Murphy's First Christmas

I got a ball!

Murphy had a great first Christmas. He went on a long walk in downtown Sonoma in the morning, exploring all the Historical sites, meeting new friends all along the way. Unfortunately, we neglected to bring the camera along. I think Steiner's had something to do with that.

Christmas night Murphy got all his loot.



Thanks Karen, Steve, and all the cats. Murphy LOVES his new tennis balls!


And thanks to Grandma too -- Murphy loves his new Puppy Kong! Not to mention his new treats.

He got lots of new toys -- He was super happy. Murphy sure loves his new ball! But he always wants what I have. Little bugger!

After all that fun, it was time to go.

Murphy waits in front of the hotel room for us to load his gear and drive him to do some wine tasting. He was looking forward to the 04 zins.

He sure loves the sun - imagine that!

On the Ground with Murphy

This one takes a little while, but is worth it at the end.

Mud

Murphy had decided digging in mud is the new best thing.



He's working on creating a mud bog in the back yard.

When he's bored with that, he wants to come in. So he waits at the back door and yips and paws at it. Click to enlarge and see the mud.




Before coming in, Jeff has to wash him off.

Which means he has to catch him. Because Murphy's new fun game is called "catch me".

And he's fast...

...and he likes to bark his head off.

Then, when he's a cleaned up and let into the house...

He wants to go out and work on his mud bog.

Shoes

Shoes provide a source of entertainment, security, and fun for Murphy. He like's them -- they are stinky, they move in unpredictable ways, they are very chewy. They often indicate something exciting is going to happen. Best of all, when he grabs a shoe and runs off with it, he is often chased by one of us!

This is the face of an expectant puppy. Bike shoes mean biking!


I wish I had a picture of my favorite pair of sandals that Murphy chewed to death. That was one of his biggest accomplishments.

Instead, here are Jeff and Murphy, after playing so hard. Jeff enjoys sleeping on a comfy pad and pillow -- Murphy enjoys sleeping on Jeff's stinky shoes.

Toys

Toys! Murphy has lots of them (because Jeff is a softy).

Murphy plays pretty hard, and the only time we can get photos of him with his toys is when he falls asleep with them. Here is is with his seal, his ball, his woobie (red thing with a squeaker), his sock filled with newspaper tied to a string (one of his favorites), and his FJ Cruiser. Whew.




Same situation, different angle. The FJ Cruiser is remote-controlled and basically just scared the heck out of him. He liked chewing on the antenna, though. But only when it wasn't moving.





Here he fell asleep with just his ball. He likes to sleep on his back with his legs sticking up in the air.





Murphy's no snob! He enjoys sticks, stinky socks, and pine cones just as much as his fancy toys. Maybe more...





But he really does prefer his giraffe. It's squishy, it rattles, and it squeaks in funny ways. It used to have a longer tail, until last night Murphy finally got it off. Giraffe's front hoof came off, revealing his fluffy white innards. Jeff performed surgery and fixed him.




And, of course, Murphy's very favorite toy is his friend Reno. Here they are playing tug-o-war with one of Murphy's toys. Reno likes to play with Murphy's toys, but he tends to destroy them. Murphy doesn't care -- he just chews on Reno more.





Sigh.... life is good.

Murphy Mountain Biking at Lake Folsom

Murphy went for a trail ride the other day at Lake Folsom. It had just rained so the conditions were perfect. Murphy loved it.

Murphy and I went down to the lake one afternoon to relax a bit and watch the sky change colors as the sun went down. He likes the rocks. Here we are looking across Lake Tahoe to the East Shore, not much wind.















Notice the doodie bags stuffed into my belt, it's a new look for me as a new dog owner. I think it is stylish? Murphy drank the empty in my back pocket.......I don't think I've ever seen the lake so calm. Murphy is more interested in the rock, like I said, he like rocks.

Murphy's Good Buddy

Murphy and Reno are good buddies. Murphy bites him all day long, and Reno patiently suffers it.

Reno isn't allowed in the kitchen -- but Murphy is. In fact, that's where his food and water are kept. Reno likes to sit with just his front feet on the kitchen floor. That way he thinks he's not in the kitchen



Reno and Murphy went to the park down the street. This is Murphy chewing on Reno's leash. Poor Reno.



After playing hard, they crash out.



They need a lot of sleep.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sorry we missed so many people at Thanksgiving. At the same time, we are thankful for having so many nice relatives we couldn't get them all visited on one day.

Thanksgiving was a lot of firsts for Murphy: first visit to SF, first visit to the Pacific Ocean, first time meeting uncles Patrick and Ken, and, of course, first Thanksgiving. Alas, being negligent puppy keepers, we failed to record these firsts on digital film. All in all, the day was a great time. Murphy ate as much puppy Iams as he could fit in his belly. We ate some awesome potatoes.

Here are some photos from Murphy's first 2.5 months. He'll be three months old December 9!



He started out pretty small:



He really likes chewing on his seal. And Jeff's dirty socks. Yuck.

He slept a lot.

He discovered grass ...

and leaves.

He also got his first collar, harness, and lead. He didn't (and still doesn't) like being on the lead.

We took him to Tahoe where he romped through Sonoma Pines and the forest. He loves pine needles and pine cones.


















He wasn't so sure about the lake.

It made him really cold and tired.

Figuring everything out made him so sleepy.






He also discovered he liked bikes.





He likes to ride along with us.




And he's pretty sure he can fix it better than Jeff.











He ate pretty good and really started to grow.



And then it snowed!

Note the snowball Jeff threw at him at the end. Poor puppy.

Murphy truly loved the snow. He ran and jumped and slid around until he was completely out of gas.

He's seems to be a happy little puppy. He loves people, he loves other dogs. He loves to chomp everything.

More later...