So it's been a busy couple of months since the last update. My whole life consists of the hospital, studying and, of course, taking care of Murphy. And when his birthday came rolling around, of course we took time to celebrate!

I'd bought Murphy this new bed in June, as an early birthday gift. It's this special dog bed that is actually 2 separate pieces - an outer ring with a base and a pillow that sits wedged under the ring. They come in all sorts of fabrics, you can check out the variety they offer at Dogbedsetc.com. I went for this light brown as it should go with most decors, and won't show all his shedding too much. Murphy liked the one at the store quite a bit, jumping right in and snuggling in.

But he refused to sleep in it once we got it home! I put it in all the places he likes to snooze - in the kitchen by the sliding glass door, in the family room, on my couch and even on my bed. He still had no interest in it. Note in the picture above the new couch. Murphy is no moron. When we get a new dog bed at the same time we get a new couch (and chair, which isn't pictured here) Murphy knows which one is the more luxurious. So I turned to bribery. I started hiding treats in the bed, and then encouraging him in. And now, a couple weeks after the inception of this program, he's started to get in and lie down on his own.

On to the big day itself, Murphy's 3rd birthday, July 22.

This year I got Murphy's cake from Big Dog Little Dog Bakery. Below you'll see what the cake looked like when I brought it home. Note that it even had cookies around the rim of the cake! Very cute little cake, peanut butter and honey, for $15.

Those are Jason's fingers you see at the right edge of the photo. He was helpfully holding the cake up so I could get a better shot. As mentioned above, Murphy is no fool. He calculated that this angle brought the cake a little closer to the edge of the counter, and went for it:

And here we have the result, a giant icing smudge across the bottom of the cake. Notice that Murphy has absolutely no shame (That ought to be the title of this web page, I just realized: "Murphy has no Shame"), he jumped right back up to get another shot at the cake.

But what difference does a little smudge make to a dog? He enjoyed the cake none the less, as did the Sheltie who lives next door. Murphy got one other piece the next day, and the rest of the cake went to our municipal animal shelter. The people there seemed a little confused when I called to ask them if they'd be interested in 2/3 of a dog's birthday cake. The woman on the phone asked me if it was a "human cake" and was only temporarily relieved when I assured her it came from a dog bakery. Then she debated whether this cake would be healthy for the dogs! These dogs have no one, are living at a shelter, and the staff is concerned that a slice of dog cake might be bad for them! I found that strangely endearing. But they ended up taking it, much to Murphy's displeasure. He wasn't too happy when he saw the remains of his cake going out the door.

On to what Murphy received for his birthday. As discussed above I got him a new bed. I also gave him a duck stuffed toy. I'd actually forgotten about the duck and didn't give it to him until almost midnight on his birthday. I came downstairs with it and presented it to a sleepy Murphy, who got right up and softly grasped it between his teeth, waggling very slowly. The picture to your right was taken the next day, showing a much more alert Murph. See the tuft of hair on the duck's head? It's been nearly a month and it's still there! Now there's a sign (and one of the only signs) that Murphy is in fact maturing!

As I already mentioned Jason came by for Murphy's birthday. In fact, we celebrated a day early so Jason could be there, as who am I to deny Murphy his favourite person in the entire world, on his birthday? Jason came bearing gifts, mostly due to my very subtle "So what are you getting Murphy for his birthday?" hints.

 

Jason brought Murphy a couple of doggy bagels and a bag full of peanut butter stars. Not only are the stars delicious, but, as we discovered later that day, they float wonderfully. Perfect for tempting Murphy further out into the water when swimming.

My parents wrapped their gift in this adorable doggy bag:

 

Inside was this cool little picture frame in the shape of a dog collar:

My dad also hunted down a cute card meant for a little kid who's turning 3, which featured little dogs on it, one of whom was wearing a little star that said "Wow! I'm 3!". Then when you opened up the card there was the same star, ready to be cut out and worn. So of course I had to cut it out and pin it to Murphy's collar:

 

After cake and presents Jason and I took Murphy out to the park for a walk and a swim. I kept his little star on, and added the curly ribbons from one of his gifts around his neck. Surprisingly the decorations lasted through the entire hour long walk and swim. And he got some birthday wishes too!

Above we have one of the first spots where you can duck down into the river from the entrance to the park. We've had one of the driest summers on record, so the river is very low. Plus people have created little pools and channels with rocks, so there are lots of little quiet areas to lounge in, which is what Murphy prefers to do in the river.

Above we have Murphy wading in his little swimming hole. Note the still dry star. Below we have Murphy romping in one of the deeper areas of the river, near North Vancouver's Main Street. There were a few other dogs down there that day, enthusiastically retrieving sticks from the river, while Murphy observed and waded.

So that's it for Murphy's birthday! On to some more general adventures. First we have Murphy on the deck. Below is Murphy posed in front of some of my mother's flowers. She's gone garden crazy this year, so Murphy is having a great time sniffing out each and every new plant that she brings in. I caught him mid yawn here.

Next we have Murphy supervising one of the neighbourhood kids playing in the field behind our house. Murphy insists on barking at every even barely noisy kid who plays within ear shot of our house. But note how his tail is to the side and blurred - he wags while "protecting" us.

And here's a guest to our website - Nitro the neighbours' cat. Remember the pictures from a previous update that showed Murphy guarding his "kingdom" from our second floor den? This is who he's usually guarding against. Nitro likes to hide in the irises in our backyard, and Murphy can't stand this.

At the end of July Murphy and I went to a fund raising Dog Spa held by the Pacific Animal Foundation, a rescue organization.

Above is the little fair they had, with some vendors, info about their organization and the spa. They had professional groomers doing ear cleaning, nail trimming and bathing. Below we have Murphy getting his bath. Murph got quite the reaction from onlookers when I said "Murphy, into the tub" and he got right into the pool himself and lay down. And the only problem they had with him was trying to keep him from getting them all wet with kisses while they shampooed him.

And now, or course, we have our requisite Jason pictures. Murphy is quite sure that Jason is the father figure he's always longed for, and is more dedicated to him (read: obsessed) than ever before. First, we have a picture of the two of them during a hike we took through Lynn Headwaters Park. Jason had never been through here before, so Murphy and I showed him around.

Next, below left, Murphy resting his head on Jason's shoulder. While this shot *was* posed, it was just so we could recreate how Murphy had spontaneously snuggled up to Jason a moment earlier, when my camera wasn't in my hand. Below right was have Murphy returning to his school year role of study monitor. He's lying right on my binder there, which must have been very uncomfortable. Not that he minds.

 

And for our last Jason shots we have the two of them taking a study break. Murphy loves to sleep around anyone's head, so I was glad that he decided to snuggle this way so I could capture on film what I wake up to nearly every morning.

 

Now to close out this update we have a little mischief courtesy of Murphy. I'd gone into the laundry room, which is in our basement, which is also where my father is doing all his renovating. I went in to grab some laundry and Murphy of course followed me in. I called him when I was heading out and heard all this banging. I called again and heard more banging, but still no Murphy. So I went over to where the noise was coming from to find Murphy with this huge chunk of metal hanging off his ear!

 

I hauled him out of the laundry room, and he walked out like there was nothing wrong, nothing strange about having this massive ear ring. He even posed very nonchalantly for these pictures!

Coming soon: Murphy takes to swimming!

Email me!

Meghan

Here's the link to the next update: August 14, 2003
Here's the link to the previous update: June 22, 2003

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