Morgan

Morgan (Raven)

I got Morgan as a three-month old puppy, one week before 9/11, and I was grateful to have an energetic puppy at that time. She was not the first dog I had lived with, but she was my first dog. We went to puppy school, then obedience training, and tried agility. She was wicked smart, and I had to be careful of the words I used, because she learned associations and behaviors quickly. She sure kept me on my toes! I tried to hunt with her, but I did not grow up hunting and it did not stick, plus it was pretty clear to me that what she really wanted to do was RUN. We made frequent trips to the wonderful dog parks in the Twin Cities metro, especially Battle Creek, Arlington-Arkwright, the Airport park, and the Mississippi River. Whenever possible, we’d go farther afield to National Forests, which I consider to be gigantic dog parks. She was a joy to go hiking with. Her pattern was to run down the trail ahead of me, then pop into the woods to the side and make her way behind me, then pop out onto the trail and run past me again. She was very good at checking in to see where I was, but I learned early on that if I were going to change direction, especially at a trail junction, that I needed to let her know about the change. All I had to do was show her the new direction by turning my body or gesturing with my arm, and she would turn as well. I never consciously taught her any of this; it came naturally to her.

She also taught herself (and me) how to ask to go out. At her first Christmas I hung a big sleigh bell on the back door as a decoration, and one day she stood at the back door, waiting to go out, and hit the bell with her nose as I walked up to the door. I immediately recognized what a great idea that was and reinforced the behavior (“Good girl! Go outside!) and one time was all it took. Since then she hit the bell to ask to go out. If you heard the bell ring at 3AM, you knew it was serious!

We had a funny game we played at home in my very small house: hide and seek! Or rather, hide and chase. I would duck down behind the kitchen cabinet and peek out at her in the hall, whereupon she would entice me to come out and chase, getting closer to me all the time. I’d jump out and chase her down the hall into the living room, then turn and run back to the kitchen as she chased me. Back and forth we’d go, hiding, finding, chasing; it was a great way to warm up in the winter!

Morgan had a unique behavior that I never managed to video. She would lie in the grass on her side and “run”. She would dig her toes into the ground and propel herself forward, and often into a circle, since she arched her back. It was the funniest looking thing! She clearly loved the full-body scrubbing she got. In the winter she would sometimes do this in the snow.

She had the funniest vocalizations, too. She wasn’t a very vocal dog, generally speaking. She’d “whuff” in alarm when she heard noises outside, and bark when someone came onto the front porch, or worse, into the back yard. These were normal dog sounds. If there was a stranger in a nearby yard, she would break out her growly-growl. It sounded (and looked) like she was chewing on a growl! “Gggrrrowl-rowl-rowl-rowl-rowl” Her greeting when a family member came home was a funny twitter (during which she HAD to be carrying some soft toy). If she hadn’t seen you in a long time, the twittering was more intense. It sounded like she was crying with joy!

She was smart, loyal, focused, sweet, funny, protective of me, and I loved her more intensely than I even knew. She is definitely missed.