Ode to my puppy

This is for my pup's first birthday

I love my dog. I don't think I've mentioned on here yet that I do...I say it daily.
I love *just* about everything about my dog.
I love that she goes bananas when a simple bird is in the front yard - running from the chair to the door to ring her bell and back to the chair in RECORD speed only made by Murphy.
I love that after the dogpark that she gets so tuckered out that she is submissive for a bath but as soon as the bath is over she is full of the devil again.
I love that when we go to the dog park that she whines from the point she KNOWS where we are going to when we get there. Oh she knows.
I love that when I say it's time to go for a ride to pick up mommy from work that she jumps up in the truck, sits on the center arm rest and waits for me to get ready - looking straight out the entire time.
I love that when I'm driving she nudges to get under my arm so I have to cuddle her while I drive. She doesn't succeed often though
I love that at night time she will crawl under the blankets and fall asleep but gets super hot and pokes her head out and collapses at the bottom of the bed where it's chilly
I love that she is a peanut butter WHORE
I love that when we go to the dog park she takes on the big dogs. I mean she takes them on and can out run them (with Murphy short cuts, of course)
I love that when we go to the dog park she heads STRAIGHT for the mud puddle and you can hear a chorus of 10 people groaning as the beautiful white puppy is white no more!
I love that when we are done with the dog park and when we get back in the truck (on a towel of course) that she gives me a kiss on the cheek as if to say thanks mom!
I love that she runs to fetch a ball but never brings it back
I love that everyone at the dog park knows Murphy by name and her birthday is coming up and they want us to have her party there.
I love that she wiggles her butt when I pull out her sweater or jackets...she knows it's walk time or park time
I love that she runs down stairs and sits on the electric blanket looking at me or the g/f to turn it on for her
I love that I can come home from work and find my two girls cuddled in bed and I can join in the napping
I love that she can sit, lay, roll over, sit pretty, dance, up, couch, stand, wait, watch, stay
I love that cocks her head to one side and then the other
I love that the g/f and I say funny stuff as if we were Murphy saying it "What is it, Timmy in a well girl???"
I love that I come home from work and the g/f says "MOMMY'S HOME" and she goes crazy jumping all over me
I love that we have taught the nieces and nephew to hold her treats just right so she will follow commands for them (sit, stay, no bites)
I love that when I say "NO BITES" that she whines and tries to bite me without biting me
I love that she wakes me up by biting my hair
I love that she loves frozen green beans as a treat
I love that she smells so good when she comes home from her doggy retreat and spa!
I love that she is so good with kids
I love that she rings a bell to go potty outside
I love that when she is on a walk she soldier belly crawls in excitement
I love that she was born on April 19th (19th is a "special" number for me & the g/f)
I love that when I say "BED TIME" she runs as fast as her paws can go through the house and up the bed stairs and sits to wait for me to follow
I love that when I am down stairs I can hear her being naughty just by the way she walks through the house.
I love that she loves our neighbor kids so much she almost knocks them over when they come to play
I love that when she knows she is going to the dog park she jumps up at the window with the ball in her mouth
I love that after company stays overnight she runs around the house looking for everyone after they are gone
I love that when she gets super tired she crashes hard - so hard that she will flop against my ear and just stay there for the night if I let her
I love that when we go for a ride with the windows down she puts her head out the window and pulls it back in her muzzle is all crazy
I love that when she wakes up from a hard sleep she gets "bed muzzle" (like bed head LOL)
I hate that she jumps up on people with her muddy paws at the dog park - except for the ones that dress up - are they dumb or something? Who wears Ralph Lauren to a dog park?
I hate that we can't find any toys for her that she doesn't destroy in just a day and she eats it
I hate that I can come into the room after being away for 3 minutes and find something destroyed
I hate that she can't "come" - apparently there is too much fun stuff out there mom
I hate that she has chewed through about 4 leashes now and we are finally reserved to having to put the leash in a crystal vase when we come inside so she can't get it
I hate that she has chewed through 6 pairs of my shoe laces, 1 pair of my shoes, 10 of the g/f's shoe laces and 2 of her pairs of shoes
I hate that all my pants have frayed bottoms because Murphy has chewed through and pulled/ripped the rest
I hate that I have almost no socks left because she has tugged them all off my feet and they now all have holes in the toes or heels
I hate that I had to get a taller laundry basket because she could get in and get our dirty clothes and parade them around the house with company over
I hate that I say the word "Naughty" more than "GOOD GIRL"
I hate that she barks at the garbage truck or the plows or the street sweeper, but I love that she ONLY barks at those and NOT busses or trucks.
I hate that when she gets super tired she barks like a maniac...it's our cue that it's her bed time
I hate that everything I hate, I love about her!

Murphy Update at 2 Months!

