52 Weeks of Murphy – 12/52

Murphy is very ‘helpful’ when it comes to retrieving other dogs toys. Even when the other dog doesn’t realize they need help!

R.A.T

today was the big day.

Rattlesnake Avoidance Training.

We went to Penasquitos Canyon and Mom said I needed to pay attention to a special training I was about to receive.

When I got there, I got to go with this nice guy named Eric. He put a funny collar on me, and at first I was a little nervous…but pretty soon I forgot about it and just had fun hangin out with him.

Mom got to look in this bucket, and guess what she saw! It was a bucket of snakes!

At first, Eric walked me over to a small snake on the ground. It was just a baby, and because of that it din’t have it rattle fully developed. Mom says that makes them even more dangerous that adult rattlesnakes. 1) because you can’t hear em warning you before they bite, and 2) because they are still babies they don’t know how to control the amount of venom they inject and that usually means the bite is worse and can give you more sickies.

At first, I was super curious about the little wiggly thing on the ground.  It was kinda cute and I thought it might wanna be friends, so I went over to investigate. OUCH! It took me a couple more times investigating before I figured out that the lil thing crawlin on the ground was making me feel ouchies! After that, I totally steered clear!

Once I learned that lesson, I was more cautious. Eric then took me over by a fence where a snake skin was laying. Just the smell of it was enough to make me nervous! We quickly left that area and moved on towards a rock. Suddenly, a strange rattling sound came out of the rock. Plus, it smelled just like that baby and the snake skin! I wanted nothing to do with it!

Lastly, I was introduced to this guy. All the snakes had these Hanibal Lector type masks on to protect us doggies from an actual bite. Boy were they scary!

You can watch the video here. As soon as I figured out that snakes are scary and you should stay away, I no longer needed any corrections from Eric. I learned real quick that the best thing to do is give a bad scary snake as much room as they want! My training was even interrupted at one point by a doggie that had gotten loose. Actually, his dumb owner just let him jump out of the car and come over to see what was going on. She sure wasn’t very smart!

Murphy’s Mom here….

Murphy did REALLY well at today’s training. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be! I have to say, I am really glad I did this..and if anyone lives in areas where there are rattlesnakes or other venemous snakes, I highly recommend going thru a training like this.

For the birds…

it was kinda bizarre.

Last night…on our walkie before obedience class….

there were these.

and dis…

and then…the most bizarre of all!

Dis!

I’m not sure if I am being followed…and if I am, should I be worried?

I’m official!

Hey! Guess what!?!

I’m official!!

Mom got my paperwork in the mail the other day.

This means I can start competing in obedience trials! Kinda exciting! Guess Mom needs to get her butt in gear and start workin with me more than just once a week!

Rattlensake Avoidance Training

Mom has plans for me this weekend. She said its serious.

Something about avoidance training…of rattlesnakes.

I’ve never met a rattlesnake, but Mom says they are bad news. They like to play bitey face, only they aren’t really playin. They bite hard, and they bite bad. Yucky poison stuff comes out of their teethies (Mom says they are called fangs!), and it can give a dog really bad sickies.

Unfortunately, rattlesnakes are all over Southern California. They dont come out in the winter so much cuz its cold and they like to hibernate…but now that its been getting warmer they are waking up and coming out to get warm in the sun.

Since I like to go on hikes with Mom, there’s a pretty high likelihood that we’ll run into one. That’s kinda scary, so Mom decided to enroll me in a training class. Its happening this weekend, and Mom’s a little nervous about it cuz they use something called a ‘remote’ collar. Mom says that’s just a nice way of saying “shock” collar.

