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Show Wheelchaired canine Utah '$ best Crippling accident doesn't stop gifted doa j y i " j If f v a ill i By JACK FOR1SKA Staff Writer BOUNTIFUL Anyone who has ever heard the old adage, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" and believed it, has never met Mr. Bailey. And anyone who lives by the creed "never say die" might have met Lynn Morrison. On May 25, Mr. Bailey, became the first golden labrador retriever in Utah history to win the AKC "Master Hunter" title. Now this is a pretty amazing feat in itself but now hold on to youi hats Bailey is in a wheelchair, a doggie wheelchair. And if that isn't amazing enough for you, to top it all off, this five-year-old canine phenomenon may have had to overcome, over-come, yes folks, handicapped dog discrimination. Approximately 1 1 months ago, 38-year-old Lynn Morrison, a roofing roof-ing contractor, dog trainer and animal lover extraordinaire, was running his dogs near the Salt Lake Gun Club in North Salt Lake. Suddenly, as they were working the brush, his most promising pupil jumped out onto Redwood Road and before Morrison had time to react, Mr. Bailey was struck by a north bound van. "It wasn't the driver's fault," Morrison said. Even so, any virtues the driver may have exhibited, ended with that statement. state-ment. Morrison knew if he was going to save Mr. Bailey's life he had to move fast, so he tried to get the van driver to help him. "I was kneeling in the road and crying," he said. "Please take me to the hospital," because of the swelling in his head. In order to monitor his condition Morrison slept next to his dog for nearly eight weeks. For the first two weeks he couldn't leave Mr. Bailey's side. His extremities had to be massaged every two hours to prevent atrophy, and he had to be turned every hour and a half to keep fluid from collecting in his collapsed collaps-ed lung. Bailey was being fed intravenously in-travenously and Morrison had to have a babysitter at the house to watch the dog when he couldn't "I couldn't leave his side after he regained consciousness because he would get nervous and panic whenever I wanted to go to the bathroom or just take a rest," he said. "Someone had to be there all the time." Throughout the entire ordeal. Dr. Martin made house calls. Morrison cannot sing his praises loudly enough. When Bailey was well enough, Morrison hung a sling from the tree in his yard and began the animal's physical therapy. "It was kind of amazing when we first stood him up in the swing. Three minutes exhausted him, but it was important that we get him up," he said. Because of nerve damage Bailey's perception of left and right was reversed and Morrison had to literally place one foot in front of the other when he first began to walk him. It was about this time that he really real-ly found out what this amazing dog was all about. "He always liked training, but I didn't plan on putting him back in competition," Mor- Canine wonder, Mr. Bailey, gets set to go after "bird" during demonstration dem-onstration at Jenny P. Stewart Elementary School. Mr. Bailey sur- 4 vived a crippling accident to become state's tirst golden lab to attain at-tain HunterMaster status. (Clipper photos by Jack Foriska) "He's just as equal as these other dogs. Don't tell him he's at a disadvantage. disad-vantage. All this success has not gone to Bailey's head. He and Morrison now spend a good deal of time carrying car-rying a message of hope to children around the county, and the messenger is a hit. His will power and determination is surpassed only by his good nature and gentleness. Watching him is something to see. Bailey visited the Monte Vista and Jenny P. Stewart schools the last two weeks of classes and the children loved him. When commenting on his love for animals, Morrison, who also raises pigs, chickens, pigeons, pheasants and ducks, said, "I guess that's what it is (love), sometimes I almost like dogs more than people." peo-ple." In the light of this kind of devotion devo-tion one dog has flourished in the face of impossible odds. "Please take me to the hospital," The man refused. "The dog's as good as dead, " he said. Morrison would soon find out, that was easier said than done. In retriever trials, dogs seek rubber "birds," by obeying hand signals and whistle commands and doing it quickly and efficiently. Some exercises are visual retrieves, while in others the dog must find hidden "birds" by obeying directional direc-tional whistle signals. Morrison tried to enter Bailey in two trials and was refused access. Both the Northern Utah Retriever Club and The Great Salt Lake Retriever Club told Morrison that, "Bailey didn't look good when he ran," and aesthetics aes-thetics were important in competition. competi-tion. Morrison didn't buy it. According Accor-ding to him, his dog was discriminated against. He said, "The real reason is that these people peo-ple have $50,000 dogs and they didn't want to see them get beat by a cripple. ' Finally, the Wasatch Hunting Retriever Club gave Bailey a chance. In January they watched him drag in the snow. In February he staggered through a com field to qualify. In March he was hopping, in April he was springing and in May he was starting to get a gait. All this time he was competing against able-bodied dogs in adverse conditions adverse for the other dogs and they weren't pulling a wheelchair behind them. Bailey is the only dog to complete every trial in Utah this year. "He's doing work in as little time as some of the fastest dogs there," Morrison said. Three weeks ago Bailey wonhis tenth contest and is now in a class by himself. Morrison now plans to enter three out-of-state matches in order to qualify Bailey, for the Nationals being held in Delaware in October. "There will be no problem qualifying qualify-ing as long as we don't get discriminated against, ' he said. 2 v V ? A S 1 i 1 I J I "V " ""'-- I , V ---"nA The man refused. "The dog's as , good as dead," he said. , , Instead of pleading, Morrison said he stood up and stuck his thumb out. Miraculously the first car that came by carried two women with compassionate hearts. With their help he was able to immobilize Bailey and rush him to the hospital. The driver of the van drove on. Bailey's spinal cord was dislocated but not completely severed. se-vered. Luckily, when they moved him, they did it right. Any mishap could have finished the job and Bailey would have had no hope of ever walking again. At the Bountiful Small Animal Hospital. Dr. John B. Martin didn't give up hope and told Morrison that because the spinal cord was not severed se-vered there was a chance Mr. Bailey might walk again. It was here, however, that the going got tough. Mr. Bailey lapsed into a coma rison said. (Competition? Most people I know would have had him put to sleep after the first night of around-the-clock massage.) ' ' I used to walk him like a wheelbarrow. One day I had him out and he saw the river. He almost dragged me into it. When we got to the edge his tail started wagging. (The tail that wasn't supposed to wag due to paralysis.) That's when I decided this dog needs to get back out and do what he loves." Morrison then designed and built Bailey's wheelchair, a device that supports his rear with a cross bar and sling that is connected to two wheels.. This structure is then harnessed to Bailey's shoulders and enables him to walk. After this contraption con-traption was perfected, Bailey began his comeback. Prior to his accident, Bailey was 9-0 in field competition. It takes ten to be a master. Now the trick was to get him back into the race and, as Mr. Bailey is a hit with kids. Here he plays tug of war with Shandalee Maddock as Mathew Bouche looks on. Mr. Bailey brings message of hope and determination to Davis County youngsters. -i . . - f ' At v I- ' V, ftp "-t.--iv itti Lynn Morrison tells Jenny P. Stewart third graders Bailey's story. "By the time he was nine weeks old, he could retrieve a pigeon," he said. i i |