Morey
Morey, My 2nd Service Dog
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Saturday, December 26, 2015
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.
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!
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!
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!
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