Changing the Rules

I think I have created a monster. Well, not really, but I can say that I allowed Morey to develop a new habit that I am not too fond of. Once again, it is completely my fault for not nipping it in the bud the first time it happened. What is the new habit?

My bed is the only furniture Morey is allowed on and it is by invitation only. I usually invite him up when it's time for bed or if I'm having a lazy afternoon or evening and watching a movie or reading in my bed. But, Morey has to wait for an invitation and he has always been good at respecting that rule. Until recently.

One night after a late rugby practice, I got out of the shower to find that Morey had already jumped up on the bed and had gone to sleep. I was faced with a decision. Should I wake him up and make him get off the bed, since I hadn't invited him up, or should I let a sleeping dog lie? I decided to do the latter which opened the door to a whole new setup when it comes to Morey and the bed. Now, he thinks nothing of jumping up on the bed whenever he wants to. In fact, at about 8pm, he will get up from his dog bed in the living room and go jump up on the bed! There are several downsides to this (the reasons I established the "by invitation only" rule in the first place).

I sometimes use my bed as a "dumping ground". Meaning at any given time there may be clothes, books, papers, etc. on my bed that preferably need to avoid being smashed or covered with dog hair. Morey likes to use things for pillows so now anything on the bed is subject to a a nice layer of yellow hair. It hasn't rained for such a long time that I have kind of forgotten what rain+dirt+dog equals. Today I was reminded that it equals a muddy mess. I left Morey at home while I went to rugby practice and in order to protect my bed, I just closed the door to my room.

I take full responsibility for allowing Morey to change the rules. It seemed like such an innocent exception to make one time, but from there it was a slippery slope. I am once again reminded of the need for consistency, consistency, consistency when it comes to dog training.

Bath time!

Last week Morey and I got together with our friends: my human friend and his dog friends, Maggie and Ace. We hadn't gotten together for a while and so we took them swimming in the lake, which they all enjoyed. If you want to see a happy dog, just watch Morey at the lake chasing a tennis ball with his dog pals. I think that is his idea of heaven!

After going back to my friend's house with 3 wet dogs, we decided to give them all baths in her front yard. She washed and I dried and it worked out pretty well. I don't know if Morey had ever gotten a bath outside in a yard and he wasn't quite sure what to do about it. While Maggie and Ace submitted to their fate once they realized what was happening and stood still while they were washed and rinsed, Morey wasn't quite as well-behaved. Because his collar was off, my friend had a hard time holding him still. Several times he broke away and dashed around her yard-soap suds flying everywhere! At one point he came over to me and looked at me as if to say "Can you see what she is doing to me? Are you really going to let this happen?"

Finally he settled down and my friend was able to finish his bath. A bath is the price he has to pay for going swimming but I think it's probably a good trade off for him. The weather is getting colder so I'm not sure how many more times we will be able to go swimming this year. I'm sure he will miss that this winter.

Happy Halloween!

One of the things we brought back from Indiana was Morey's Halloween costume. Morey tried on several (a cow, pumpkin, alien, and devil) but because he likes swimming so much he wanted to be a shark. Well, not sure he really wanted to be one, but if he had to wear a costume, I think that is what he would choose.

Morey wore his costume to work. I had intended to only leave it on while he was greeting people a the start of the day, but he really didn't seem to mind it so I left it on most of the day. It could help that he got tons of attention and had his picture taken by several people.

I'm sure it felt strange when people petted his costume instead of him and each time Morey would rub up against the person, trying to get it off. He also kept turning his head to bite at his fins which was rather humorous to watch. For the most part, he tolerated the whole thing very well.

Our church had a "No Fear" Halloween celebration and Morey and I attended, with Morey in costume of course. He got tons of compliments-naturally! There were other people in costumes as well and it was funny to see Morey's reaction. Some of them were people he knows but he didn't recognize who they were until they spoke. Wigs seemed to throw him off the most. He also approached kids wearing fairy wings cautiously. Sometimes I wonder what Morey thinks of his life. We've been to church many times and the building and people are familiar to him, yet that night everything was completely different. Thankfully Morey has been well-socialized and takes things all in stride.

I posted a picture of Morey in his costume on Facebook and it has 20 "likes" so far. I have to admit that's one reason I haven't broken down and created a Morey fan page on Facebook...I'm afraid that he would end up having more friends than me and that might create some tension between us! It's pretty hard to compete with such a smart and handsome guy!

Worn Out

Morey was tired after a big day of partying and his other new toy worked nicely as a pillow.

Birthday Presents!

Morey had a "woodland/country" themed party. He got to run through piles of leaves, chase corn husks, and trip and fall on walnuts in the yard.

One of his birthday presents was a duck that he likes to retrieve. It brings out his natural duck hunting instincts. ; )

Because Morey spends a lot of time laying on hard floors, Grandma bought Morey a self-inflating bed to take on the go with him. Notice the burnt orange color! It was a challenge to fit the bed into my suitcase for the return trip home, but we made it work. So, now thanks to Grandma, Morey is hanging out in style by the sidelines of the rugby court!

Party Guests

At his party, Morey had several human and canine guests. He was very excited to have a clown (Jessie) show up to provide entertainment.

Morey's Birthday Trip

For Morey's 3rd birthday he got to take a trip back home to Indiana to celebrate with his "grandma" and "aunts". I got to come along as well. The trip started out with someone objecting sitting next to Morey on the plane, saying "It is intolerable to expect me to sit next to a dog." That's the first time that had happened-most people are excited to sit next to Morey. The man was traveling for business and I guess I can understand not wanting to show up to a meeting with your dress pants covered in dog hair...although for me that's a common occurrence! Thankfully a dog lover offered to switch places and so the rest of our trip continued uneventfully.