Special Anniversaries

Home for the Holidays

Christmas Traditions

This will be my 5th Christmas with Morey and we now have several holiday traditions.

We have a tiny Christmas tree at our house but at least we have a real fireplace to hang up our stockings (Morey's is the blue one in the middle). Morey always has to don his festive antlers for a Christmas photo.

Thanks to 'Grandma Santa', Morey has quite a collection of seasonal toys. Part of decorating for Christmas includes getting out Morey's winter/Christmas toys. He always likes seeing his 'new' toys.

Another tradition is having his picture taken with Santa. I'm always on the lookout for a photo open with Santa (where I don't have to wait in line with tons of children). This year one of my roommate's friends was Santa at the Home Depot so Morey and I decided to stop by.

Morey knows Tex but he has only ever seen him when he comes over to our house. I wasn't sure if he would recognize him at Home Depot dressed up as Santa. We waited until all the kids had their turns on Santa's lap then Tex called Morey over. I could tell Morey was slightly confused at first but once he got up close he obviously recognized his friend.

With all these traditions Morey and I were all ready for Christmas!

Comforting Canine

My job gets much more stressful as it gets closer to the end of the semester. Working with college students with disabilities means that as stress increases so do symptoms of many different conditions. Stakes are usually higher at the end of the semester and there often isn't time to catch up or make up work. Many students are realizing for the first time that they probably should have sought support or talked to their professors earlier and are now trying to scramble to save their grades.

We end up having lots of tough conversations and teaching some life lessons this time of year. We also get used to tears in our offices and make sure to keep plenty of tissues on hand. It gets draining when students are coming in desperate for help right now and all we can do is give them suggestions for making next semester more successful. That's usually not much comfort to someone who will be dismissed if they fail a class or who came into UT as a straight A honors student and is now making Cs.

Thankfully in the midst of this stress and distress Morey was working his magic and helping us all get through it. One student came into my office and explained she was scared of dogs. I told Morey to stay under my desk and she was fine with having him stay at a distance. A few weeks later she was back in my office and when I reminded her I had a dog she said "I know, I remember because it's the first dog I haven't been afraid of." Good job Morey! During her appointment she even let Morey come out and lay on her feet and when it was time to leave she reached down to pet him and asked his name. Not bad for someone who had been scared just a few weeks ago!

Later that week I had a student who sat down in my office and immediately started crying. Through her tears she said "I'm sorry, it's just really hard to talk about this."  As if on cue, Morey came over and sat next to to her. She started petting him saying "But this makes it a little easier." I agreed that Morey is a good friend and she proceeded to tell me her troubles.

Morey seems to sense who needs a comforting presence and I was grateful for his ability to provide some encouragement and support for those students. We all appreciated having Morey around to provide some canine comfort!

Five Minutes of Fame

Our Communications Department at work wanted to do a story about a program I helped to start a few years ago. While I was doing the interview the staff member said "Will it be ok if I interview Morey while I'm here? We'd like to do a staff profile on him." For a second I wasn't sure how to answer. She knew Morey is a dog so I didn't think she really intended to interview him but the way she asked made it seem like she expected him to tell her his life story. Morey is pretty incredible and he knows a lot of English words but he has yet to speak to anyone.

So, once I finished my interview we switched the focus to Morey. I told her how we met, shared a bit about his hobbies and community service, and explained how important it is for fans and admirers to let Morey to focus on his work instead of complimenting or fawning over him.

You can find his profile story here: http://ddce.utexas.edu/news/2015/12/11/ddce-staff-profile-morey-shryock-service-dog-and-unofficial-mascot-of-the-ssd/

And for those who might be interested in reading my story (where Morey also gets a mention) you can find it here: http://ddce.utexas.edu/news/2015/12/08/a-qa-with-dis-disability-advocate-instructor-emily-shryock/

I am very thankful to work somewhere where Morey and I are both valued and appreciated!

#DogThanking

The Purina National Dog Show on Thanksgiving was encouraging people to post pictures of their dogs with the hashtag #DogThanking. I am certainly thankful for Morey and the many wonderful dogs that have been part of my life!

Morey is thankful for tennis balls and for getting to spend so much time with his grandma!

 Morey is also thankful to get to have so many dogs to visit when we come home. Roscoe enjoys tugging and playing with Morey and the challenge is finding a toy that can hold up to their vigorous tugging!

