Living in the Live Music Capital of the World, Morey has been exposed to a fair amount of live music during our time together. He doesn't seem particularly impressed by live music although occasionally a high note will catch his attention. For the most part, he settles under the table or lays down beside me and seems to tune it out just like everything else.
However, as I have discovered, there are two instruments that do capture Morey's attention. One instrument is the bagpipes which I believe I have touched upon in other posts. The other, newly discovered, instrument that intrigues Morey is the kazoo. In the past week Morey got to listen to both musical experiences.
Morey gets to hear the bagpipes at least once a year at the UT Remembers ceremony, which honors UT students, faculty and staff who have passed away during the last year. I always have a few students I come to remember and this year a dear colleague who managed our building also passed away. Because I know bagpipes are part of the ceremony I try to sit strategically to put as much distance as possible between us and the bagpipes. Despite my best efforts this year, I totally failed.
The ceremony was indoors this year because of rainy weather. They had set chairs up in two columns with a center aisle. I knew enough to sit on the outside of the rows because I knew the bagpipes would be processing up the center aisle. What I didn't know was which side they would return down on their way back so I just had to guess and pick a side. Well, I picked wrong. We sat on the left side and after the UT Police Department Honor Guard processed up the center aisle they processed back down the left side- right next to where we were sitting. As if that wasn't bad enough, they then sat directly behind us so the whole ceremony Morey kept looking behind him with his ears back- obviously wanting to keep an eye on the place where that strange sound was coming from.
At the end of the ceremony they processed again to close the ceremony and although Morey knew what to expect this time he was no less alert. He was paying such close attention and I saw several of the folks in the procession (including President Powers) smile as they went by us. I was very proud of Morey's good behavior despite being in a less than ideal location and being in very close proximity to the distinct sound of the bagpipes.
Morey's second musical experience of the week happened at church. The kids were performing a musical "Oh Jonah" (side note: I was actually in the same musical as a kid) and at one point they pulled out kazoos and started playing them during a song. Morey had been sleeping like he usually does during church but when he heard the kazoos he woke right up and perked up his ears. My friends sitting next to me were amused because Morey is usually not reactive to anything that is going on but the kazoos sure got his attention! Apparently he was never socialized to kazoos during training!
Even though Morey has been working with me for four years we still occasionally run into new experiences that take us both by surprise; Morey because it is a new experience and me because I am used to him taking everything in stride. At times like that I have to revert back to training mode and remember that as perfect as Morey is, he is still a dog that gets surprised or scared of things. There aren't many things that fall into this category but now I know bagpipes and kazoos are on the list!
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