Murphy's Newsletter, October 24, 2000

Murphy's Newsletter

Oct 24, 2000

Hi Allie!

I haven't gotten the latest photos developed yet, so there are no Murphy pictures in this update. Sorry! I'll be getting the latest roll back this evening, so tomorrow's update will be jam packed.

I hope you are having fun and that the infection is gone. Anything new in Paris?

Beware that this e-mail covers the highlights of the dog behaviourist's visit, and reviews her many tips. Pace yourself, this is a long one!

Ann Jackson came for a 2 1/2 hour visit yesterday. I scanned her business card photo so you can see her. That's her Springer Spaniel in the photo with her. She's 12 in the picture and is still doing well today at 14. I felt better about taking her advice seeing as she has a spaniel herself.

The session exhausted Murphy, but he did quite well in general. He loves training so we had a great time teaching him to heel. Well, more correctly, teaching me how to get him to heel. She thinks that he's a nice dog, very pretty. She also said that's he's extremely outgoing, which is a good thing I think. Oh, and she thinks that he's going to be 35-40 pounds when he's grown. Eng Cockers are supposed to be a max of 34 pounds, but from the looks of him now, I wouldn't be surprised if Ann is right.

Here's a list of her recommendations on raising Murphy:

1) Buy him lots and LOTS of toys. In Ann's words: "You can never have too many toys for a spaniel!". So Mom and I went to Petcetera last night and blew $80 on toys. And that's with a $10 gift certificate that I earned with all my previous purchases there. We were unable to find one of the specific toys that Ann suggested, so I'm going to have to go looking for that tonight. It's an octopus with squeakers on every tentacle. This is such an important toy that Ann drew me several sketches of it so I wouldn't be fooled by cheap knock offs of it!

We also had to find a toy box for him so he'll always have a selection of toys, at his disposal, to choose from. So now the family room looks like a toddlers playroom: a big Tupperware container filled with toys, and a bunch more strewn all around the room.

He seems much happier with a wide selection of toys to choose from, and he's not constantly under foot anymore. Plus last night he slept from 9 pm - 7 am with no whining!

2) Ann asked me if Snuggles was fed table scraps (at this point she knew that Snu lived to be 17 1/2). I sheepishly said "yes, but Murphy hasn't had ANY". She came back with: "You need to start feeding him leftovers now, that's why your last dog lived so long". Her point is that a lot of vitamins, nutrients etc are lost in the processing of the little hard food pellets that I'm feeding him. So, we're to keep a small amount of whatever we're eating and feed about 1/3 of a cup (total for the day) to Murphy later on in the day.

So, for example, yesterday Mom and Dad had tuna sandwiches for lunch and steak, potatoes and peas for dinner. So for lunch today Murphy will get his regular 1/2 cup of dog food plus 1/3 of a cup of tuna, peas and potatoes.

It has to be hours after we eat it so that Murphy doesn't make the connection and start begging at the table (which he hasn't done at all so far).

Plus, she recommended feeding him a bunch of yogurt for the weeks surrounding his vaccinations, to put back all the good bacteria that will be killed off by the injection.

3) Murphy needs to go on walks several times a day of 15 minutes plus. I've been walking him 3 times a day for 10 minutes each time, plus we have several romps out front near the pool, in the back yard and on the deck. I've been keeping the walks short because once we get too far from home Murphy starts whining and refusing to move. Ann said that that's because at 13 weeks his sight is only developed enough to see 13 feet in front of himself. Therefore, once we leave a familiar area he gets freaked out.

So her suggestion is to be patient when he parks himself and after a minute or so just cajole him into moving again. Also, I'm to put him in a backpack and bring him along if I go for walks myself. I don't know how he'll take to that one!

4) When he's a little older, as in as soon as he can, I'm to start hiking with him. According to Ann that's he best possible exercise for Eng Cockers, which I was glad to hear because that was one of my main draws to the breed. So come home soon so we can get him out to Lynn Headwaters Park!

5) Get him into dog classes as soon as possible. I have to wait till a week after his third set of shots, so November 6th will be our first puppy kindergarten play session.

6) His biting is in play, but he is doing it to determine rank. So I have to be vigilant about it. It has already calmed down quite a bit since I first spoke to Ann on the phone last week, so I'm feeling better about it. I think we're at a point now where it has settled down to normal puppy biting. And I have to teach him "gentle" so that he will calm down on cue for kids, older people, etc.

7) Make him earn everything. So we've been training with 1/3 of his meals. He has to sit, stay, heel as I dole out a bunch of his kibble from my hand. Then, after a few minutes of that, he gets the rest of it in his bowl. Also, he has to sit before doing anything. I was already doing that, so that's no trouble.

8) Take him everywhere I go. That's going to be hard because I can't take him anywhere where a lot of dogs are because he's not fully vaccinated yet. And anywhere where there are no dogs, where it will be safe for him, dogs aren't allowed. So it's a catch 22. I'm going to have to do some thinking on that one.

9) I have to watch what kind of praise I give him. Spaniels should be given morale boosting verbal praise, rather than petting and baby talk. Apparently this has to do with them being very orally focussed as they are retrievers. So I have to say "Good Murphy!" as compared to "Oh what a goody goody baby you are!" as I pet him furiously.

10) This one's for you! Somehow we got onto the topic of you wanting a Nova Scotian. Ann looked stricken and said :"Those are EXTREMELY high energy dogs". Keep in mind that she hadn't said that Murphy was even "high" energy, and he's constantly on the go. She agreed with your assessment that you should wait till you have a house in the suburbs with a big fenced yard. She asked what you were looking for in a dog and then suggested a West Highland White Terrier. Very smart, very loving and not crazy like so many other terriers. I said that you love Jarret's schnauzers. Ann asked what size and then enthusiastically stated that the miniatures are also a great option. Something to keep in mind!

So I think that's it for Murphy news for now. I'm on the hunt for a good photo of him in profile so you can see his great big nose! Hopefully by mid week I'll be able to update you and post some photos. Oh, I'll get one of his toy box and of the family room while he's playing, so you can see how our house has been taken over by a 12 pound dog.

Here's the link to the next update: Oct 25, 2000 Update
Here's the link to the previous update: Oct 18, 2000 Update

E-mail me soon,

Meg.