Morey and Jessie hanging out in my van...once again having to share the space!

Bed Buddies

Jessie sharing (somewhat reluctantly) her bed with Morey

Hoosier Pals

While Morey was home in Indiana, he met lots of new friends, both human and canine. Jessie, my retired service dog, and Buddy, my mom’s shih-tzu were his primary companions since they are full-time residents at the Shryock household. Neither one of them was exactly thrilled about playing with Morey, althoug they graciously accepted his presence and the attention that was lavished upon him. While we were home, Morey met several guests who were visiting at the Shryock house at the same time we were. One dog, who became Morey’s wrestling partner, was Yuma, a golden retreiver who is retired from breeding (many of her pups have gone on to become service animals). Morey and Yuma had similar ways of playing involving lots of body contact, growling, and snarling. All completely harmless but sounding quite ferocious.

Another one of Morey’s new pals was Declan, a black lab service dog who is the second ICAN dog I ever trained. His family was going on vacation, so Declan came back for a visit. Although they were only together for 24 hours before Morey and I made our way back to Texas, they made the most of it. Their play consisted mostly of bouncing up and down, and tugging on toys.

After Morey’s experiences in Indiana, he has a much more appropriate way to greet new dogs. Now, instead of being defensive when he meets a new dog, he perks up in excitement, wondering if this is going to be a new play partner. It has taken six months of hard work, classical conditioning, and positive experiences to change Morey’s thinking and reaction to strange dogs, but the results are definitely worth it!

Graduation

Because I got Morey in December, he never went through an official ICAN graduation ceremony. We were invited to participate in the ICAN graduation following team training, but unfortunately, I was not able to partipate because I was in Alabama for wheelchair rugby training camp. However, Morey’s grandma was happy to accompany him to his graduation and act as my stand-in. I have asked “grandma” to write a guest blog post account about graduation because since I wasn’t there, I can’t really write about it. Apparently it all went well and Morey and I were given our official ID card. Stay tuned for more details about graduation at a later date.

Canine on the Canal

When I went to school in Indianapolis, I lived a few minutes away from downtown Indy. One of the things I enjoyed the most was the easy access I had to the canal and trail alongside of it. Approximately two miles in length, I would often go there for a push in my rugby chair, or to walk with whichever dog I had at the time. It was also a favorite spot to meet friends and there was one particular group of girls that I would always go strolling with-usually at least once a week during the nice weather. While I was back, we managed to get the whole group back for a reunion of sorts. I have been going through some medical stuff and didn’t have the energy to push the whole way up and back. So, I decided to see if Morey remembered the pulling lesson we had worked on when we moved to Texas.

I had started to teach him to pull my wheelchair, but we hadn’t worked on it too much. It’s a skill that I don’t often need, but that is useful to have my dogs know how to do. (It tends to make me lazy and spoiled if I have them do it too often!) The pulling harness I have is lined with fur, designed in Michigan, and it’s not really appropriate for summer weather, which is why Morey hadn’t gotten much practice recently. Without too much expectation, I put it on him and told him to “go”, the cue I use when I want him to pull. I really should stop being surprised at how amazing my dog is, because once again, Morey rose to the occasion and acted like the experienced service dog that he is. Morey pulled me around the entire canal that night, past the distractions of quacking ducks and various pet dogs we met along the way. He seemed to enjoy his work although by the end of the evening I could tell he was tired.

Morey allowed me to have an excellent evening hanging out with my friends in the same way we always used to. Without his help we would have had to cut our evening short, or I would have had to ask my friends to push me. (And for those of you who know me well, you realize that would have been the ultimate torture ; ) Most of the time for me, having a service dog is a convenience, allowing me to save time and energy, instead of having to struggle to do things on my own. But there are times when having Morey around can make the difference between independence and success, or having my disability limit my choices and activities.

Back to Prison

Team Training is the time where new ICAN clients learn to work with their assistance dogs. For about ten days, clients go into the prisons and learn from the offenders how to work with their new canine partners. I have been a part of many of ICAN’s team trainings, as a volunteer, employee, and client. I was fortunate that ICAN was holding team training while I was in Indiana, so I could visit the prison and meet ICAN’s newest graduating class. And of course, have Morey return to the place he was trained and see his old friends. As soon as we arrived on the prison grounds, Morey knew where he was. When I asked him to push the button to open the automatic door to the administration building he started whining and quivering. As we got closer to the gym where the training was being held, and where Morey had spent many hours during his own training, he got more and more excited. When he saw his handler he had to use every amount of effort he had to sit until I released him. Once I did he ran over and started jumping around her. With a smile she asked me what I had done with the well-trained service dog she had given me in December.

Although Morey and I were there to visit, we were also there to help the new clients learn to work with their dogs. It was Morey’s job to act as a “strange dog” so the clients could introduce their dogs to a dog they had never met before. The only problem was that Morey has met these dogs before, as they were his training pals before he moved to Texas with me (most of the graduating dogs are actually Morey’s half brothers or sisters on his dad’s side). He behaved very professionally as the clients walked their dogs by, first for a “leave it”, and then for a short introduction.

Almost everyone who had known Morey before moving to Texas commented on how dark he has gotten. Because I see him everyday, I guess that’s something I don’t notice.They also commented on how connected Morey seemed to me. When I handed over his leash to someone else, he willingly worked for them but always seemed to be keeping an eye on where I was. I think he might have been a little afraid that he would be left behind. It’s always fun to visit the ICAN folks and good to have the chance to meet the new ICAN clients. I think Morey and I both enjoyed our day back in prison.

Clumsy Morey

Morey is a tall, long dog and he doesn’t seem to know where his body is; he frequently bumps his head or his butt on tables and doorway and sometimes even falls off the bed. The other day Morey demonstrated that he doesn’t always have the best body awareness in a new way….

I was out for a walk with a friend at Butler University and we had stopped to throw the ball for Morey to chase. There was a fountain nearby, and we sat there while we played ball with Morey. It was a hot day and after chasing the ball a few times, Morey came back to us, panting. He circled the fountain a few times and I could tell he was trying to figure out how he could get to the water that was spraying up in the air and then landing in the pool below. I had him jump up on the edge of the fountain and figured he could lean down to get a drink. The base of the fountain was shaped like an octogon, and where the corners came together, there was a nice place for him to brace himself, lean down, and get a drink. However, as he leaned down, it threw him off balance and the upper half of his body fell in the fountain. He scrambled backwards, shook his head, and sneezed. Instead of getting a mouthful of water, I think he got a noseful! But at least he wasn’t hot anymore! He tried again, this time instead of trying from a bow position, he tried to lay down and stretch his neck out as far as he could. This seemed a little more managable, and he got his drink, although I could tell it was much more work than he had origanally anticipated. Silly Morey!