enjoy the compliments and opportunity to brag on my boy.

Lately I had two conversations with strangers that were a little different than usual. One happened while I was shopping at Kohls. Because the rows of clothes are so narrow there it is a difficult place for me to navigate on my own, let alone with Morey. As I was roaming through a row of clothing I heard a woman say "excuse me, excuse me" and I figured that Morey or I were in her way so I moved forward a bit, made sure Morey moved and kept on browsing. The woman continued to say "excuse me, excuse me" so I looked up and realized that she was wanting to talk to me.

Turns out her daughter has a newly acquired disability and she seemed desperate for ways to help her daughter stay active and independent more easily. She first asked if Morey helped pull me and I explained and demonstrated how he does assist with pulling my chair. She wanted to go where I got Morey and so I explained I "imported" him from Indiana and then gave her information for Service Dogs, Inc., the service dog training center near Austin. She then wanted to know about my type of wheelchair since it looked so light weight and so I discussed some of the wheelchair options as well as devices to assist manual wheelchair users, like power assist wheels and the smart drive.

It was sad to me that she was having to get this information from a complete stranger. I am sure her daughter had gone through a lot of rehab yet this mom didn't seem aware of some basic options and information about supports for people with a disability. I was glad to help her and hope her daughter can benefit from some of the information I gave her.

The second unusual conversation happened as I was leaving my internship later that same week. I was getting ready to load up in my car and a mom with a young girl came over and asked if I let people pet Morey. I told her that yes, I do let people pet Morey when he is not working. She then explained that her older daughter had been bitten by a big dog over the weekend and she wanted her to pet a nice big dog to help her get over her fear. She said "I know your dog is nice because he is a service dog." I told her I would be happy to let her pet Morey and so the mom rushed off to get her other daughter from the car.

The daughter slowly approached Morey and I encouraged her to scratch Morey's butt. I figured she might be more comfortable touching a part that was far away from his mouth and also know that Morey gets silly when he gets his butt scratched. She lightly patted his butt and Morey got all wiggly with his tail wagging- looking anything but threatening. Her mom kept repeating "see, he's a nice dog, there are a lot of nice big dogs" and after a moment the girl was smiling shyly as Morey turned upside down to give her a better angle to scratch his butt.

The mom thanked me profusely and I told her I was more than happy to help. I'm sure that experience didn't "cure" her daughter of her fear, but hopefully it provided a start for her to rebuild positive experiences with big dogs. Good job Morey!

Super Service Animal

Morey and I have been busy with various events and trainings hosted by my internship. The first event was a 2 day training for AmeriCorps*Texas program staff. Morey and I helped with set up and registration and then got to sit in on the various training sessions. I also got to present a few disability-related sessions. At the end of both days I had participants come over and tell me how much they enjoyed having Morey in the room. Even though none of them had even petted or interacted with him, they said just looking over and seeing him laying on the floor made them smile. Wish I had that kind of effect on people! ; )

Since this year is the 20th anniversary of AmeriCorps, one evening we hosted a 90s-themed social event. We all dressed up in 90s gear, listened to 90s music, played some 90s trivia and reminisced about our favorite 90s memories. Even though Morey wasn't alive in the 90s, he still got into the spirit by wearing a slap bracelet, fishnet gloves (turned leg warmers), a glow necklace and some cool shades.

Morey rockin' his 90s gear
 

Last week we got to attend a OneStar Board meeting. We each had name tents for our place at the table and the Executive Assistant had also made one for Morey! Under our names we each had our title and Morey received a promotion from service dog to "Super Service Animal"!

 

The hotel where the Board meeting was held had an atrium in the lobby with a pool of water and small waterfall. During one of our breaks Morey and I wandered over and were both surprised to find a swan swimming around in the pool! Morey was quite interested in the swan and for a moment it was hard to get his attention. Since the pool was not enclosed Morey and I kept our distance so I wasn't able to get a picture. You'll just have to use your imagination to picture a swan living in a hotel!

Nationals

Rugby Nationals were at Louisville again this year so my mom and sister came down to watch. They brought Jessie so I could enjoy a few more days with her. It also worked out well because they could watch Morey while I was busy with my team instead of having him wait in the gym by himself.

We had a hotel suite so there was plenty of room for both the dogs and people. "Grandma" wanted to enjoy snuggling with the dogs on the couch so she brought a sheet to protect the couch from dog fur.

Enjoying time with my two favorite dogs!

The beds were really high and although Morey didn't have a problem jumping up on them, I figured Jessie wouldn't be able to make it. However, when she realized that Morey was getting my attention, she easily jumped up on the bed and took up residency, not wanting to miss out on her share of snuggling.

Jessie, aka "the Queen"

Morey attended several of our games decked out in his Texas Stampede gear. He even made an appearance on the court during half time and tried to win over one of the refs. Nice try Morey!

Our team ended up 8th in Division 1. There were some unexpected events that took place that contributed to that finish and if you're interested you can find out more from our team website: http://www.fearthesteer.com/.

All the excitement of being at Grandma's house and then coming to Nationals made Morey exhausted! He spent the next few days recovering from his "overdose" of fun!

Fun at Grandma's House

I haven't written recently not because I don't have anything to write about but because I haven't had time to sit and catch up here on all the exciting things that have been happening!

In March Morey and I went home to Indiana for the week before our National rugby tournament. It was nice to have a few days to rest and take a break from our usual hectic schedule. The weather was still pretty cold (at least for me!) so I spent a lot of time inside reading, sleeping, watching movies and generally being lazy. It was great! :) Morey, on the other hand, spent time playing with Jessie, snuggling with Grandma and one of his favorite activity- chewing antlers.

Since he is five years old now, Morey also got to have a spend a special overnight with Grandma because I went down to Nationals a day early. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more- Grandma or Morey!