Oct 26, 2000

Hi Allie, Adam and Dad!

Allie, I know you must be feeling a little less important now that the updates aren't addressed solely to you, but we have to change with the times! I've found out that you aren't the only regular reader of this site, so I've decided to start greeting all THREE of my regular visitors.

This update is all about action. Prepare yourself for some exciting puppy play!

Here we have Murphy and his Roll-a-Ball. It doles out treats if you roll it just right, end over end. He's pretty good at it: he uses his forehead to keep the ball rolling while he keeps his nose to the ground to sniff for any escaping treats. This was one of Murphy's favourite toys until Mom and I went shopping on Monday and bought him his hedgehog and his Wiggly Giggly. If I were to return to serving him a chunk of his meals from it, I would guess that it would again be a favourite. But Ann has me using a bunch of his meal food as training incentives, so Roll-a-Ball has gone into semi-retirement for now.

This is Murphy with his cheapest toy: an empty 2 litre pop bottle. Ann recommended it because it rolls and it makes lots of noise when he bats at it. It takes him less than a day to chew it down to a shell of its former self. This toy is also out of favour right now as it seems to get him really charged up. And it's much cuter to watch him play with a stuffed hedgehog than with a squished up pop bottle.

Here are a couple more deck play shots:

In the first, Murphy is poking his head out through the rungs of the deck. Every time we go out to the deck, he runs around poking his head out, checking out the outside world. Last weekend a man and his son were playing soccer in the green space behind the houses. They were about 4 house lengths away from us. Murphy stuck his head out and stayed there for at least a minute or so just watching them. Unfortunately when I kick balls for him he seems to think that my feet are one of his toys, and that he can then chew on them. So, soccer is going to have to wait. Murphy has tried on a couple of occasions to get his whole body through the rungs of the deck's gate (and through our neighbour's gate). He wasn't successful at squeezing through, but he was very successful at provoking hysterical laughter from me.

In this second deck shot we have Murphy in mid-turn. I'm not sure if you can see it, but there are several smudges on the sliding glass window from Murphy slamming head on into it. It only took him 2 crashes to figure out that he should go slowly up to and through the door, because sometimes an invisible barrier (ie. glass) blocks his way.

This photo gives you a glimpse of how active Murphy really is. The blurring of his paws gives you an idea of just how quickly he moves. He is generally on the go unless he is in his crate.

And here we have Murphy in his favourite chewing position, with his new favourite chew toy. Here he only has the one toy, but he also likes to lie on one stuffed toy while chewing the other. Or he keeps a pile of 3 or more toys all around him so he can switch off between a variety of chewies.

Although this picture doesn't look like an action shot, let me assure you that he doesn't lie like this for long - it's just a pit stop between roll overs and pounces. Yesterday while chewing on hedgehog, Murphy did 4 roll overs in a row. I've been trying to teach him to roll over on cue by saying "Roll over!" every time he does one on his own, but he hasn't made the connection yet.

So that's it for photos on this update!

Yesterday we went for a car ride to a local park during which Murphy wore his seat belt for the first time. He was good about not struggling to get out of the harness, but being tied down in the back seat didn't go over quite as well. At the park we met several strangers: men, women, kids as well as a golden retriever, a shepherd cross (who usually doesn't like little dogs but liked Murphy because he wasn't yappy, as his owner told me), two standard poodles, a pointer, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, a lab cross and a few others who's breeds I can't recall. Murphy is always more outgoing about meeting people than other dogs. He goes right up to adults, is a little hesitant with kids, and is downright submissive with dogs. That suits me just fine, I'm glad he doesn't jump up on little kids. But he definitely needs more dog-dog interaction. So off to kindergarten we go starting in November!

Tonight I want to take him somewhere, but I haven't decided where yet. Maybe another park, or maybe just somewhere public where dogs are allowed. I'm trying to think of where that could be.

Oh, and I did try putting him in a backpack to take him on a walk. He put up with it surprisingly well, but my backpacks are either too small, or way too big. So packing him along for a walk hasn't happened yet.

I think that's it for today's Murphy update.

Allie, you are missing the big dog show in Abbotsford this weekend. It's the biggest one in BC, and I think all of Western Canada. Stanley Coren is going to be showing his Nova Scotian at it, which must be a recent purchase because all of his books talk about his Cavalier King Charles and a flat-coated retriever. I'm not sure if I'll go or not since it would require a long drive and with Mom and Dad at Whistler all weekend, I don't want to leave Murphy in his crate for 4 or 5 hours straight. And besides, I already have my dog.

And speaking of getting a dog, I still haven't heard from the Nanaimo breeder. I haven't decided yet how dismissive I'll be with them if they ever actually phone to interview me about their puppies.

So, Allie, keep having fun and e-mail me to tell me all about what it is you're not writing in your general mail-outs.

Adam, I hope that you haven't gotten sick of my entire world revolving around Murphy. And, I was about to ask you how your meeting went, but we both know the answer to that one!

Dad, I hope that you are enjoying seeing these pictures again and again. And that you haven't realized yet that you should be annoyed that I spend 1 - 1 1/2 hours, several times a week, at work, creating these pages.

Here's the link to the next update: Dec 19, 2000
Here's the link back to the previous update: Oct 25, 2000 Update

All of you can e-mail me with your comments,

Meg.

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