Murphy is Perfect Medicine

It is amazing what fresh air, sunshine, and a fluffy cutie named Murphy can do for a girl having a not-so-good day.

Murphy and I loaded up in the truck and headed to West City Park yesterday afternoon. Lots of other people had the same idea and the park was pretty busy. This was Murphy's second trip so it is still a new experience for him. We walked around the big pond, looked at the ducks, and Murphy even looked like he wanted to jump into the pond to retrieve - the ducks! His instincts are kicking in! Jason and I cannot wait to get him to a more secluded pond to see if he will swim! We only had one instance where I was sitting right by the pond loading up the bag after Murph had gotten a little drink. He decided he wanted to go right then and almost made me do a backwards summersalt. Yikes. We had several people watch us while we were there. I think it was amusing for them to watch me try to control him. When our park visit was over, there were two people who had been keeping a close eye on us and I knew they were going to see how exactly I was going to load Murphy into the back of the truck on my own. I totally did it, but only because Murphy helps me. He puts his front paws on the truck, I lift his back side, and he crawls right in. Presto! I felt like such an independent woman.

Murph's doctor visit went much better this time. He loves the doctor so he gets really excited when we go (even AFTER being neutered). While we were waiting, 2 baby goats came in. They were so sweet! 1 was only 5 days old and the other one was 4 weeks old. I wish I would have been able to pet or hold one, but not with Murph. He had never seen a goat before so he proceeded to bark at them, which scared the poor little things. I had to shush Murph - and that kind of worked. The goat lady trains dogs and said "My dog used to act like that, too." WTF? I thought he was being good!!! She went on to give me training tips until the doctor called us back. Murphy then drug me back into the room. Oy!

He really did do a good this time! Dr. Falch even was able to get the mat right behind his ear shaved off! I was worried that a hot spot was developing because it was starting to feel warm to the touch. I am glad we were able to prevent a nasty sore.

We stopped to feed and water the cows and then waited for Jason to get home. While we were waiting, I found 2 deer ticks and 2 seed tics on Murphy. He was even good for that while I took care of that problem - being careful to remove the entire tick and not leave a head in tact. I do not like to destroy any living thing, but I did destroy the tics. What purpose do they serve? And, if I let them go, they would just end up on Murphy again. Jason came home - we greeted him - and then frontlined Murphy before we went out on the town. Murph was napping by the time we left - under a tree in the backyard - in the shade. Good afternoon for Murphy and GREAT afternoon for Mama.