One of the things we pride ourselves on at the National Home is the ability to offer our resident families educational and enrichment opportunities during their time here. Recently, we were pleased to host Mike Morgan, owner and lead trainer at Mid-Michigan Police K9 as a guest speaker. Mike educated staff and residents on dog and human interaction.

A veteran who served in the United States Army for 24 years, Mike retired honorably and went on to continue serving his fellow man as a police officer. During his years in law enforcement, he began working as a Police Canine Handler working with both a dual purpose narcotics and single purpose explosive canine. Mike left the police force to start up his company and is an accomplished trainer in his field, training canines and handlers across the world. During his presentation, Mike broke down the differences between working dogs, service dogs, and therapy dogs, going into detail on the kind of training that each type of dog goes through to become certified. He talked with the kids on how they should approach dogs that they may see out in the world. He taught them to first ask, “Is your dog working?” and if they are not to say “Is he/she friendly? Can I pet him/her?” He demonstrated how to approach a dog and talked about how our body language affects the interaction.

Mike also went into what to do if you are having an interaction with an unfriendly dog if you’re being chased as you run or ride a bike. In the scenario where you are being chased while on a jog, “Stop running.” He advised. “Square off, plant yourself, and say ‘NO!’, aggressively.”

In the event that you realize you are being chased while riding a bike, he said to get off of the bike and keep it between you and the dog at all times. Shout for help. Mike wrapped up this educational and informative presentation by giving suggestions and feedback to the audience on how to improve their relationships with their own dogs.

Thank you, Mike, for giving your time and expertise to the families of the National Home!