Longhorn Morey

I finally did it. After 6 months of threatening to buy Morey a pair of longhorns I finally made good on it. While I like to think Morey looks dignified in this picture, I have to admit it might be slightly more accurate to say he was traumatized (not really- he got lots of treats and attention from it-but he really isn't a fan of dressing up).

This picture was taken at work by my co-worker who loves to take pictures of Morey. She sent it to all of our staff and I got comments from almost everyone about how good Morey looks as a longhorn. Hook 'em!

Service Dog... or Slave Dog?

At rugby practice Morey becomes everyone's service dog. With a whole group of quads there is a lot of stuff that ends up on the floor and Morey is very willing to work for anyone who gives him a butt scratch or throws his tennis ball in return.

Today, one of the new players on our team was watching me direct Morey to pick up pieces of trash that were on the floor. Morey was very dedicated in crawling under bleachers to grab empty water bottles and pulling pieces of tape that had gotten stuck to the floor. After a few minutes my teammate commented "I wish I had a slave dog."

I have to admit, I don't think I've ever heard a service dog referred to by that name and it made me laugh. I guess it kind of makes sense; I do "own" Morey and expect him to work for free- in return I provide him with food, shelter, and other necessities. He doesn't really get days off and he has to give up his natural dog instincts and behaviors in order to do what I ask of him. However, I prefer to think of our relationship as a partnership; with each of us providing things we can't get on our own. I don't think the name "slave dog" is going to replace "service dog" anytime soon (I can just imagine a vest that says "Slave dog-please do not pet") , but it certainly gave me a good laugh and made me do a careful evaluation of how I am putting Morey to use!

Rugby Season

Well, it's that time of year again! Rugby season has officially started with our first two practices this weekend. After spending most of my recent training time on the track or in the weight room it was nice to get back out on the court and give-and take- some hits! : ) On Saturday I left Morey at home during practice. I hadn't left him alone for a while and like to do that every so often so he doesn't develop separation anxiety. Everyone on the team was asking where Morey was and so today he got to come.

He was very excited and pranced right in the gym. I brought his tennis ball and he took turns letting people throw it for him. The gym we practice in has 3 courts in a row and so he can get some really good exercise chasing down the ball. The floor is a rubbery surface and when Morey tries to stop he slides a few feet which is very funny to watch.

Once practice started he hung out with our volunteers, being sure to keep his ball right beside him. We were doing drills out on the court and at one point our catch yelled "Everybody go get a ball". Well, that is a phrase Morey knows quite well and he grabbed his ball in his mouth-ready for whatever action was coming next. The rugby players had their balls and Morey had his...what a team player! He was very sad when I told him that he had to lay back down while we did our drills. He kept his ball in his mouth for most of the practice just in case we changed our minds and decided to let him play.

Ants in His Pants (well, kind of!)

I had a "first" experience as a service dog partner the other day. We were out on campus and I stopped to let Morey have a potty and sniff break in a landscaped area covered with some bushy vines. He "hurried" and sniffed and then without warning bolted away from me-with enough force that I was almost yanked out of my wheelchair. Thankfully I was holding the leash loosely, but even still it was the closest I have ever come to being pulled to the ground by a dog. I yelled Morey's name out of surprise, fear, shock, and astonishment at what he had just done. He slunk back to me looking apologetic and then instantly bolted away again, running in circles around me and acting rather insane/demented. I was still confused about what was happening and tried to get him back under control, but he kept twirling and biting himself to the point where I was getting really concerned about what had happened to my dog. Then I saw the ants.

Texas has fire ants that I have heard many people complain about. As a wheelchair user, I am spared this experience for the most part (I suppose ants could crawl up my chair and sting my feet-not that I'd even know-but that's rather unlikely) but other people suffer bites/sting that hurt, sting, and itch...as Morey now knows. I'm not sure if he actually got bitten, but his potty/sniff spot was crawling with ants that I hadn't noticed before. I think poor Morey had ants crawling on him and that's what made him act crazy as he tried to get away from them. Once I realized the problem I took him away from that area and tried to brush off any that I saw. He was kind of antsy (pun intended) the rest of the day.

I learned 3 things from that experience:
1) Never ever wrap the leash around your hand where it won't come off if pulled
2) Look for environmental reasons for a dog's strange behavior
3) Always look for ants before releasing your dog to hurry!

Mistaken Identity

The other day Morey experienced a case of mistaken identity. As we were leaving the office one of the student workers, who has a complexion similar to Sabaa, one of Morey's favorite co-workers, came out of Sabaa's office and walked by us. When Morey first saw her open the door and come out he perked up and got very excited (Sabaa had been out of the office for several days prior to this and so Morey hadn't seen her for a few days). The student worker doesn't really know Morey and so she walked by him without saying anything to him. He watched her walk by with a look of consternation on his face-not understanding why one of his favorite people was ignoring him. I laughed when I realized what he was thinking and took him over to the student worker so he could see it wasn't Sabaa. Once he sniffed her and realized that it wasn't her, his ears went down and he walked away. Just a case of mistaken identity, not his favorite person ignoring him. Whew!

Working Behind the Scenes

The other day I had a very interesting revelation. The entire staff in our office had to go to a division-wide staff meeting across campus. We went over together and Morey was polite enough to push the door button for us (one of his favorite tasks). Once we were outside one of the women who works at our front desk said "Wow, that was really neat. I hear him squeak his toys in your office but I didn't know he could open doors." We continued on to the meeting and rode the campus bus to get there. Morey got on like a pro (the bus driver was scared of dogs which made things a little interesting) and quietly settled down in a small space in front of me. As we were getting off, the same co-worker said "He is really well-behaved."

I realized that most of my co-workers had never really seen Morey work. They don't see him open the doors to the building, retrieve the things that fall under my desk, or, a rare event now that I live in blazing hot Texas, help me take my coat off. These are all things that Morey does to help me at work, but all of it happens out of sight of most of my co-workers. What they do see is Morey playing ball after hours and squeaking his squeaky toy. None of them have ever said anything about it, but I realized that based on what they do see, Morey appears to be just a pet that I bring to work. Now that I am aware of this, I will try to be more cognizant of how Morey's role appears to my office. Not that I feel the need to prove Morey's helpfulness to me, but I think it's an interesting point to think about how much work Morey is doing behind the scenes that never gets seen or recognized by anyone but me.

Show Off

The last office behavior I will mention for now is Morey's attention seeking behavior during meetings in my office. Typically Morey just hangs out under my desk while I am meeting with students or staff and acts like a model service dog. But lately (as the pendulum has swung in the other direction-read my post Confessions of a Service Dog Partner for reference), he has begun to display some attention seeking behaviors that I have quickly responded to.

After a few repeated instances of this, I once again began to realize a habit in the making and have already put steps in place to eliminate it. When I have meetings, usually with people who like Morey and have a history of past affection/petting him, Morey has started to roll around on his back making moaning noises, going to get squeaky toys and make them squeak, and rubbing his face on the floor with his butt in the air. All amusing behaviors, but not in those circumstances. He seems to be wanting us to stop talking with each other and focus on him, the motivation behind most attention seeking behaviors.

This type of behavior has resulted in Morey being ignored or sent to his "bed" aka under my desk. He responds quickly to both and I don't think this will be a long-lived problem. But, it does make me aware of the repercussions of allowing people to give Morey so much attention when he is "on the job". Over the next few weeks I will be making some changes in Morey's office rules to get him focused back on acting like a service dog instead of a circus animal. He excels at both, but since I am currently needing a service dog so we will work on developing those behaviors and eliminating the circus behaviors...at least at work!