 Sadly this toy did not survive long because instead of tugging the very durable rope parts they decided to tug on the bear's tender tummy. Sorry, Mr. Bear!

Morey and I have a great life that has a balance of work and play, friends and family. We have plenty of toys, tasty treats and a warm place to sleep. It's a good life and for that we are thankful!

Welcome to a Winter Wonderland!

Morey and I traveled back home to Indiana for Thanksgiving and we were greeted at the Indy airport with snow! Quite a change from the 70 degree weather we had left behind in Austin! I dug my coat, hat and gloves out of my suitcase and braved the cold which Morey didn't seem to mind at all.

Northern Indiana and the Chicago area had gotten 7-12 inches of snow while we had only gotten flurries that didn't really accumulate. My grandpa was singing in a Christmas concert the next day and since the roads were clear by then we decided to make the drive to northern Indiana to attend his concert. An added bonus was that Morey got a chance to play in the snow for the first time in several years!

The drive was beautiful because the snow had fallen and then frozen so everything was white and sparkling. Trees were covered with a layer of snow and it looked like a winter wonderland. I didn't mind experiencing winter that way at all!

Once we arrived I waited in the warm van, while my mom suited up in her snow gear and went out to play with Morey (no wonder she is his favorite grandma!). He loved romping through and eating the snow. He doesn't understand that tennis balls don't bounce in the snow so he played with the Wubba instead.

The concert was in one of the assisted living areas so we made quite a scene when we went in (not sure if it was my wheelchair, Morey, the fact that my sister and I were about 40 years younger than anyone there, or a combination of all the above!). Morey slept right through the concert and then we got to meet a lot of people afterward. People had lots of questions about Morey and he got a lot of compliments.




My mom is currently furloughing a golden retriever named Roscoe who needs some time out of prison and he came along as well. Since Rosco is still in training he isn't quite as settled as Morey but he did very well during the concert. People see Morey and assume that he is just naturally that well behaved- they don't often realize all the effort and hours that have gone into training him to be unnoticeable in public places. Morey is such a pro now that he takes pretty much everything in stride and it was fun to see Roscoe still learning what it takes to be a future service dog.

Nothing like snow and a Christmas concert to kick off our holiday season! It is hard for me to get in the holiday spirit in Texas when the weather is so warm but thanks to the midwest weather now I am all ready!

Metal and Muscle Tournament

Although I miss rugby a lot, Morey doesn't exactly have the same feelings. He likes all my teammates but doesn't miss the noise, chaos and cramped quarters that usually accompanies rugby. I still go to practices on occasion but I usually leave Morey at home to sleep on my bed instead of the hard gym floor.

Houston hosts a big Metal and Muscle tournament each year that includes numerous adapted sports events and clinics. This year they had rugby, basketball and power soccer and clinics for tennis, sitting volleyball, rowing and racing. It is fun to watch all the different sports and try out new ones.

This year I went to watch and since my roommate (usually Morey's dog sitter) was going as well, Morey got to come along for the weekend. Everyone was glad to see him since he has been an honorary member of the team for several years. Morey and I also got to catch up with a lot of the teams who were also competing which was fun because I hadn't seen a lot of them since last year. A lot of people in the rugby world have service dogs and unfortunately a lot of them aren't very well behaved but Morey is very well respected by many of the athletes and team volunteers.

Each team has an equipment area where we store all our equipment and chairs and that is where we spent a lot of time hanging out. At game time however, we bring our extra tires, water, etc. to the court and Morey got to come along for that as well. I brought him a rug to lay on but although he looked like he was sleeping I could tell he was still alert and aware of everything going on around him. When we finally got back to the hotel the first time he jumped straight on the bed and went right to sleep!

Hotels downtown can sometimes be a problem because there isn't always grass available for Morey to "hurry". Thankfully the hotel where we stayed had a nice landscaped area near the entrance that served as a very nice area for Morey to do his business. There was also space inside the convention center for him to play ball and get some exercise. One of activities happening at the tournament was a wheelchair obstacle course set up with different obstacles- such as steps, ramps and different surfaces- to navigate over and around. One evening after all the events were over Morey and I borrowed the course and turned it into an agility course. He had fun running up the ramps and enjoyed jumping on the mattress and stepping through the bungie cords stretched across a wooden frame. I can tell his agility training has given him more confidence in navigating new situations and it was fun to see him figure out how to move through each obstacles. There were also a few little kids playing on it so it turned into an event for dogs, kids and wheelchairs!

