Yesterday marked two weeks since I brought Murphy home. It's crazy how much I've learned about him in that time. Here's what a typical day looks like with him.
First thing in the morning, I let him out of his crate and we go outside. He is definitely conditioned to receiving treats after going to the bathroom. Now, he'll do his thing and come immediately to sit at my feet. When we go back inside, I make a beeline for the kitchen to start the coffee. Murph ignores his food completely, knowing he's about to get the teeth-cleaning bone/stick thing I give him every morning. This morning I almost forgot about that until I realized that he wasn't eating anything. The first one I gave him lasted about 10 minutes. Now, he devours one in under 3.
Murphy Man is HYPER in the morning, so next on his agenda is to play with every single one of his toys and jump up as much as possible. This is especially exciting for him considering all of the fun toys he's gotten! Last weekend, he got his first package from his friend Abby. She even wrote him a note.
Murphy was SO excited about his new treats. He got a super noisy squeaky squirrel. (It's giving Libby's toy steep competition for favorite.)
He also got a cool ball called the Hole-y Roller. It's one of his favorite things to chew on right now.
Who can forget the awesome new collar for when he gets a little bigger? I finally had to hide it from him because he couldn't stop grabbing it from the table.
Murph also loves the tasty treats that Abby sent. I'm saving a lot of them for puppy preschool with him in the morning.
Thank you Abby (and Poppy and Goola!!!)
Sadly, after morning playtime, I have to go to work. Murph spends a few hours in his exercise pen, and then we repeat the morning agenda when I get home.
Inevitably, I will need to go to the bathroom at some point as well. I keep the door closed so Murphy doesn't chew up the rug in there. Strangest thing, though: whenever I am in there, he waits outside the door patiently, tail wagging, for me to come back out.
Murphy is extremely affectionate and loves to cuddle. This is very strange for me to get used to. He often jumps over to invite me to play on the floor with him.
This constant attention-seeking can be fun when it's just us, but I also tutor at home. The other day I was tutoring for the first time with Murphy in the house and he was quite distracting. After consulting with a friend, I made a trip to the pet store to stock up on things to entertain him while I work.
Libby said her parents call the bone on the left the "company" bone, as it quiets their puppies when company is over. Friends, it worked like a charm. Murph was silent for a solid 35 minutes. He looooooves it!
He also loves playing outside when it's not too hot.
He's a total wuss, though. (Wuss? Puppy? Same thing.) Whenever the neighbor dogs bark, he runs straight for the door to go inside or over to me for protection.
So what's with the mohawk? Well, I noticed when petting him the other day that he has this wide strip of fur down his back that is coarser and slightly darker than the rest of his fur. I jokingly told a friend that my puppy has a mohawk, and he asked if Murphy has any Rhodesian Ridgeback mix in him. I know there is testing you can do to find out what breeds a dog is made of, but it's been far more fun to tell my mom and have her send me dozens of pictures of Ridgeback puppies, comparing Murphy to each of them.
Can you see the stripe?
It's hard to get him to sit still long enough for a picture, but I managed to snap these two.
I honestly hadn't heard of Rhodesian Ridgebacks until a few weeks ago, but it looks like they are really good dogs. They're also BIG. Murph was expected to be 45-50 pounds at adult size. It'll be interesting to see how accurate that prediction turns out to be.
That's all for now, folks. I hope everyone had a great week!
Love,
Murphy & Me
Sounds like you have got him into a good routine. Keep it up. Abby says hi and wishes she were closer for a visit.
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