Morey's Mazda Part 2

As you can see, I had the seat directly behind the driver's seat removed so I can pull my wheelchair in to that space without needing to take it apart. That was my goal for my new vehicle and the Mazda5 was the only vehicle that made that possible (other vans are too high off the ground).

Morey has basically the same riding arrangement as he did in my last van. He gets the entire back seat. He jumped right in and settled in nicely for his first ride. However, on our way home I made a beginner's mistake. The set up of the van was practically the same as my old van and I assumed that Morey would figure out that he was going to sit on the back seat that was carefully covered with a sheet. So I opened the door and said "jump". [An important note here is that it actually rained in Austin and so Morey was a bit wet and muddy.]

Instead of jumping on the back seat that was protected by the towel and sheet, he jumped on the brand new tan middle seat. As soon as I saw where his momentum was going I shouted "NO!" (more at my stupidity than at Morey), but it was too late. Morey, muddy paws and all, was sitting on the middle seat looking confused and scared. I gave him the off command and tried to redirect him to the back seat.

I immediately realized my mistake and took full responsibility for that mix-up. Morey wasn't sure where I was wanting him to "jump" so he found the first seat available (unfortunately the one that was not protected from his muddy paws). I didn't want Morey to associate the new vehicle with a screaming Emily so I "jollied" him up with a happy voice and then got in the Mazda and sat blocking the middle seat. I then had Morey jump in and out of the back seat, getting him used to the fact that the back seat was where he was going to sit. After several repetitions he was eagerly waiting for the jump command and was consistently going straight to the back seat.

So my van is officially broken in with a few muddy paw prints and the seat is now covered with a towel to protect against future incidents. And I had a valuable reminder that I can't just expect Morey to be able to know what I want him to do, I need take time to set him up for success by providing continuing education in new situations instead of expecting him to figure it out on his own. Hopefully I will be reminded of that each time I see the muddy paw prints on the seat!

Morey's Mazda Part 1

I finally finished the last thing on my summer "to do" list: buy a new vehicle. My trusty reliable red van reached 181k + miles and after an expensive repair in April I knew it was time to start the search for something new. Because I travel with a lot of gear (Morey and various wheelchairs) it was important to find something that had plenty of storage space while still having options for transporting people.

After several months of looking and trying, I settled on a Mazda5, which is basically a mini minivan. It seats 6 and has sliding doors on the sides. The back 2 seats fold down to the floor if you want more storage space. I brought my new vehicle home on Friday and so far have been enjoying the feel of a vehicle that is smaller and easier to handle. Zoom zoom! : )

Creepy Crickets

My brave service dog can handle almost anything. He rides planes and buses, sleeps at the side of the rugby court, works amongs crowds, and walks over strange surfaces. But I guess we all have something we are afraid of and for Morey that seems to be crickets.

The weather in Austin this summer has resulted in a plague of crickets. They are everywhere; inside and outside. It's impossible to avoid them and after a while you just get used to seeing them in buildings, sidewalks, and all over the place.

I didn't notice Morey's aversion to crickets until one day at the gym. Morey was laying under the bleachers in his usual spot and I was warming up a few feet away. All of a sudden I noticed him crawling and scooting out from under the bleachers. I looked at him with surprise and he looked back in fear. I went over for a closer look to see what had rattled my usually calm and mellow Morey. All I saw was a cricket, so I told Morey to go back under the bleachers. He got up and slowly went back under, obviously reluctantly and still fearful. I waited and watched him for a moment, still trying to figure out what was wrong. Then the cricket started moving toward him. I have never seen Morey try to flatten himself against the wall like that but he wanted to stay as far away as possible from the cricket.

With this suspicion beginning to form, I released Morey to see what he would do. Immediately he bolted out from the bleachers and came to stand by me. He wagged his tail at me as if to say "thanks for getting me away from that thing!". I had to start my work out, so I positioned Morey away from the cricket and he went back to his usual good self.

Since that time I have noticed that he will purposely walk around crickets on the floor and avoid them any way possible. I'm not sure if it's their sound or their smell, but Morey has made it very clear that he wants to keep his distance from crickets!

Sticky Service Dog

I had a new experience the other day with Morey that took me by surprise. We were going in to work as usual when I looked down and saw Morey limping and biting at something on his paw. I had him stop and sit and then asked him to "shake" so I could look at what was bothering him. He willingly put his paw in my hand and immediately I figured out what was wrong. Morey had stepped in a piece of gooey green melted gum or candy and it had stuck to his paw pad and the surrounding fur. When he gave me his paw I got "gooped" as well.