I am glad I wasn't the only one who got to try new things at the Metal and Muscle tournament!

Trick or Treat

I always enjoy having trick or treaters at our house because it is really the first time I have lived in a neighborhood where more than 5 kids come by. It's fun to see their costumes and how they take the candy- whether they carefully pick one piece or reach in and grab a handful.

Last year Morey came to the door with me the first few times and then quickly lost interest when no one came in or gave him attention. This year I decked him out with his hat and bandana and he came with me to answer the door. It was fun to see his reaction to the costumes. One kid had a giant horse head on and Morey couldn't figure what it was. He stood in the doorway and stretched out sniffing the person and looking at the head, obviously trying to figure out what he was seeing. Other costumes that interested him were a gorilla and werewolf.

Morey was a good sport to put up with what he thought was a Halloween trick but I gave him plenty of treats in return!

Happy Halloween!

Morey has a tradition of impressive Halloween costumes so this year I felt pressure to maintain the standard we set in prior years. I didn't have any good ideas but thankfully Grandma came through and gave Morey a very impressive cowboy hat. Paired with a black vest, bandana and badge, Morey became the rootin'-est, tootin'-est sheriff around!

At work, one of our staff members was very excited about Morey's costume and when I told him earlier in the week what Morey was going to be he began his own search to be "costume buddies" with Morey. Michael found his own bandana, badge and hat and even wore some spurs to complete the look. Everyone in the office was on their best behavior with these two sheriffs on the job!

Yard Work

 It was beautiful weather while my family was visiting and so in addition to all our fun, they graciously agreed to help with some outdoor chores. Morey agreed to supervise just to make sure we all kept on track!

 One of Morey's outside chores is carrying the hose. We have a very heavy duty hose but that makes it really heavy to drag around the yard. It's especially challenging when you need both of your hands to push your chair so that doesn't leave any hands left for the hose. Thankfully Morey is happy to lend a paw (or really a mouth) to help carry the hose wherever I need it.

Our garden was in full production with tomatoes, jalapenos, okra, green peppers and the last of the zucchini. We also had planted some lettuce and cabbage that will be ready in a few months. Despite all these tasty vegetables, Morey just prefers to nibble on the grass!

Family Weekend at UT

UT hosts a Family Weekend in October every year where students can invite their families to come and participate in a variety of events around campus. It just so happened that my mom and sister were visiting that same weekend and although we didn't participate in any of the formal activities we did spend some time on campus showing off some of our favorite places.

 For my graduation gift my family bought an engraved brick for me that is in front of the building where I work at UT. I get to see it every day as I go to work but it was fun to be able to show them "our brick" in person. What a special way to remember my time at UT as both a student and a staff member!













I had recently purchased a frame for my diploma but hadn't put it up in my office yet. Since hanging pictures is not my best skill I asked my mom and sister to help. Together they did a great job of centering and hanging my diplomas so now my office accurately reflects all my degrees and accomplishments!

 Morey was a little confused about why we were at work. He went under my desk to his usual spot but he could tell that it was not a typical work day. He thinks work would be a lot more fun if Grandma and his aunt came everyday!

I spend a lot of time on campus but most of my time is spent in very functional ways- going to meetings, checking out accessibility problems, etc. It was fun to spend some time showing off campus to my family and taking some pictures of the places and scenes I see every day.












I am grateful for the many opportunities I have had at The University of Texas at Austin! Hook 'em!

Morey's 7th Birthday

It's hard to believe but this year Morey turned seven! I still remember the day he was born; I was playing in a rugby tournament in Indianapolis and kept checking my phone between games to see if his litter was born yet. Of course, I had no idea that one of the puppies from this litter would eventually be mine. I was just excited because Cleo, his mom was a puppy we had raised and Jammer was a dog I had worked with since he was a pup. Morey will always be extra special to me because of the connection I have with his parents.

My mom and sister were visiting for Morey's birthday so we made sure he had a great day. He got to play some ball out in the backyard, open his presents and then end the day with a walk in the park and some birthday cake, complete with 7 cheese candles. Morey rarely gets canned food or people food so he could barely wait for us to finish singing Happy Birthday before he tasted his cake!

