Three-year-old Murphy is a svelte black Lab, full of personality.   When Jayne and Russel adopted him, they were a little uncertain about what they were getting themselves into.  It was up and down for sure, but they persevered and loved him through those first months.  Soon after, they began to notice that wonderful carefree joy that happens when a dog feels safe and loved.  Apparently, Murphy loves to ham it up for the camera.  Just look at that happy boy! murphy-2

They wanted to share their story with us.  Murphy was a bit of a challenge at first! I think, if I’m remembering correctly he was found on his own either after getting loose on his own or being dumped? When we took him home he was very skinny & had happy tail. He was worried every time we put him in his kennel to leave that we were never coming back and so he started barking and chewing on the end of the tail which only made the happy tail worse. Our house at times looked like a CSI crime scene with blood flying every place because he was so excited we came back 🙂 He also lost almost all of his hair at some point along the way. It was falling out by the handful.

Now here we are almost 6 months later and Murphy has figured out that, yes, we are going to come back every time we leave! All of his hair has grown back, even the hair on the end of the tail, and he has put on maybe 6 or 8 pounds. Still a tall, slender guy but you can’t count his ribs anymore. Our pet sitter who met him right after we brought him home and then saw him again a week ago said he doesn’t even look or act like the same dog. It’s been fun to watch more and more of that goofy lab personality come out of him the more comfortable he gets with us and his home.murphy-3

Murphy and our other 7 year old lab, Bo, who wanted nothing much to do with each other in the beginning are playing with each other quite a bit. Chasing each other around the yard and the coffee table. We’re supposed to be putting end to the coffee table one though 🙂 Murphy loves, loves, loves to play ball and from the very beginning has always brought the ball right back and dropped it in front of you so you can throw it again, and again, and again. He loves his bed in the bedroom right next to ours and especially when his & Bo’s beds are stacked two deep so it’s nice and cushy and always looks disappointed when you unstack them. He is very well behaved both around the house and on the leash. Which is nice because we do quite a bit of hiking and running with him and being a lab he’s in the water up to his eyeballs every chance he gets while hiking. He’s a very loving guy and is always wanting to have a paw on you or leaning on you or trying to be a lap dog.

Murphy is now a part of the family and we can’t imagine being without him!murphy-1