Birthday Party!

December 29th is a very special day for both of my dogs. It is Jessie's birthday and this year she turned nine. I've known her since she was 4 months old and it is amazing how our lives have intertwined since that first meeting. She was the first ICAN dog I furloughed and sometimes I still marvel at the fact that after a failed first placement she ended back up with me.

December 29th, 2010 is the day I brought Morey home as my service dog. I had originally said "no" to having Morey as my service dog (you'll have to go back to the start of this blog to read about that story) and when I was given a second chance I eagerly said "yes!"

It is fun that I am always home on the 29th to celebrate this special day. Buddy, my mom's rescued Shih Tzu comes as an honorary guest. All of the dogs are quite willing to wear birthday hats as long as they are well compensated with tasty treats!

 

The birthday treat this year was peanut butter cupcakes (for dogs). All of the party guests were very patient to wait to try the cupcake until we had sung "happy birthday".

 

Given how Morey stole Jessie's Christmas present, he had to go in the other room while Jessie chose her birthday present. We put 5 toys in a row and then let her choose one. It was funny to watch her "try out" two of them by picking them up and squeaking them once, but once she saw this duck she pounced on it and ignored the rest of them.

Jessie and her birthday duck

      December 29th is a pretty fun day for people and dogs at our house!


Rain, Mud and Ice

Unfortunately we didn't get to experience any snow while we were home for Christmas. When we arrived there was horrible flooding that had closed some of the roads near our house and had created a "lake" in our front yard. I think Morey liked this new addition to Grandma's house and he splashed around the edges when he went out, turning from a yellow dog into a yellow dog with brown feet and brown spots. Morey's frolicking earned him a foot bath after he came inside but it didn't deter him from his antics.

Mud on the feet and grass stuck under his nails-looks like Morey is in need of a paw-dicure!

It turned cold soon after the rain arrived and the lake turned into an ice skating rink. Instead of splashing, Morey enjoyed stepping on and playing in the ice. He doesn't seem to mind the cold weather and neither does Grandma so it works out perfectly. They play outside together while I watch from inside. That's how I do winter these days!

Christmas!

At our house, each of our dogs has their own stocking and they get to look inside and pull out the surprises. Morey likes this tradition and it's so cute to watch him pull his presents out.

Is that for me?



This is kind of hard to get out



Jessie was quite interested in Morey's poultry flavored toothpaste!

Jessie got a new Nylabone for Christmas. Morey doesn't really chew on bones but when he saw Jessie's new bone he went over and snatched it from her. For the next 20 minutes he lay there chewing on Jessie's bone. Thankfully Jessie is a very gracious girl and she was content to enjoy her toy and special treats that she had also received until Morey got tired of her bone.

I had given Grandma Morey's "wish list" but she felt that giving a dog toothpaste for Christmas was kind of like giving underwear to a kid- practical but not very exciting. In order to make up for that less than exciting gift, she also gave him a squeaky chameleon.

Most of Morey's toys are soft and fluffy. This toy is latex and when you squeeze it its tongue and tail unroll. Morey liked it, but he was also a little scared of it. It was very funny to watch him alternate wanting to play with it to being a little hesitant about it.

There are some things you can't capture with words or pictures, so I am attempting to include video for the first time. Depending on how this works you can look forward to more videos in 2014!

Family and Friends

Morey likes to come to Grandma's not only because of the people, but also because of the dogs. Jessie and Buddy are permanent residents but there are also a lot of other visiting dogs who come and go. Morey is very easy going and so he gets along well with the other "guests".

This visit Morey got to spend a few days with Yuma, a golden retriever who belongs to Jamie Young,  the woman who bred Morey and who has the moms and pups live at her house until they start their service dog training. Yuma is kind of like Morey's aunt since she lived with him during his first few weeks of life. Jamie had a new litter about to be born at her house and so Yuma came to our house to make it a little less hectic during the whelp.

Morey and Yuma

Yuma, Morey, and Jessie snuggling on the bed

It is funny to have Morey, Yuma, and Jessie together because they are all slightly different sizes and colors. They get along really well, as you might be able to tell from this picture! They all share toys, bones, and attention and sometimes they even share the bed with me! :)

We spent a lot of time snuggling and cuddling this Christmas. Whenever I am with Jessie and Morey together I am reminded of how blessed I am to get to share my life with these special dogs!