We just entered the second month of having Murphy!
We had our 4 month check up yesterday (she will be 4 months on the 19th) and she weighs an entire 8.6 lbs. (She was 6.2 last month) which means she isn't quite 10 lbs yet so she can't get her rabies and distemper shot at the same time. Have to go back on Wednesday for the rabies shot.
She has been enrolled in Puppy Kindergarten and starts on Sept 10th. Since last month we have not only mastered the sit & lay, we have mastered roll over AND shake. The other night the g/f and Murph were working on fetch with a tennis ball. She does alright with it! We are working on fetch, stay, sit pretty, loose leash walk, and play dead. She loves her Charlee Bears and will do whatever we ask for 'em. I'm sure you've all seen my default picture - she gets very excited when she sees us and wiggles! That was a picture of just that. She is growing like a weed and you may see a bit of apricot on her, her spine, top of her head, front of legs and parts of her ears are changing. Her white fluffy puppy fur is making way for her adult hair.
The vet said that she has excellent muscle tone. I can't imagine why (sarcasm) she chases other dogs like a champion! We went camping in Wisconsin with a few other big dogs and Murphy chased the big dogs into submission. She keeps right up at the dog park and even jumps in the creek with them! When she isn't at the dog park she can be found in my front yard running full throttle in circles.
We have been camping a couple more times since last update and Miss Houdini has figured out how to get out of the tent so we had to ziptie one end of the tent while creating a loud barrier for the other side incase she gets up in the middle of the night.
She is able to go through out the night without having to potty. When I get up at night I leave the gate open and let her follow me if she has to potty but a lot of the times she will look up and then go back to sleep. We are doing "ok" with the potty training. She does most of her business outside but we still have accidents. She doesn't bark at the door to let us know she is sitting at the door waiting. The bell system didn't work when we first tried it - she was scared of the bell. We are going to try again, she thinks the bells are toys now. So again, we try the training.
Last night was a sad marker for us - she slept on the floor and on her doggie bed for the first time, which is good for her, but it means she wasn't sleeping in the bed with us :( She needs her space and I understand but I miss her. I love when she wakes me up in the middle of the night by chewing my hair so we can play and cuddle for a few minutes. (and it means it's time to potty)
She has gotten out of the biting phase with the kids up the street and new people she meets. She only bites us when we are rough playing and we still discourage it. She will be losing her pointy teeth in the next few months!!! yay! Her 6 upper and lower adult teeth will be coming in anytime now - they start around 4 months.
She has been enjoying her rawhides more and more, and we got her a bigger kennel for during the day. She still squeals when we put her in and shrieks like a banshee. But at least it is open to the room and she can look around and enjoy the fan and tv.
She loves to watch the Animal Planet and barks at the dogs that "bark at her". We have also discovered that we hate & bark at the following: lawn mower, microwave when it dings, vacuum cleaner, swifer vacuum, dehumidifier when it starts up, the washing machine, and - the printer! Anything really that starts suddenly with some loud or obnoxious noise.
She is still bringing rocks and sticks into the house and we are still throwing them back into the yard.
She is still as adorable as can be, cuddly as can be, and smart as can be. We will keep her heheheh

Murphy Update at 1 Month!

It's been close to a month now, a few days shy and Murphy has gotten bigger as in longer AND heavier. Of course she was only 3.9 lbs to start off with when we brought her home. The g/f has been working hard with her to learn new things - so far we have seemed to master Sit, Lay Down, and is learning Roll Over right now. Murphy doesn't pay attention well when other people are around though.

The neighborhood kids have taken a keen interest in Murphy and take her for mini-walks up and down the cul-de-sac. Murphy prances around like a bunny knowing she isn't on an official walk, but is out for a good time. (Official walks mean business - exercise and potty time).
We have mastered walking down stairs now. She will run down the stairs into the family room full throttle and try to stop but will slide a good 4 to 5 feet on the wood before she hits the sofa.
She is kenneled during the day while we are work, only 2 - 3 days per week. It makes it hard to get her into her kennel at night time and she usually ends up at the bottom of our bed because we are too tired to listen to her whine all night. Yeah yeah, starting bad sleeping habits but it's not like she's a Great Dane - she's a mini-dog. This morning I woke and looked at the end of the bed and she wasn't there, during the night she had crawled up and was sleeping right between our heads on a special pillow. Spoiled baby is what she is!
We have taken a camping trip and she enjoyed it a lot! She loved taking the long walk to the potty's and loves to run around with sticks in her mouth.
While she is a very good dog, she can also be the red-headed step-child. She is still biting, but more puppy biting and is starting to break that! She grabs ahold of pant legs and growls at it, shaking her head, body, and the pant leg all together. She will also do this when you wear shorts, she doesn't discriminate, she leaps up, grabs, and shakes, hanging every so cutely off your short leg. She has gotten into the toilet paper and dragged it around the house and just yesterday she was left outside on her leash and was being awfully quiet so when I checked on her I was greeted with a black muzzle Murphy - she had dug through our flower box by our front stoop.
We have been to the dog park a couple of times and both times she's been very submissive to the other dogs. The first trip she got her butt kicked, the second she just laid under the picnic table watching everything and was learning the ropes. Of course, she has such long hair (which isn't really *that* long) she had to have a bath the instant she got home!
Murphy is also an attention whore. She whines and whines when no one is paying attention to her - and it's not to just us, strangers. If they don't stop to pet her or admire her in some way she whines and sometimes barks. That is going to be annoying some day!
Yesterday she pee'd on our neighbor. While she got a "Murphy! No!" right away - when we got inside, she got a high five and a special treat. I'm pretty sure Murphy was already going potty when the neighbor picked her up.
We (me) call her everyname in the book though - Murph, Smurfy, Murphinator, Smufette, Smuphinator, Murphy Smurfy. I've decided that she is going to be smurfette for halloween. It'll be the only day I will probably ever dress her up!
The g/f attempted the first nail cutting and it went ok! She slept through the entire thing, even that one time we got to close to the quick and she bled just a little :(
Anyway - we have met a lot of new friends, humans as well as animals, and are meeting new people every day! We are going camping again next weekend and the weekend after so she is going to turn into the camping pro pretty soon! We have a vet trip coming up soon, so a weight and health update should be coming shortly. She will be getting her rabies shot and licensed!