|
Murphy's Newsletter July 19, 2001  Once again, after going months without an update, I have created two in a row. But with Murphy's birthday coming up, I knew that I had to get these more generic pictures up before I get the birthday photos. Hopefully I'll get other people to take some of those photos, so that I'll have a few pictures with *me* with *my* dog.
In my quest to get Murphy swimming, Allie
and I went out and bought Murph a wading pool. It's too shallow
for him to actually experience any buoyancy in, but on hot days
he likes to jump in, wade, and take a sip of water. And I've
used it to rinse off his paws after we got back from a muddy
walk. On the swimming topic, a couple of weeks ago I managed
to
This last photo was taken at Allie's insistence.
Like Murphy isn't humiliated enough, wearing sport shoes! No,
Allie had to put a hat on him! The look o So come back soon and check out everything that is sure to have ensued on Murphy's birthday! Meghan Here's the link to the next update: July 25, 2001 Home | Latest news | From the beginning | Origins | What kind of dog is that? | Colours of cockers | Cocker links |
Now that I've complained
about not having any photos with me in them, here's one of me
holding Murph. It's the only photo of its kind that I have from
the last 6 months or so, so I had to post it. We're at Cypress
Falls Park, in West Van. Adam took the picture (this was like
2 days before the breakup). It's a cool little park, though bigger
than Adam and I thought. When I reviewed the write up of this
park, after getting back from visiting it, I realised that we
missed a whole second set of falls. But we enjoyed the nice little
falls, had a trail to wander, and saw few other people. That
bridge felt even more dilapidated than it looks. I don't know
if I'd go out of my way to go there again, but it was a nice
way to spend an hour or so.
get
Murphy swimming in Lynn Creek by wading out to thigh deep water,
coaxing/dragging him in after me, then letting him swim the couple
of metres back to shore. Yes, dogs do know instinctively how
to swim! A few days later Allie and I took Murph down to Seymour
River (just a few minutes down the hill from where we live) and
tried again. This time Allie waded in, coaxed Murphy in til he
was almost buoyant, then dragged him in the rest of the way.
I took a turn afterwards, and it was a good thing we had Murphy
on leash, because he decided that he'd keep on swimming past
me. Since he was leashed to me he ended up swimming in a circle
around me, but if he hadn't been I would have had to swim after
him. The weather has since turned cooler and rainy, so we haven't
had another chance to get him out swimming, but I'm hoping that
he'll take to it more. He certainly likes wading though, so hopefully
it's just a matter of time.
On the subject of water, here's Murphy
in the bath. He wasn't actually having a bath here, he just likes
to hop into the tub and see what he can grab. He's holding Bernard
the Canard here, Allie's rubber duckie. I tried, when he was
a baby, to give him rubber duckies when he was in the bath, so
he'd think it was a fun time. It didn't work. But now that he's
older, he has come to enjoy baths, and bath toys. But his real
preference is for conditioner bottles and loofa mitts. After
retrieving these items, countless times, from his mouth, I gave
in and went out and bought one of those vertical shelves that
sits in the corner of the tub. Now everything is out of his reach.
But he still insists on hopping into the tub and having a sniff,
*every* *single* *time*
I go into the bathroom. He's also taken
to lying down in the tub, to make it harder for me to reach in
and haul him out. He goes all boneless and heavy to make it extra
hard to pull him out. He enjoys this game much more than I do.
But I've got to admit that it's preferable to the "eat as
much bath mat as you can before Meg screams" game that he
was partial to for months there.
So here we have Murphy
with the duct taped sock (enjoying a back scratch from Allie,
one of his favourite activities). Murphy has an infection in
the webbing between his toes (and an ear infection as well) so
he had to wear a sock to keep him from licking. Unfortunately
the sock, which the vet suggested because it breathes well, just
traps any moisture and holds it there. So when Murphy licked,
or went outside, his foot stayed soggy for hours.
On the weekend I wound up buying
Murph "sport shoes". Yes, they make sport shoes for
dogs. Murphy doesn't even seem to mind them all that much. They
are like the shoes that some people wear when they are swimming.
He's wearing them on both paws because when he couldn't get to
the infected paw, he'd just switch over to the healthy paw and
lick and bite that one instead. He looks incredibly silly with
these shoes on, and walks funny with them on too. He trots like
a horse, lifting both paws up really high, and then sort of skipping
along. But he doesn't fuss all that much about them, so I'm thinking
that I might put them on him whenever we head off on long hikes.
The infection started from a sliver or seed that got stuck in
his paw, and it's probably best to be proactive and prevent that
from happening again. I know he'll be the butt of other the other
dogs' jokes, and their owners, but what
can you do?