July 17, 2001

Ok, due to breaking up with Adam, and dealing with all that that entailed, this update is long overdue. These pictures date to late May-April. Considering that Adam and I are pretty much the only ones who ever see this page (Hi Ad!), I don't think I need to bother apologising to anyone, or go into further details.

As I stated in the last update, Murphy greatly enjoyed Adam's presence. One of my first thoughts when Adam and I broke up was: "What about Murphy? He *LOVES* Adam!". I know, I have issues. Anyway, there were a few pictures that I took that, despite the breakup, I still like enough to post here. This one shows just how submissive Murph is to Adam. He gleefully rolls over for Ad. The next photo...

...was taken on a walk at Seaview, a linear park in West Van. It's a great walk with stunning views of West Van and the water, and leads up to the Trans Canada Trail. Just after you leave the walk, you have to walk along this old abandoned part of the highway that we had before the modern Trans Canada was built. Here's Murphy running along a bridge on this road:

Murphy loves this road, as you can see, but it seems to be frequented by teenagers for drinking etc., so there's a lot of broken glass around. That dampens Murphy's fun here a bit. At the end of this bridge, to the left, is where the Trans Canada Hiking/Biking Trail picks up. So, in theory, you could walk from here to the other side of the country.

And this is the view from the trail. As you can tell, there's a marina down below (this is only the very outer tip of it). Not a bad view to enjoy while you're walking your dog!

As we were leaving Murphy just had to stop and enjoy a sip of water. Unfortunately, his idea of drinkable water, and mine, are not the same. But once he was in there there was no getting him out, so I just hoped that his Giardia vaccination had taken hold, and reached for my camera. This mud puddle drinking has, since this photo was taken, become a firmly entrenched habit. He also enjoys lounging in puddles like a pig. His favourites are at Inter River, where he can practically swim in the puddles. I've just resigned myself to having to bathe him multiple times a week. Luckily, he's also become very fond of baths (more on that in the next update).

Last item: catching! Since the March and April updates Murphy has gotten really good at catching. This photo looks like he's just sitting there with a tennis ball in his mouth, but in fact he had just caught the ball, without even getting up into a sitting position. He can also jump into the air to catch, and catch over his shoulder.

I've just looked back over the last few updates, and these 2 pictures here actually go with text written at the end of the March 28th update. I have fallen so behind...I suck as an owner.

So the last major hurdle to overcome when it comes to Murphy and retrieving is getting him to give you the ball back. He runs right back to you but then likes to tease you with the ball, and enjoys it if a good chase ensues. Here we have Allie trying to kiss the ball out of his mouth, apparently. And with little luck it seems. Affection has no effect on Murph when it comes to persuading him to give up one of his toys.

So I've just dropped off more film, and should be getting that back tonight. Then, on Sunday it's Murphy's 1st birthday, so expect lots of photos of Murphy being spoiled rotten.

Email me!

Meghan

Here's the link to the next update: July 19, 2001
Here's the link to the previous update: April 9, 2001

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