When it comes to clearing snow, most people wouldn91裸聊视频檛 mind a little help.
But Dean and Grace Edwards of Sunnybrae, near Salmon Arm, probably have the most unusual snow shovelling helper around.
Morgan, their six-year-old Newfoundland dog, loves to help clear snow. Not only can she use a hand 91裸聊视频 or in her case 91裸聊视频 mouth-held shovel, she can also operate the family91裸聊视频檚 mechanical snowblower.
91裸聊视频淭he snow shovel was no problem to teach, because she knows how to take stuff and hold it in her mouth,91裸聊视频 says Dean. 91裸聊视频淏ut the snowblower took about a month. She was happy to jump up there and the noise and vibration didn91裸聊视频檛 bother her a bit, but teaching her to walk on her back legs, that91裸聊视频檚 a difficult thing to learn.91裸聊视频
Morgan is not your average 126-pound pet dog. Training is a hobby for Dean, but Morgan has been his star pupil. Morgan is a grand champion purebred Newfoundland, with titles in numerous doggie disciplines. These include multiple titles including water rescue, obedience, rally obedience and draft dog, which is where dogs pull a cart through a series of obstacle courses.
91裸聊视频淚 knew when she was 10 weeks old, she was special. I had a puppy kindergarten course in a book and she was picking up every thing and doing it perfectly in two or three tries. She is my fifth Newf 91裸聊视频 the other ones were also trained91裸聊视频 but Morgan just had that special something.91裸聊视频
In a world where titles are added to a dog91裸聊视频檚 registered name, Morgan has more letters than the alphabet.
Her registered name is: VNCh CKC/NDSS UNX, GCh Nautica91裸聊视频檚 Not a Secret Anymore, CD, WRD, DDX, TDD, ThDn, CGC, Can. CDX, DDX, BDD1, BDDX2, WRDX, RA, CGN, ThD. In addition, Morgan, who is also fondly known as Miss Goo, for her typical Newfoundland propensity for drooling, is a registered St. John91裸聊视频檚 Therapy Dog, who visits seniors in retirement homes.
Morgan has a typical mellow Newf temperament. The dogs were bred to be excellent companions, especially with children, and also for water rescue, at which Morgan excels. She has passed all water tests except the hardest level, which she will attempt this summer. These tests involve towing boats and swimmers in trouble to safety. Her biggest challenge is to swim under an inflatable boat and rescue a person pretending to be a drowning swimmer.
This easy-going temperament is not always ideally suited to obedience work, but the combination of praise and cookie rewards has helped Morgan learn a huge repertoire of skills and tricks.
91裸聊视频淪he would never have learned if it was a negative experience for her, the old-style of pull and jerk, but when you break out the cookies, she is really happy to work and you can really tell she likes to learn new things,91裸聊视频 says Dean. 91裸聊视频淎nd I love teaching her stupid tricks, she really enjoys the attention she gets.91裸聊视频
In addition to her work helping with snow shovelling, Morgan also helps around the house. She can fetch Dean91裸聊视频檚 beer from the fridge and get a bag of pretzels from the cupboard, not to mention closing the doors afterwards. She also puts things in the garbage and will push a vacuum around the house, although vacuuming is her least favourite chore, jokes Dean.
And was it a dumb move to teach Morgan, who loves to eat, to open the fridge or the kitchen cupboards?
91裸聊视频淪he never goes in there when she91裸聊视频檚 not told,91裸聊视频 says Grace. 91裸聊视频淚 think she knows if she does it when she91裸聊视频檚 asked, she gets a cookie. If she91裸聊视频檚 not asked to do it, she won91裸聊视频檛 get any reward, so it91裸聊视频檚 not worth her time. She knows it91裸聊视频檚 food she91裸聊视频檚 getting out of the fridge, but I don91裸聊视频檛 think she91裸聊视频檚 ever realized that she could just eat it herself.91裸聊视频
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