Morgan On Assignment©
by Kathy Ringering
My son and his family live three hours away from us. They
have not had a dog in while because the running required
with five kids does not leave much time for a dog. However,
my daughter-in-law recently found herself with a
stalker. My son called one evening concerned about how
afraid his wife was to be at home alone. Plus she would
not let the kids play outside. He asked to borrow a dog.
Hmmmm, which dog to send? Not only are there five rowdy
kids in this family, but also a lot of people including
other children coming and going all the time. I know
from experience that the noise level in their house
probably approaches the sound barrier! And they have a
cat. They needed a super friendly dog that really likes
kids, can tolerate a cat that thinks she is queen of the
universe, guard the family if called upon to do so, AND
appreciate the assignment.
After taking inventory I decided the best candidate to
work in their situation was 8 year-old Morgan, Ch Double
Ring Kastaspell. My son drove to our house to pick her
up, and Morgan went willingly. It took Morgan a few days
to realize it is normal for 9 year-old twin boys to
fight. It is also normal for six year-old girls to
squeal quite loudly. Snooty cats are best ignored!
Morgan readily accepted all of the traffic coming
through their front door. Various friends of the 5 kids
in the house go in and out the doors without waiting for
invitations. Sitters come and go.
Morgan finally determined she needed to lay down some
rules. Only people she met within the first week were
allowed to walk in the front door without knocking. My
daughter-in-law’s parents had not visited the first
week. They tried to walk in the front door when the rest
of the family was at the back of the house. My son said
he heard the front door slam and then heard the
doorbell. Seems that Morgan had intercepted them and
explained the protocol quite clearly. They said she told
them to leave, and they obeyed! It always amazes me how
well this breed can communicate without ever having
uttered a single word! My son let the in-laws in, Morgan
snorted at them and lay down to watch them the rest of
the day.
Since Morgan has been at their house she not only
thwarted the in-laws, but also thwarted a real would be
intruder. Morgan said someone was trying to get in a
window in the middle of the night. Everyone believed
her. The next morning there were footprints found under
the window. Morgan also managed to scare the stalker on
a shopping trip. Julie went to the store to pick up a
gallon of milk and took Morgan with her. The stalker-guy
will typically sneak around the car and wait for her to
come back to the car. When my daughter-in-law came out
of the store she saw the guy skulking about her car and
decided just to wait a bit. The guy made the mistake of
poking his head up and trying to look in a window.
Hehehehe – Morgan was on it! The guy was so startled
that he fell backwards into the adjoining parked car and
took off – once he had his feet under him again. My
daughter-in-law said it took the entire trip home to
calm Morgan. Morgan knew that was a real bad guy.
Morgan has always been an excellent judge of character
and she is more intelligent than some people I know. She
even watches television and understands what she is
watching. I remember a time at a motel during a dog show
weekend watching the Alamo on TV. There was a scene
where the good guy and bad guy faced off. When the bad
guy pulled a knife Morgan came off of the bed growling
at the bad guy on TV. That was the first time we
realized she understands exactly what she sees on TV.
We learned years ago to pay attention on the rare
occasions Morgan did not like someone. So when a friend
of the six year-old came to visit it did not take long
for my son and family to recognize that Morgan did not
trust the girl. Morgan decided the girl could be in the
family room, but was not allowed in the rest of the
house. Morgan lay across various doorways and refused to
budge. All the other friends of the children are allowed
in all parts of the house. Some things started to fall
into place, and they decided to listen to Morgan. That
particular little girl is no longer allowed to come into
the house.
The only rough spots with Morgan have been her
propensity to steal food off of the counter. One day she
stole a corn dog right out of the hands of one of the
twins. However, the boy wasn’t giving his corn dog up.
He went right into Morgan’s mouth after it and later
recited some sort of rule that it had been in her mouth
less than 30 seconds and he ate it anyway! Morgan has
had a greater respect for him since. Morgan wrestles
with the 17 year-old, plays chase games with the two 9
year-olds and 6 year-old, sits quietly for petting for
the 14 year-old. She watches the kids play outside. But
mostly she knows she is there to make my daughter-in-law
feel safe.
We went to visit Morgan and family recently. Morgan was
thrilled to see us, but after the initial greeting she
went to sit by my daughter-in-law and leaned up against
her. It was pretty clear that Morgan wanted to stay, and
she didn’t try to go with us when we left. In fact, it
looked like she was saying thank you to us for giving
her a job to do and she really did appreciate the
assignment.
I’ve always said that the Kuvasz can be the perfect
family dog IF people are willing to invest the time in
them in the first place. They can be very socially
outgoing and friendly. They can be excellent with
children and can appropriately guard when the situation
warrants it. Morgan has a whole new social life from
walks in the neighborhood to outings with the family.
This photo shows a happy Morgan at “Show and Tell” with
a class of 6 year-olds.
No, I do not think Morgan is coming back to our house,
and we miss her. But it is nice to know that she is
close and that people we love are a lot safer with
Morgan there.
—Kathy OO (2008)
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