Thursday, April 2, 2015

A Visitor

Murphy, my dog nephew, has moved in for the next week while his family are in Washington DC.  Rigby can hardly stand it when this little ball of fur comes to visit.  Every muscle in her body shakes because she can not wait to PLAY! The problem being Murphy is a timid fellow and isn't too keen on being pounced on before he can even get inside the door.  So his first afternoon has been spent inside his crate while he got familiar with his new home.  And Rigby doesn't like it one. single. bit.
This was just before she bopped him on the head with that paw.
My own version of Lennie and George.  They are a good laugh.

20 comments:

  1. I too have a dog nephew named Murphey, he lives in Perris. I wish we had someone we could board with at home. I still am up in the air about where the pups will go, when we make our trip in Sept, 13 days. I'd love to find a house sitter.

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    1. I know, it's so hard to know where to put them. They are family! I'm very lucky in that I babysat their kids a lot and they take my dog. Now that their kids are older, we still babysit each other's dogs. :) It's nice to know we can rely on that. I have heard people say they've used their vets for boarding. That might be a good place to start...or at least they might know of a good kennel.

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  2. By the time he leaves is he a boisterous little fellow or is he still a bit flaky with her.
    It's odd I was going to say cuteness squared. But it's not cuteness really. I really don't know what it is. It's part fascination with watching them interact and watching one you know really well process things.
    Does little Murphy respond better to her at his house. Is it the natural timidness of being in another's space ?.

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    1. They are funny to watch. I think deep down he is timid. He really wants to play, but in typical rescue dog fashion he's a bit of a chicken too. Both their behavior is probably different at the other house. Rigby is very worried that he might be moving in and taken up my attention. He climbed in my lap today and she looked at me like I'd lost my mind. :) She's definitely less pushy at their house being out of her element. But he's a nervous nellie there too.
      Today, as in the past, things mellowed out by the end of the day, but the next day Rigby acts like she forgot he was here and the playfulness starts all over again. She's such a moose and it makes him timid.
      Another thing that makes me laugh is that he's really fluffy around his nose. Rigby finds that fascinating and tries to lead him around by it...no wonder she makes him nervous! :)
      Anyhow, Rigby is definitely an only child so the excitement will wear off. She'll be happy when he goes home.

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    2. I have two striped on my forehead where when playing with Jessy she did this stand on her hind lags with the fore ones at 45 degrees, and swatted me on the head sweeping my glasses off my face. You should have seen her shock, it was priceless. I had rev'ed her up so anything that happened was entirely my fault.

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    3. Oh, those paws can be brutal. And it's never malicious. Rigby used to gash my arms when we'd play. I now put on a sweater or jacket when we wrestle just to keep everything safe.
      Does Jess use them to get your attention too? When I'm not paying attention to her she'll bop me on the head or in the face too. It's frustrating and endearing at the same time.

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    4. Right now I've got one dog sleeping on my foot and another one whose head is resting on the other foot. I don't dare move!

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    5. Ohhhh, so Rigby is truly happy with the visitor.. Wow.

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    6. I don't know about happy...tolerant maybe.

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  3. Awwww!! This is SO cute and I love reading your comments as to how it's all panning out. Rigby is such a beautiful girl.

    As you can imagine, we don't travel much. The outside seven are pretty easy to line out (our cattle partner tends to them since), but the two in the house either need a sitter (and that's very difficult given Mabel's personality) or have to be boarded at a kennel. *sigh* So I tend to be a homebody, which is okay.

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    1. She's a good girl. A moose, but a good girl.
      It's good that you've got caretakers with the outside brood. You gotta take the inside ones with you then. :) When I was in my late teens and early twenties I house/animal sat a lot over school breaks. It was a great way to earn some extra money and go live in someone else's house without my parents.

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  4. Jessy has a few methods. If I'm eating she will nudge me on the leg. If her water bowl is empty she'll lick it hard enough to move it about the floor.

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    1. Alice does that water bowl licking business. Of course it makes me feel guilty, even though I have more than one water bowl out for them.

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    2. They're so funny. The first couple of years I had Rigby she used to knock her outside waterside over and then run around the backyard with it. She pretty much leaves it alone now, but the inside one gets batted around when it's out. A ceramic bowl sliding across the tile floor is anything but quiet...we can't accuse them of being dumb can we?!?!

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  5. Dumb !?!?!, you know though I think because we like dogs and try to make sure their lives are full and fun their natural intelligence bubbles out. True that we've got quick animals. But I suspect any we had would flourish because we arrange things so that it play's to their suit. Not every thing of course, but enough that they aren't stressing in a bad way.

    V

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    1. Yes that's probably true and instinct probably has something to do with it too. Our reaction to them has a lot to do with it also. The whole knocking the water dish around she she wants water no doubt stems from my response to the first time she did it. What did I do? I got up and filled it with water.
      But I do think the working dogs tend to be more intelligent (maybe that means trainable or better instincts) than others. Little Murphy is sweet and cute as can be, but he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

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    2. With Jess, when she opened a door towards herself a few weeks after I got her that's when I knew I'd a smart cookie on my hands. I'd never seen a dog do that before.

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    3. That's a double edged sword right there. Cute, but not necessarily conducive to keeping a dog inside. Do you have to keep the doors locked or has she figured that out too?
      Hope you had a nice Easter. :)

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