Murphy
Golden Retriever
Acquired: Other (stray, given dog by friend etc.)
Gender: Male
Training: Attended conferences / shows
Alert, Friendly, Loveable Lunk
Murphy was a gentle giant who came to us from some friends of my then-husband. His owners had moved, and he needed a new home.
At first, we kept him in the backyard - where he barked nearly constantly. He didn't like not seeing what was going on. We moved his outdoor quarters to the front and he loved it! He usually napped on the front stoop, happily watching the neighbors go up and down the street, not making a sound!
He was great with the kids. They were nearly 1 and nearly 5 when we got him. They both loved him and he was extremely gentle with both.
Though he mostly lived outside with us, he had impeccable house manners when he was inside.
Though alert, friendly, and loveable, Murphy's fault was that he was dumb as a brick. He was really sweet in his dim-wittedness, though.
We really hated to let him go - but post-divorce and post-foreclosure, a move to a "no pets" apartment meant we had to find him a new home. I would have liked to have kept him longer.
