Murphy 11-374 [1]

Sponsored by:Brenda Lindell
Overview: Murphy is a handsome guy who was given a raw deal in life. He’s spent the last seven or eight years as a breeding dog in a puppy mill with almost no human interaction, left out in all types of weather with no warm home to curl up in, and nobody and nothing to play with.

Brags: After only three days, Murphy is showing signs of relaxing, trusting, and becoming comfortable in a home. He’s progressed from avoiding me completely to running to me with wagging tail and big Golden grin. Since he has only known life as a puppy mill breeder, this bodes well for his putting his past behind him and becoming a good and affectionate pet. Murphy has a gorgeous red coat with a great smile. He is starting to acclimate to life outside a puppy mill and is learning many, many new things. He’s overwhelmed with so much change, but he is intelligent and is showing real Golden signs, such as wanting to be petted, which is totally new to him, and a Golden happy face.

Smiling Murphy -- happy to be outdoors laying in a bed of cool leaves.

Meals: Murphy is eating kibble mixed with canned food. He initially didn’t want to eat anything so this is an improvement.

Eating behavior: He eats all meals in his crate. Because he’s a puppy mill dog, he doesn’t eat until no one is paying attention to him. He does eat out of a dog bowl.

Housebreaking: He’s had no accidents in the house, but it’s too soon to say he’s housebroken. Since he’s probably never been in a house before it’s difficult to know why he has been able to restrict his business to outside. It may be because he is kept in a crate for extended periods of time.

Crated? Murphy is crated all night and most of the day except when he goes outside. He is being crated more than otherwise would be considered normal because he is petrified of almost everything and it is unclear as to how he might react to things. He does not like to into his crate. And once he’s in the crate he doesn’t want to leave it.

Murphy likes to chill out in his crate

Reaction to children: He has not been around children; and, given his level of fear, he should not be unrestrained around children and monitored carefully.

Dog Behavior –

Jumping: He is so docile and scared that he cowers, not jumps.

Takes treats: He’s not shown any interest in treats. I’ve tried chicken, turkey hot dogs, cheese, peanut butter, and rawhide sticks but have not gotten any reaction from him to any of these yet.

Interaction with other dogs: He’s starting to get more relaxed with my two dogs. My dog Remington is extra friendly and playful and tries very hard to get Murphy to play. Murphy is slowly responding to Remington’s requests to play. With Emma, he’s starting to make friends with nose touches and wagging tail.Interaction with cats: He’s shown no interest or curiosity in my cat. He’s also not allowed outside his crate while the cat is out.

Car riding: He rode from Waterloo to Iowa City strapped in the backseat and from my house to/from the vet clinic and barely budged. From Kramrar, he rode in a small crate. He was very scared, and peed in the crate, but didn’t pee in my car and didn’t throw up.

Leash manners: None. He doesn’t like the leash and doesn’t respond at all to one.Plays/retrieves? No, he needs to learn to play, but preliminary indicates are that he would love to play.Swims? Unknown, but probably not. He’s been so deprived of any interaction or experiences that he probably doesn’t know what it means to swim.

Thunderstorm reaction: Unknown, but my house is next to railroad tracks with sounds like distant thunder and he’s not shown any negative reactions.

Sleeps at night? He’s not sleeping through the night and has been barking/yipping very early in the morning. There’s no indication as to what is wakening him or why he’s barking. He hasn’t done any barking at other times.

Plays with toys? Toys are completely foreign to this guy. He needs to Learn to play and know what to do with a toy.

Grooming: Murphy got his first shower and cowered the whole time. He has tolerated having several mats cut out and being combed but hasn’t yet learned to enjoy it. The vet cleaned his ears and he was quiet and calm during that. No indication as to how he reacts to his nails being clipped.

Vet visits: Murphy had his first vet visit on 11-14-2011 and was completely docile during shots, ear cleaning, temperature taking, and fecal extraction. He’s heartworm negative (HW-) and in overall good health. He does have hookworms. Teeth have tartar build-up. He’s limping slightly with his right front paw because of landing on it after jumping out of an SUV. He also got a slightly split lip at the same time, but neither is sufficient to treat.

Spay/neuter: not yet

Health: Aside from the worms, he’s in basic good health with clean ears, good body weight, and beautiful glossy coat.

Energy/activity level: It’s a little low at this point because he’s not totally comfortable with letting go and running and playing. It’s not possible to tell how energetic he’s going to be. He is believed to be 7-8 years old.

Naughty/funny habits: When he doesn’t want to move, which is most of the time, he is very determined to resist any attempts to move him. He literally will drag his paws.

Worries/concerns: He came from very bad conditions and it will take time and patience to get him to trust people and be comfortable with playing. But he’s off to a good start and I’m very optimistic that with TLC he will be a good pet.