I tried to pick off as much as I could before we went inside and headed straight to the bathroom to clean the rest up. I managed to get most of it off my hand, but Morey's paw was a different story. I couldn't wipe it off and since I was working at an odd angle it was difficult for me to pick it out of his fur. Finally I managed to get most of it off so at least it wasn't bothering him anymore. Throughout the rest of the day it seemed to wear off, although he did smell like green apple the rest of the day!

I have rolled through candy/gum before and that's a mess trying to get it out of my tire treads, but I have never had to pick it off Morey's paws before. Just another day in the life of a service dog partner...

Lounging

I always make Morey wait to be invited to get up on my bed and he is usually pretty good about respecting that rule (the only exceptions are when I leave him alone or when I stay up too late and he goes to bed without me). I was reminded about the benefit of this when we went up to visit Sabaa in her room on the 45th floor. Morey saw the king size bed and immediately wanted up on it. He "asks" for permission by laying his head on the bed and looking at you.

 I am not sure if the picture captures it very well, but it is quite difficult to refuse. But Sabaa didn't give in and eventually Morey gave up. Instead, she let him up on the chair in her room.He seemed to enjoy having the paw rest.

 And then, because he is just too cute, Morey got to model Sabaa's hat. And I have to say, he looks quite dapper! What a life Morey leads!

Wet and Wild in NOLA

One afternoon when we had some free time, we wandered out to a park area near the water. The motivation was finding grass! : ) On the way we found a statue of dog that appeared to be made out of balloons. There were several of these scattered throughout the area.

 It had rained off and on throughout the days we were in New Orleans. When we finally had a break in the action at the conference and in the rain, I took Morey for some ball time.

After removing his leash and vest I threw the ball and let him run. His first leap into the grass ended with a splash with dirty wet water flying everywhere. I guess I have lived in Texas too long and forgot that it gets wet and muddy after it rains! It was too late at that point- Morey was already covered in mud-so we kept playing until he was tired. I think that was his favorite thing he did in New Orleans.

This is part of the end result after his play time. When we got back to the hotel I hurried him up to our room, hoping no one would notice how filthy he was. I ushered him straight into the shower for another bath!

Bourbon Street and Bath Time

One evening we went out for an evening of enjoyment in the Big Easy ("we" being me, Morey, and my co-worker Sabaa who is also one of Morey's favorite friends). NOLA is not the most accessible city for several reasons; for me one of the biggest challenges was the condition of the roads and sidewalks. Whether it was due to water damage from flooding after Hurricane Katrina or to lack of upkeep, there were huge chunks missing from the sidewalks and uneven patches that made it seem like an obstacle course.I had to pay strict attention to where I was going or risk taking a tumble. Luckily we weren't in too much of a hurry so I could stop and take it all in.

As a service dog partner, there are times when you know you are about to put your dog in a situation you wish you could avoid. That was the case when we went out to Bourbon Street and beyond. I knew it would be dirty, loud, and crowded, and I wished I could have left Morey behind. I probably could have left him in the hotel room, but I was hesitant to leave him on his own. So, off we went for a night of adventuring!

As we wandered down Bourbon St., Morey got several compliments from passersby. He even got serenaded with a drunken rendition of "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog". When we stopped for dinner, Morey curled up and seemed to fall asleep. I knew better: in stressful situations Morey "shuts down" and tries to block out his environment. Once again, I felt guilty for bringing him someplace I knew would be stressful for him.

After dinner we went to the Preservation Hall to enjoy some jazz music. Although the inside of the Hall wasn't accessible, I could sit right outside the door and have an upfront view of the band. Where I was sitting the only place for Morey was directly behind me. There was a suspicious puddle of liquid on the floor and I just sighed as Morey laid down in it, resigning myself to the fact that a bath was going to be necessary when we returned to the hotel. Morey  tried to lick himself off, which I discouraged since I wasn't exactly sure what the liquid was (and wasn't sure I wanted to know).

After the craziness of the street, Morey seemed to enjoy the jazz music, especially the high notes of the saxaphone. When the performance was over, I gave Morey a few dollars to go tip the band, since I couldn't get up to where they were sitting. That earned him more than his fair share of attention and hopefully made up for some of the unpleasantness he had endured earlier in the evening.

A benefit of having a Deaf roommate was that I could bathe Morey at 11pm when we returned to the hotel without worrying about waking her up! Thankfully the accessible shower with a hand-held sprayer made it easy to shampoo Morey and wash him off. I had considered making him sleep on the floor and waiting until the morning to bathe him, but then decided it would be mean to kick him off the bed for the night just because I had made him come with me to dirty places. So, nice and clean, we both slept well after an evening of adventures in the Big Easy (more pictures to come from that night soon).