Muphys memoires

[Josie]

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How lovely to see @Mad Murphy

 

[Mad Murphy]

Well after increasing the CBD drops at new year to give Murhy peace of mind we have now reduced them again.
This morning we stood and talked to a couple with their dog pram and young child he was so calm he even remained calm when a group of joggers came past.

But it only takes one idiot and this morning we met two, the first was in a second group of joggers and as they approached one of them made barking sounds.. Well obviously if you talk to the dogs they talk back and Murphy barked,, my response was to tell him to stand and then add loudly, 'Murphy stop talking to idiots' which shut the barker up.
The second fool decided it would be a good idea to come silently jogging up behind us as Murphy paddled, he deliberatly left the path and crossed the beach to come right up behind us... Why??? the path the beach and the field behind us was totally empty but this guy had to divert to a direct collison course at the waterline. Murphy barked once but apart from that he was ok. Im really pleased with how this is going but I still wouldnt trust him off lead in this situation having jogging barking flapping strangers might be a bit too much for him if I didnt have him on the lead.

 

[Ari_RR]

This may be the downside of being cute - all kinds of folks want to interact, and some of them have wrong ideas of good interaction.

 

[Mad Murphy]

This may be the downside of being cute - all kinds of folks want to interact, and some of them have wrong ideas of good interaction.

You could be right I spoke to mum this morning and she said Eva my brothers RR is so daft if she hears a noise in the dark she hides! But mums taxi driver is scared witless and he is convinced shes going to eat him. Mum told him to say Boo to her. He did and Eva ran behind the chair!

 

[Mad Murphy]

Gosh its been a long time. But George and Murphy are still BFF's never far away from each other.
Any jealousy they might have had about toys in the beginning faded quickly and often if George wants to play he will step on or squeeze a ball to get Murphys attention.
They still both eat raw and thats worked well allergies that Murphy had as a pup have gone no medication needed just stay off the beef!

Murphy is still a nervous dog and thats not great with joggers and cyclists who give no warning so OH and I have tried growing eyes in the backs of our head with limited sucess, but we do use the command stand when we see a bike or jogger and after they have passed without a reaction a small treat rewards no reaction.

Weve moved from the house in the town we used to have and are in a much smaller house (but bigger garden) in a tiny village out in the country. Theres a stream at the bottom of the garden chickens across the water at the neighbours house and owls in the trees at the bottom of the garden but the boys are coping well. We are surrounded by fields so just a couple of houses seperate us and the sheep. Again no reaction, George is now at a stage were he will bark only if the hare or deer get very close or run near to him. Murphy never barks he just watches..

Last year Murphy had a non cancerous lump removed from his back leg, it went from jelly bean size to orange size during the weekend giving us quite a shock. Since then (and he will be 8 this year) we have nothiced that he is a bit stiffer so he has Glucosamine /green lipped muscle capsules and he has a step to help him get into the car without jumping. That early command he learned 'step up' has really come into its own now as we place the step by the car say step up and he walks straight up.

Thats about it really, we try to keep then happy and active, well as much as our old bones allow!

 

[JoanneF]

Glucosamine /green lipped muscle capsules

Was his lump a lipoma? I read recently that glucosamine makes these grow faster; of course the benefit usually outweighs the disadvantage but it is worth knowing about.

 

[Mad Murphy]

Thanks for the heads up. It was a cyst in Murphys case and we only started the glucosamine recently but I will keep that in mind.

 

[Mad Murphy]

Dogs...who'd have them?

Well me,, but honestly they are terrible for causing us grey hair,

A little while ago George started getting up really early (4,30) and wanting to go out, then he would eat grass until he bought up yellow bile.. So off to the vet and she suggested later feeding time and omeprazol to calm his acid. So we now feed at 7pm and give him half a slice of toast as late as possible (around 10.30pm) as well as the omeprazol in his dinner and its helping but it hasnt cured the problem. Im having visions of Benny and his pancreatitis..He was a little older than George when it started.


Meanwhile Murphy had a strain in his leg a few years ago and then last year he had a benign lump( cyst) removed from the same leg. He is due for his vaccinations now anyway but after walking in the woods we noticed he was limping on that same leg .. Following the operation we had already bought a little folding step so that its easier for him to get into the car but he couldnt even manage to get in with that .
He is showing typical arthritis signs, limping after waking or when getting up from a laying position or after a long walk but not in short walks or once he gets moving,

So Ive booked a double appointment for tomorrow afternoon and hopefully we can get some clear answers and a treatment plan worked out..
Its not fair for Murphy to be in pain and for George to feel sick nor is it fair for us to be keeling over from lack of sleep.

I hate signs of aging in dogs it reminds you how short a time we have with them..

 

[JoanneF]

Poor boys, it all happens at once, doesn't it.

I hope you get some good answers tomorrow at the vet.

 

[arealhuman]

I hope you get some good answers tomorrow at the vet.

+1

 

[Flobo]

Ditto here too, fingers crossed for them both and you!

 

[Hemlock]

Fingers crossed for a good result and a clear way forward.

 

[Mad Murphy]

Well we are back from the vets 96 euros out of pocket. But with guarded but good news. The vet does not think that George has pancreatitis there are certain symptoms which does don't fit and the fact that he has been helped by the omeprazol seems to suggest it's just overactive stomach acid possibly due to quick digestion..so he said we can increase the dose of omeprazol slightly and it's okay to give it to him very late at night just before he goes to bed in order to settle his stomach through the night.

As for Murphy , while the vet agrees he is getting older and of course arthritis can be a problem the fact that this came on so quickly suggests more of an injury, a pull or a strain. He examined Murphy's leg and said that his knee does feel quite stiff so he has suggested a week's worth of painkillers and to see how Murphy gets on, in the meantime we mustn't let him jump or do anything strenuous but keep him moving gently.
If there's no improvement then we should go back and he will X-ray the joint to see exactly what's going on inside and we can go from there.

 

[JudyN]

Fingers crosses, MM

 

[Hemlock]

Thanks for update - sounds positive.

 

[Mad Murphy]

The first dose of painkiller was last night and Murphy had a good sleep , he seems a bit brighter this morning but we are making sure he doesnt get over confident.

 

[Ted74]

Great pictures in this thread

 

[Mad Murphy]

Great pictures in this thread

Thank you. I think Murphy and George are the most photographed dogs around..

 

[Mad Murphy]

I know a lot of people hate retractable leads but for the second time in the last couple of weeks we've been attacked by a dog on a long lead because the owner had no control.
The first idiot just let go when the dog started lunging and barking and luckily our yelling made it think twice so there was a lot of air snapping and noise but no contact.. He ended up chasing his dog down the road !
This morning the woman came towards us with a doodle, we recalled our dogs ( on their retractables) and put them in a stand at the side of the path to let her pass. She had the line through both hands but with yards of it on the floor around her feet and as they passed the dog lunged snapping and growling and the line slid through her hands. George was safely out of range but Murphy wasn't and she made no attempt to pull back the line or correct her dog. As it tried to bite Murphy he rounded and caught it square in the neck making it scream. At this point her dog was nose on to my husbands legs too. Luckily it decided to back off.

A tool is only as good as the person using it and in both these cases the ' tool' was the person holding the line. Long lines may be a good tool but only in the right hands .

So regardless of what lead you use its important that you know how to use it safely and properly. Its also important to know your dog and the situations they are uncomfortable with so that you can prepare.

 

[JudyN]

I often wonder if these people don't realise they shouldn't let their dogs approach other dogs on lead, particularly if they see the other person make efforts to get their dog close to them, or if they are so stupid they think it's fine because their dogs are on lead.