Ten years ago to the day, a dog wandered up through the woods to take comfort in our car port, behind the gas grill. When my husband shooed him out, he hid under the low lying brush in the woods, just beyond our gate. Time and again my husband tried to shoo him off only to find him back on the carport in his spot behind the grill. He looked like such an old dog, covered with gray, that we thought he had come to seek shelter and die. "You can't take in every dog that wanders up, Barbara." words repeated frequently by my husband over the course of the next two days and then my husband went out of town... and I fed the dog. Well, as you can guess, that was it. The beginning of our life with Murphy.
We quickly discovered that something was wrong with Murphy. He had a pronounced limp and a wound on his hip that did not look good. We wrapped him up and took him to our vet. Poor Murphy was in foul shape. He had a pin in his hip that was working its way out and was causing pain and infection. Surgery was the only option to remove the pin and make him better. Without hesitation, we both said yes and left Murphy in the able hands of our vet. When we went back the next day to retrieve him, I told our vet that we had been scouring the neighborhood, looking for Murphy's owners, Surely they were worried sick. No one knew of a missing dog with a broken hip. My vet took me aside and said, "I wouldn't look too hard, Barbara. This is a really sweet dog and you could give him a really good home." Not only that, he told us that Murphy was not old, he had just been through a lot in his two years; broken jaw, missing teeth and a broken hip that would leave him with a permanent limp and limited use of his left back leg,and partial blindness in his right eye that would get worse over time. How could I say no to that? Home we came and Murphy took up residence. We already had Molly at the time and she was none to pleased with this new addition but over time, before her death, they settled into life together.
At first Murphy was an outside, country dog. He ran through the woods and pastures to his hearts content. Mostly he stayed close to home on the driveway, playing with toys and lying in the sun. My husband built a beautiful dog house in the garage for him with comfy pillows. However, being who I am, I started to let Murphy in the house night after night, not wanting him to be too cold or too hot. Well, you can also guess the rest of this part of the story.
Murphy lead a charmed life while part of the Smith household. As new dogs took up residence, Murphy welcomed them into the fold graciously. They in turn, recognized him as Top Dog, and sought his approval. He was rather blase about all of their attentions, preferring to watch from a comfortable spot while they played and rough-housed.
There was nothing Murphy enjoyed more than a good swim in the lake. He was as graceful in the water as he was gimpy on land. Don't get me wrong, he could run faster than any of them on his three legs but in the water he was true grace and seemed totally at home. When coyotes arrived in the woods, we had to stop those free days to the lake and I felt sorry the most for Murphy. Better to be safe....
There is no way that I can record all the stories and all the loving days we spent with Murphy. He was just one heck of a dog...and we will miss him.
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