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September 14, 2009

Morgan  

Mother  blonde Saluki- Father  pointer/husky/Alaska village dog.

Morgan was conceived by a breeder in Colorado in the attempt to create a fast, sturdy, sprint sled dog. As you can see he is not sturdy and he is not a team player. What he is, is a riot and a half.

Morgan lived the first 3 years of his life in open runs with 30 other sprint sled dogs of mostly pointer breeding with husky mixed in. These dogs are intended to run for about 25 miles at about 20 -25 miles an hour. 25 miles an hour is  a break neck speed when your on a sled behind 12 dogs on snow and ice. But Morgan did not fit into this happy pack.

I first met Morgan in February 2008. Iron Dog was just getting started, the Iditarod would begin in 2 weeks and it was a crisp -31 degrees. I had never felt cold like that. I spent the morning helping Iron Dog vendors set up on Big Lake watching the sun rise at 9 am over the frozen lake. Orange sun glowed through the low hanging Diesel fumes. Dressed in layers of insulation, a snow suit, and Sorrels my feet still ached from the cold when I left to go to HJ Pointers sled dog kennel. By the time I arrived at 11 a.m. the temperature was up to -10 and almost felt warm in comparison.

I was greeted by 15 wild eyed sled dogs and instantly realized my tan parka was a bad choice. The kennel uses wood ashes spread on the paths and kennel areas to toughen the dogs’ feet. I was covered with dirty paw prints. All the dogs were incredibly friendly jumping on me, licking my face with a few giving me playful shots in the back. Morgan hung back staring at me from 20 yards away and pacing. His piercing blue eyes locked on mine. I walked towards him and he hid behind the kennel owners holding his stare. It was impossible to talk over the attention grabbing pack so we took Morgan inside to discuss his situation.

Inside Morgan lounged easily as cats walked over him. His gaze was remained on me. Morgan had never fit into the team. The rambunctious racers overpowered him in the yard and he gave up pulling after a few miles. These dogs must want to run to work on a sled dog team. A forced dog never works for a racing team, can cause injuries by not keeping up, and may even be attacked by the other team members for not working. On top of that Morgan’s build and coat did not make him a good match for extreme cold. His Saluki metabolism required a lot of food to keep any weight on him. The kennel owners simply wanted to find him a good pet home. That seemed simple. What we didn’t consider was rehoming a dog with who only knew pack living. I put his pictures up on the www.alaskadognews.com  website.

I thought about Morgan once in a while for the next few months and in July a woman called excited about getting Morgan. I connected the kennel and the woman who took Morgan home a few days later. They were in love. Morgan is a sweet people dog. He bonds very quickly. I did a follow up story about the successful rehoming and felt very good about a success story. Four months later the new owner sent me an e-mail recounting all the problems she had been having with Morgan and that she had to find him another home. As I looked down the list it was all so clear why a rehoming of this type of dog in a ill-prepared home would not work. There had been no desensitizing or transition from his former life to apartment confinement, from free running to total leash control or from homemade kennel food to store bought dog food. He had chewed his way out of a wire crate, destroyed her apartment and her roommate was intolerant of Morgan locking the him up when she was home. Without much conversation I told the new owner to bring Morgan to our home.     

Morgan showed up dressed in a lime green scarf and red plaid dog jacket. The visit lasted three hours as Morgan met our three dogs one at a time. The introductions went well as we all devoured a block of Tillamook mild cheddar cheese. The owner and I talked as Morgan settled into a spot on the couch staring at us steadily. More traumas unfolded as she described his destruction in the home and in her car, fear of men, refusal to eat and constant anxiety.  Morgan began his life with us that day.

Over the last year Morgan has changed dramatically. He was neutered though he was one of the most unobtrusive males I have ever seen. For about four months he was invisible in the pack. Crate training went horribly. I had never seen a dog so frantic in a crate. I was afraid to leave him alone so he went everywhere with me. Looking back I was probably exacerbating his anxiety with my own. During a trip to the veterinarian we discussed his problems. The vet insisted I put more weight on him, worm him monthly and would not consider medicating him. We left with the monthly wormer and still no answer to getting him acclimated to the outside world. A consult with another Saluki owner allayed my worries about his weight. He was slightly thin but nothing to worry about and she did not recommend a monthly wormer. He was normally shy as a Saluki would be, and that only time and consistency would fix his anxieties.

Morgan needed to run and when he does he reaches awe inspiring speed. We reinforced his recall first with a long line then with the electric collar and a long line.  His speed is so great I used a skijor bungee to soften the snap when he reached the end of the rope.  He began to take a stand to the other dogs and used all the puppy yard moves that he had learned growing up with sprint dogs. At long last, in March I tested his recall off the long line for the first time. Because we are so close to state highway I took him our back road and let him run dragging the long line. He was flawless turning back instantly when I called him. After a week I took off the long line and felt reasonably confident that we had him conditioned. If I needed the collar it was there and the vibrate mode was all he needed. The test came when Molly the chocolate Lab and Morgan ran up the road and found something to eat, possible moose nuggets but probably some food thrown from a car or a dead animal. Both had an e-collar on. Both ignored my call “Here” and hit the collar at a level 3, with no response, I turned it up full and hit it again “Here!” Morgan jumped and ran back instantly panting and smelling of moose droppings. Molly followed reacting to Morgan’s collar too.  With few exceptions Morgan responds exceptionally well with and with out the e-collar.

Crating has been a different story. I was at my whit’s end last winter and gave up. He traveled with me loose in the car many times. I have not tried to crate him all summer using the outdoor kennels and always kenneling him with another dog. It seems Morgan has become more comfortable in the crate. At a dog fair I had both Daisy the Great Dane/Greyhound mix and Morgan. I took them out to visit separately since I had my Nikon to take photos for the newsletter. Morgan got back in his crate without a problem but with in 30 seconds was screaming and pawing at the crate door. Surrounded by 30 “positive only”  dog trainers I’d better handle this correctly. I waited until he stopped and went back to the crate. I left again to only return when he stopped. On the fourth attempt to leave I popped the top of the crate with my hand and said “quiet”.  It was! He was not anxious any more, the spoiled prince was insisting.  I had both dogs out several times during the day and had to reinforce “Quiet” a couple more times.   

Morgan’s confidence has grown. He is in the foreground of the pack regularly. He is generally accepting to people and not afraid of new surroundings. Crate training and obedience training are back on the agenda. The break though I saw in the create this past weekend has given me confidence that we can move forward, have more fun with Morgan and get over my own anxiousness. That is probably the biggest problem we have.