Junior Aviator

My trip home for Christmas was long and chaotic. I arrived at the airport at 10am for my flight at 11:15. My flight was delayed which allowed me to take Morey out (see Lesson Learned). My flight was delayed again and then cancelled. I was rebooked on a flight leaving at 3 which then ended up being delayed until 5:30. Since we had been at the airport all day, I had to take Morey out again before our flight actually left. That made three trips through security at the Austin airport!

I always pack 2 meals for Morey, just in case of situations like this. I was supposed to land in Indy at 5pm and at that time I hadn't even left Austin! Morey ate a quick dinner in Dallas and then we had fun going from terminal C to terminal D, then back to terminal C after a last second gate change. I was so thankful to finally get on the plane to Indy!

On the flight there was a girl traveling as an unaccompanied minor. She pre-boarded with me and when the flight attendant heard it was her first flight she gave her a Junior Aviator Logbook so she could keep track of all her flights. I made a comment about how that was a fun idea and the flight attendant asked if I would like one for Morey! I laughed and thought it might be a good way to keep track of Morey's travels. At the end of the flight as we were leaving the plane, the flight attendant handed me a Junior Aviator Logbook with the first flight signed by the captain, first officer, and flight attendant. I wonder how long it will take Morey to fill up the whole thing?



Morey's Junior Aviator Logbook

Morey's first flight logged in his Aviator Logbook

 

We landed in Indy around midnight and then waited around for my luggage that never arrived. After waiting in line for it to be tracked and arranged for it to be delivered the next day, Morey and I were both ready to be picked up and taken home. Thankfully the rest of our trip was much more enjoyable!

Lesson Learned

I live about 15 minutes from the airport and so usually before I head out on a trip I have Morey go “hurry” at home, that way when we arrive at the airport we are ready to go right in. When I headed home for Christmas I followed our usual routine, but as we were going through security, Morey started acting strange. He kept staring at me, which usually means he has to go out. When I asked him if he needed to “hurry” he perked his ears up which usually means he has to go. I got through security and found out my flight was delayed. Morey was still giving me “the look” so with a sigh we went out of security and visited the dog park. Morey did have to go and after relieving himself we went back inside and through security again. Nothing like going through security twice in 20 minutes!I think from now on we will visit the dog park before we go through security- just in case!

On our second trip through security we were in line behind a tiny dog wearing a Christmas sweater. It was sitting on top of its soft-sided carrier and being pulled along by its owner.

Festive dog at the airport

Morey was interested in it, but maintained his composure like a professional. There was a woman in the line next to us who was carrying a Yorkie but Morey didn’t seem to notice that dog. As we were waiting for a flight there was another little dog that appeared to be wearing a service dog vest. I keep an eye on Morey’s body language when we are in airports because he often spots dogs before I do and if I notice him getting excited I can redirect him more and make sure we put ourselves in a position to avoid any conflict. I am pretty good about anticipating Morey's reactions and reading his body language but I never know how the other dog is going to respond and so I prefer to keep our distance from other dogs when Morey is working.

Harder than it Seems

One helpful task that Morey does for me is hitting the automatic door buttons. It’s not that I can’t push them but since they often aren’t right by the door it is helpful to have Morey run and push them so I can stay on path to the door. Morey knows when I say “touch” he should look around for a button ( I should use a different word since technically “touch” means to touch what is in front of the dog). Because automatic buttons are all shapes and sizes they can sometimes be hard for Morey to locate. The standard blue squares are pretty simply, but I have also seen silver rectangles, silver circles and small round black buttons. Sometimes Morey needs a hint or a point in the right direction if he doesn’t recognize it right away.

Another challenge is when other “things” are on the wall next to the automatic buttons. At one of the doors at my work building there is a card reader next to the button.

 Morey sometimes gets confused and tries to “touch” the card reader instead. He knows to keep pushing until the door opens and he gets frustrated when the door won’t open. He will keep touching the button over and over with his nose and then sometimes tries to use his paws. It can be difficult to redirect him to the actual button when he gets that focused!

A more disturbing distraction is when the emergency fire alarm buttons are located close to the automatic buttons. The way they are designed I don’t think Morey could trigger the alarm but it always makes me nervous when I send him to touch a button next to a fire alarm.

                     As you can tell, opening doors is a lot more complicated than it first seems!