 Because Morey's birthday is close to Halloween he had a Halloween-themed party. He enjoyed his new squeaky bat toy but was a little scared of the ghost toy because the ghost pops out of the tower when you squeeze/bit it. Morey would stand at a distance and bark at it before rushing forward and grabbing it. He is a brave boy to try to conquer his fear of scary squeaky toys!!

Instead of a birthday hat Morey got a cowboy hat which became the inspiration for his Halloween costume!

 One of Morey's most unusual presents was a Himalayan Yak Milk bone. The only ingredients are yak milk and salt but Morey thought it was pretty tasty!


I still think of Morey as my "new" service dog so it is hard to believe he is seven. I hope Morey has many more birthdays that we get to spend together!

 Last year right around Morey's birthday we planted a new tree in our backyard. We took pictures with Morey when we first planted the tree so this year we decided to make it a tradition and take a birthday picture with Morey and "his" tree.

Fall Break

Morey and I don't get an official fall break but since my mom and sisters came to visit it sure seemed like one! We had beautiful weather and did lots of outdoor activities that of course were centered around Morey.
I live right down the street from an elementary school which has a large fenced in play area. On nice days I will push with Morey down to the 7-11 and get a frozen slushy and then sit and drink it while he plays ball at the school. My mom and sister like to join us for this adventure and we all had a good time enjoying the day.

 Another favorite activity to do together is taking Morey swimming. There was a quite a crowd on the day we went so there were lots of other dogs to play with. One of them kept taking Morey's ball so he just followed the dog around until he dropped it so Morey could rush in and grab it again. Morey never wants to stop swimming so we had to give him a few breaks to catch his breath.

There was a paralyzed Corgi who went swimming- its owners put on a life jacket and it paddled around with its front feet. On land it has a set of back wheels to get around but in the water it was bobbing and floating around. It was nice to see humans and dogs with disabilities enjoying the day!

Unfortunately for Morey, after swimming comes a bath. He is only allowed in the bathroom when he gets a bath so when I call him he knows what comes next. He will very slow walk into the bathroom and climb into the tub. I am thankful he is so cooperative because there is no way I could bathe him myself if he was resisting.

 The only part of the bath Morey likes is being rubbed with a towel afterward. It must feel like a massage to him! I am very thankful he knows the cue "wiggle", which means to shake his whole body, so he can shake off some of the water while he is still in the tub. Once I let him out of the bathroom he gets the zoomies and runs around the house, shaking and rubbing himself on the carpet. I guess he doesn't like smelling like an apricot! :)

Blessing of the Animals

Every year my church hosts a blessing of the animals but the last few years I had class that night so I wasn't able to attend. This year I made sure to mark my calendar so Morey could go be blessed!

At church Morey is usually working so everyone is used to seeing him on his best behavior. At this event I decided to let him go vest free so he could participate as a regular dog instead of a service dog. He enjoyed meeting the other dogs and people enjoyed being able to interact with him without his usual working rules. Several people commented on how "normal" Morey was- sniffing people, barking at some of the dogs and eating treats when they were offered. People sometimes don't realize that service dogs are still dogs and that they like to engage in regular dog behavior when they aren't working.


I made sure I brought some tasty treats to maintain Morey's attention and focus on me. When he sees other dogs he often thinks he is going to get to play with them and although it was ok for him to sniff and greet the other dogs it wasn't an event where he could run and play.

I am thankful to have a church that recognizes the special role that animals play in our lives. Morey is truly a gift from God and I am thankful for each and every day we get to spend together.!

Friday Fun

At the end of a long, boring week for Morey I decided to take him for a swim. I was very careful not to let him drink the water so we could avoid the GI distress that happened last time! While Morey will go up and interact with new dogs when they come up to the swim area he is mostly interested in playing ball.

As I found out, Morey has acquired the new skill of being able to hold two tennis balls in his mouth at the same time. Morey was swimming to retrieve his own ball when he saw another dog's ball floating in the water and decided to retrieve that one too. The poor other dog then followed Morey back to shore, waiting for a chance to get his ball back. I had to apologize for Morey's behavior but luckily the other dog's humans found it funny and didn't seem to mind.

We only have to stay at the lake for about half an hour before Morey is worn out. Since he never chooses to stop I have to watch him carefully so he won't over exert himself. After getting a bath when we get home Morey is worn out for the rest of the night and into the next day!

