Well, believe it or not I've been so busy with building a new web page for my father, that Murphy's page has been put on hold. But I have 2 new rolls of photos to post, as well as "news" so I thought it might be time to spend a few hours updating Murph's updates.

This is from awhile ago, but I've gone back through these pages and noticed I missed mentioning the first fund raiser Murphy, Allie and I attended in June. I was putting in a new section on the links page, "Dog Associations We Support", when I went to the BC Guide Dogs web page. I thought I ought to check out the photos taken at Paw Power when, much to my surprise, there were the three of us sitting in the background of the very first photo! They held contests for dogs (best trick, frisbee catch, owner/dog look alike), then a walk around Stanley Park, and raised over $20 000 for BC Guide Dogs. Plus, Allie and I won a cute little pot with a variety of flowers and plants in it as well as a gift certificate for the garden store. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Just last Sunday Murphy and I, and my friend Dan, went to a fund raiser for Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind (I didn't have my camera with me, the picture to the right is of the BC Paw Power Walk). They held a dog wash at Capers on Robson. I gave them $20 and Murphy got all lathered up, rinsed off and towel dried (in a little baby pool), plus he got his nails clipped. It was so hot that it took him less then an hour to dry, so it was probably a good thing that all the dogs were left to air dry. In addition to the actual dog wash, Murphy also got to sample some dog bones, had his picture taken, was entered into a prize draw, and met some new dogs (including a gigantic Great Dane). Once again the dog professionals commented on how great English Cockers are compared to Americans, and the point was brought home when Murphy was introduced to a little black American who sniffed Murphy very politely, then suddenly snarled at him. A few moments later a springer went after a very calm looking mixed breed, so we got a little demonstration of the poor temperaments of the two over bred spaniel breeds. Murphy looked perplexed by the whole thing.

After the dog wash we wandered down to Lost Lagoon where Murphy lunged at the ducks, geese and swans (he was on leash), then we headed for the beach in Kits, which was packed beyond belief. We ended up parking on a road on the other side of a chunk of the endowment lands, then walked through the forest down to Jericho Beach. Stopped for a hot dog, Murphy drank a $1.50 cup of water (he spilled most of it) and got patted by an approximately 5 year old girl (he was scared, but sat still for the patting), then we headed back to the car and home. Possibly Murphy's longest day out yet (6 hours) but he loves coming along for days out like this, so I don't think he was complaining. Well, he was certainly not a big fan of the heat, but other than that he had fun.

Upcoming dog events include Petfest - a fund raiser for the Youth Fund of the BC SPCA, another dog walk for BC Guide Dogs and Bark in the Park - a walkathon in Burnaby for the Vancouver Regional SPCA. And that's just til mid-September. I'm not sure which ones we'll attend, but the Petfest is people only, so that seems to be an unlikely one for us.

In other news, a couple of weeks ago, Murphy discovered a new watering spot, down a very steep bank that I have yet to descend myself. We were walking along the trail that runs right next to the river (it's on a bit of a cliff, with a drop to the water). Murphy was walking a head of me when I heard the jiggle of his tags suddenly get fainter. I jogged up the trail only to (eventually) spot Murphy down wading in the river. He now does this every time we walk the back way. I highlighted Murph in red so you could make him out in the photo.

This same day, Murphy swam on his own for the very first time. We were down at Inter River, at his favourite watering spot, when Murphy spotted some men moving equipment on the other side of the river. Murphy watched them for a bit, then his curiosity took over and off he went. He waded as far as he could, then swam when he had to. I was laughing too hard at all this (and too busy taking pictures) to stop him. Besides, I wasn't about to discourage him from swimming. So he wandered all over the rocks, really worrying the men (who wants a dirty wet dog near your, what seemed to be, surveying or movie equipment?). Anyway, Murphy went over and waggled at them, then headed back my way when I started calling and the men started shooing. He got to the water, then looked at me like "What? I have to cross this?" I informed him that he had no other choice, so he swam back to me.

And for a final stunt on the day of water related firsts, Murphy swam in relatively deep water to greet me after I waded across the river. It was mid thigh depth for me, which is way over Murphy's head, but once I got to the other bank, Murphy followed without any coaxing. He dog paddled over to me, perched on a rock in the river, I gave him a treat, and he immediately turned around and headed for shore where he waited (very impatiently) for me to return. Needless to say, I was very proud.

We've also been practising his training at the park. Here we were doing a "sit stay", then a "come". Gotta love those flapping ears.

Murphy has tried out a couple of new hiking trails recently, Flower and Goldie Lake Trails on Mt. Seymour and Cedar Mills Trail in Lynn Headwaters. He also wore his backpack for the very first time while on these hikes, and he doesn't mind it one bit. He even wades and rolls around with it on. Once I get the photos developed from the hike with Heidi, I'll post them with the newest update.

Email me!

Meghan

Here's the link to the next update: Sept 6, 2001
Here's the link to the previous update: July 25, 2001

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