A Home For Furry Murray

Two good homes waiting for Murray.  Now to see if we can work out the logistics for shipping him which is not always easy in the summer.  In the meantime he's visiting with Heather and her family, and will obviously get a lot of lap time!    Murray & Fern spent much of the day outside in the dog yard, and she was soooo tired yesterday evening she didn't even think about getting into mischief.  A tired puppy is a good puppy!

Fern is OK about being an only puppy again, and the house is much quieter without non-stop wrestling.  She's catching on to which items are toys and can be chewed, and Josie & Argus have been pretty good about not stealing the ones she's playing with.  Murray came back from his first adventure with a new Nyla Bone, which Fern has appropriated as her own.  I'd go over to snap a picture of her with her bone, but like her granddad Argus, the minute I make a move she's right there wondering, "So what are we going to do now?"  Makes it hard to get candid pictures!

We spend a few minutes every day working on restraint, learning Sit & Down, and stacking on the grooming table which is right outside the patio door.  Fern does not love working on the table yet, but knows that it means treats, so will stand with her feet on the table edge waiting to be boosted up.  She walks well on leash, other than tripping me and pulling!  Need to walk her when she's hungry, rather than after she's eaten.  A pocket full of treats works a lot better for keeping the attention of a hungry puppy.

Because poor old Coral is gradually failing, as they do at 14+ years of age, I'm very glad that Ron likes this puppy and is pleased that we kept her.  Coral is having increasing difficulty getting around, and the small lumps she's had in her rear breasts for several years have started to grow in size.  A vet trip is scheduled for this week, but we won't do anything heroic at this age, and will just keep her comfortable.  Losing Coral will be extremely tough on Ron, as it was when we lost Coral's great-granddam Eloise who was Ron's special dog. Coral's granddaughter Josie will do her best as a stand in, and is a wonderful dog in her own right, but Ron has a special attachment to Coral.  Sigh . . .