Cherish Each Moment

I recently found out via Facebook that one of Morey's siblings, Jasper, passed away. He apparently had cancer and when they went in to do surgery they were not able to save him. It really hit me hard because I could only imagine losing Morey so suddenly. I furloughed Jasper while he was in training and he was a big sweet gentle giant. He was placed as a service dog and had been working right up until his death. Morey will be seven in October and I am hoping we have many more years together but this reminded me to cherish each day with my special boy.

An acquaintance of mine who uses a guide dog recently retired her seven year old lab. She has been posting a lot of pictures about their "lasts"- last walks, last night together, etc. Her dog is going to live with his grandma and will have a great life but the end of a working partnership is tough. I went through that when my first service dog, Jessie, retired. She had a great life living with my mom in her retirement but it was very hard to adjust to life without her by my side each day.

People often ask when working dogs have to retire and it is really unique to each dog and partnership. The dog's health and physical ability to do the job often dictates the age when they retire or at least take on lighter duty. For example, a dog may have to give up pulling a wheelchair because of their health but could continue to retrieve objects since it is less physically demanding. Some people can adjust and have their dog change tasks while others rely heavily on their dog and don't have this option. Some dogs won't accept lighter duty and they aren't happy being left behind so full retirement is the best option.

Losing a working relationship with a service dog, whether through retirement or death, is really hard. It is like losing a part of you, a part that is good and special and completely irreplaceable. I try to cherish each day and each moment with Morey because I know it won't last forever. Even thinking about going through life without him is hard but I try not to let those thoughts ruin the relationship we have now. Sharing your life with a service dog brings joy but also, inevitably, the pain of loss.

 As Morey approaches his 7th birthday I am even more aware that our time together as a working team is limited. Seven isn't old but it isn't the young pup I still consider him to be. While I want to keep working with Morey as long as possible, I also want to respect him and his quality of life. Hard as it is, I pray I will know when it is time to set aside his vest and let him experience life as a retiree.Hopefully that is still at least a few years off but the events of the past month have made me realize how unpredictable life can be and have reminded me to cherish each day we have together.

Football Season!

Even after 5 years in Texas I am still surprised by the level of intensity and importance placed on football in Texas. Football is not really that interesting to me but I do try to pay attention to the Longhorns just so I can be somewhat intelligent when the topic comes up at work. Morey joins in the fan experience by putting on his Longhorns for the first few minutes of the game, although as you can tell he is not the most enthusiastic fan either.

Morey and I help train the Fan Services student staff who work at the UT Athletics events. Morey does his part by demonstrating how a good service dog should behave at such an event- by laying down and taking a nap. He feels that is a much better use of time than watching people play football!

Hogging the Bed

Morey is allowed to sleep on my bed and he is good about waiting for permission before jumping up. Because he likes to go to bed before I do I will usually let him jump up on my bed while I am still getting ready. While Morey takes up 50% of the bed, he likes to take up the middle 50%- leaving me about 25% on either side. I can usually get him to move when I come in to get in bed but if I concede any of my space during the night it is nearly impossible to reclaim it. Many times I wake up to find myself with barely enough room to lay on my side because Morey has taken up the rest of the bed.

I can gauge the temperature in the room by how close Morey wants to be to me. In the summer he likes to have his own space but as the nights start to cool off he inches closer and closer to me. It's amazing how warm he is and in the winter it is nice to have his extra heat. September has been much warmer than usual and we have still been in the upper 90s. I am looking forward to some cooler days and nights, even if it means less bed space for me!

Assistant Gardener

Our summer garden is mostly dead which means it is time to plan our winter garden (broccoli, lettuce and cabbage). That first requires fresh soil and so Morey and I made a trip to Home Depot to buy some dirt. I don't think Morey was very happy to share his seat in my car with garden soil!

Unfortunately Morey can't help move the bags of soil so it was up to me to transport them from my car to the backyard. I consider it part of my work out program because the bags are pretty heavy. Morey's job is to drag the empty bags to the trash and help carry garden tools back and forth. He can also carry the hose which is helpful. It makes Morey so happy to have work to do and he will proudly wag his tail while retrieving items and then go into the "golden wiggle" when he hands it off to you. It is fun to see Morey enjoy doing his job!