Rainy Days

 This August was one of the wettest on record in Austin. It rained 17 out of 18 days and while it was nice to get a break from the heat I was tired of getting soggy every time time I went outside. Luckily the Olympics were taking place so I spent my indoor time watching the various sports!

I accidentally left Morey's swimming pool in the yard and within two days it was entirely filled with water from all the rain! It was quite a chore to bail out all the water!

Usually this time of year everything is dead and brown from the heat so it was nice to have everything green and refreshed by the rain. Plus we got to see some beautiful sunsets as the sun slipped below the clouds.

Homemade Jump at the Home Depot

Morey is enjoying his agility classes so much that I wanted to build some equipment for us to train at home. I figured a good place to start would be Home Depot to buy some PVC pipe and connections to build a jump. I was picking out pieces I thought I needed when a very helpful employee named Sandra came over and asked if I needed help. She pointed out a different piece that would make the jump more stable and then she offered to cut the PVC pipes to the size I needed. I wanted to test out my idea to see if it would work so I was grateful for her help so I could test it out in the store rather than going home and realizing I needed to do something different.

Sandra was excited about the jumps and wanted to test them out to see how Morey liked them. I was a little concerned about having him jump on the slippery floor but had him try it a few times.

We are looking forward to practicing agility at home and perhaps building more equipment thanks to our Home Depot friends!

Adapting To Age

Morey will be eight years old in October, a reality I don't like to think about. I still consider him my "new" dog and can hardly believe we've been together five and a half years. We've had so many amazing experiences together and hopefully we have many more years to enjoy together!

While Morey still acts like a youngster, there are a few signs that he is growing older. As his human partner, I need to be paying attention to these signs and making adjustments so he can stay happy and healthy as long as possible. Morey used to want to play ball forever, but he is now content with chasing it three or four times and then he just wants to lay down and hold onto the ball. I am certainly happy to let him set his limits and respect his energy levels.

Morey sleeps on my bed and a few weeks ago I noticed he was having trouble jumping from the hardwood floor to my bed. His feet were scrambling on his takeoff and I think it scared him. Normally he is eager to jump on my bed whenever I tell him he can, but it got to the point where he would hesitate before jumping and I could tell he was really struggling with it. Since his "takeoff" seemed to be the problem I bought a rug to put on the floor in front of my bed that would provide him with a more solid jumping off point. Thankfully that seemed to do the trick by providing him a better launch pad to jump on my bed. Now Morey is happily jumping on my bed again. :)

I will continue to adapt and adjust to keeping Morey working and living as happily as possibly for as long as possible!

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

Even though it is the summer Morey and I still have to go to work at UT. The pace is much slower than during the academic year which is a nice change from the usual busyness of our office. But for Morey, not a lot changes in his workday routine.

He eats breakfast in the office when we arrive and then takes his morning nap. He'll often come out for a quick hello or some attention if a co-worker stops by my office and then it's back to napping until our afternoon break. If I have a meeting out of the office he'll come with me and finish his nap during the meeting. Poor Morey has such a rough life!

 Morey's favorite napping spot in my office is under my desk. I have a corner desk so there is plenty of room for Morey to stretch out.

 Occasionally Morey has a very active dream that involves toe twitching, lip licking or sometimes even whimpering or barking. My co-workers can sometimes hear him from their offices!

 The other day the fire alarm went off so Morey and I got to hang out in the stairwell (our area of refuge) while everyone else evacuated. We used the opportunity to do some training although Morey was slightly distracted by the continued blaring alarm.

Look at that furrowed brow!

Pay It Forward

One of my rugby friends puts together a fundraiser each year to raise money for wheelchair sports and spinal cord injury research. The Pay It Forward event is a fun way to connect with people in the wheelchair sports community across Texas- including some folks I get to see only once or twice a year.

The event takes place at the AT&T Conference Center on the UT campus so I headed over after work. Since Morey had been with me all day at work we took some time to play ball on the south mall. Usually this space is filled with students but that day we had it to ourselves. It was so hot Morey only wanted to chase the ball a few times but it was nice to spend a few moments reflecting on our almost six years at UT.

There was a photo booth at the event which has become a tradition for me and Morey. Usually it's hard to get him to look at the camera because he has no idea why he should look directly ahead but luckily I had brought his tennis ball with me from his earlier play so I had the photographer hold the ball right next to the camera. That's the secret to Morey's handsome and super alert photo!

Dog Days of Summer

Ever since we got back from our Indiana trip it's been hot. Not just kind of hot but super miserably hot. It's really too hot to be outside for more than a few minutes at a time and Morey and I have both struggled with being inside so much since we both enjoy being outdoors.

(Btw, if you are curious about what the Dog Days of Summer really are you can find out here:
http://farmersalmanac.com/weather/2015/06/29/why-are-they-called-dog-days-of-summer/)

The only way to survive being outside is to be in the water. Morey has fully embraced this idea and will spend as much time in his pool as he can. He doesn't necessarily splash around that much- he is content just to lay and soak in the water. I wish his pool was big enough for two!







So how do we keep ourselves busy while we are hiding out in the AC? We have been watching a lot of Olympics but we've also found some fun ways to stay entertained! Don't worry- plenty of treats were involved! : )

 Maybe Morey is trying to be an announcer for the Olympics?

 It's so hot I think snowmen are on both of our minds! Here is Morey practicing with his snowman nose!

Watching all the gymnastics at the Olympics has Morey focused on his balancing skills. Turns out he is pretty good at balancing beef jerky sticks on his nose!