Murphy

Murphy turned one in February. We had a "birthday party" for him where hot dogs were served. Unfortunately for Murphy, he spent most of the party in his crate after he managed to steal the wiener right out of Grandma's bun. He did the exact same thing about two weeks later while we were in Mexico. This time he stole it from a wonderful little girl named Hunter whose parents were brave enough to look after Murphy while we were away. The result was somewhat similar in that once again Murphy found himself with a human hand shoved halfway down his throat. Apparently the intrepid Jenn (mother to Hunter) had her hands down Murphy's throat approximately 100 times a day. That statistic is similar to what we experience here at home.

Which leads me to my next Murphy related topic - Obedience School. Murphy finished his final class last night. Over the course of eight weeks, these are some of the comments we heard, "I love your dog - he's got character", "Oh - that Murphy - he's a free spirit" and finally, "Some of you might want to repeat the class". As you might guess, that's what we'll be doing. His behaviour last night left me not knowing whether to laugh or cry - so I went with laughing until I cried. Without a doubt Murphy was the worst pupil in the class. On the bright side, he probably was the most popular.

Murphy can best be described as an INCORRIGIBLE LOTHARIO. Two words that probably belong together but preferably don't belong to your dog (or your husband).

Incorrigible: impervious to correction

Lothario: a successful seducer

He is almost impossible to resist though - as I've said, he loves love and his approach to everything in life is to pretty much force that love upon you with reckless enthusiasm. He introduced himself to the obedience instructor the first night by french kissing her - despite her initial reaction, I think she may have enjoyed it a bit as she stumbled away muttering about his incredibly soft mouth. A couple weeks ago, I think he got to at least second base with the guy that came to fix the hot tub - or at least I suspect so. I didn't witness the entire event, but Roger had a suspiciously flushed look on his face. Murphy also managed to orally assault one of the obedience trainers last week. But I'll give him a break for that one - after all, SHE was the one who spilled chili on her shirt before class and then forgot to change it.

Despite it all, we love him - we love him a lot. He keeps us on our toes and makes us laugh every single day. And he loves Bennett - so much. Happy Birthday Murphy.