Mom has really mixed feelings…she says she read lots of information about remote collars. Some peoples say they are a really good training tool (Mom has a good friend who has 3 danes who were all trained using a remote collar. None of them seem bothered by it and they sure are well behaved doggies!), others say they should never be used cuz they can cause psychological harm to a doggie. Mom isn’t sure what to believe…but after some long, hard thinking and research, she feels the risks of using a remote collar to do Rattlesnake Avoidance Training are less than the risks of being bit by a snake. Especially since I’m such a dope. Last year, when we were on Fiesta Island…a big snake came out of the grass. I din’t know what it was so I went over to investigate. I picked it up in my mouth and got quite surprised when it wiggled!! I dropped it right away and left it alone after that. Fortunately, it was a California Kingsnake. Non-venemous, although its bite mighta hurt if it had decided to bite me!

So, based on that experience, Mom thinks its best that I go thru this training. Along with the training, Mom has been considering the Rattlesnake Vaccine for me. Again…Mom is a bit torn on this one. The vaccine has only been available since approximately 2000, so in medical terms that’s not very long. Not even a full 10 years of use to show whether there are adverse reactions from it! Mom’s leaning a little more against the vaccine, mainly because enough is not known about it. The company who makes it (Bed Rock Biologics) claims it is safe…but why wouldn’t they? They want to sell it! Several other sites Mom found on the web question its efficacy and safety. According to one site, the vet school at the University of Davis won’t even recommend it because of its “questionable efficacy, cost, and no substantial difference in acute therapy if bitten…”. For now, Mom says…just the avoidance training. Then she’ll base her decision on the vaccine on how I react to the training. I don’t like shots, so hopefully I won’t have to get this one!

Beach Buddies

Sunday was kind of a gloomy day in Sandy Eggo, perfect weather for a meetup at Dog Beach in Ocean Beach.

Some of my favorite guys were there, and a few new ones that I haven’t had a chance to play with yet!

I quickly started off the afternoon by makin faces at Deisel to instigate a game of chase…he totally fell for the bait!

Soon, Tuttle joined in, along with a big lack Dane…unfortunately, in her old age, Mom can’t remember his name.

We had a great time chasing eachother up and down the jetty! Most of those big chickens wouldn’t follow me very far out into the water though.

Sweet little Xena watched on, I’m sure picking up all kinds of moves from us big boyz. She was on a road trip from San Francisco with her Moms. She’s gonna grow up into quite a beautiful girl!

Tuttle played for a little while, and then went back to overseeing the activities.

Soon, Charlie brought out a toy to play with. Lil did he know what an excellent toy thief I am!

Got it!!

Catch me if you can!!

ugh…I think I got some water in my ears!

the legs on this thing are perfect for hangin on to!

Oh no! Tuttle stoled it from me!

Phew…got it back!

Hey..Mr. Golden. Need some help gettin that ball to shore?



Another steal for me!!

Tuttle looks on…a little perplexed by all the energy I have.

Xena works on ear control. I think she still needs some practice.

Xena and Charlie had fun playing!

Phew. At the end of the day, I was pooped!

it was another fun day…boy am I glad to live in Sandy Eggo!

52 weeks of Murphy – 11/52: Sister

San Diego Botanic Gardens & the balancing act

Can you believe it?

Mom went somewhere without me. And it wasn’t work.

Grrrr.

She left me at home in my pen, and went to the San Diego Botanic Gardens. She said “no dogs allowed”.

What kinda balony is that??

Anyway…she wanted to share some of da pictures she took while she was there.

You will probably be bored because none of them include lil old me, but please…just humor her.

Oh…and then, check this out! Mom doesn’t know who this dane is, but isn’t that one lucky dog!! Gettin to ride in a convertible with the top down and everything!

I’m tellin you. Mom is just mean.

She said, even if she had a convertible, I wouldn’t be able to ride in it like this. Something about it bein too dangerous…especially on the freeway.

WHATEVER!! Just think about how the wind would be flappin thru my ears!
That’s TOTALLY worth the risk!

Ugh. Der’s no reasoning with her.

Oh, but I wanted to share one more thing. Silly Fergie & her balancing act…interruptin my dinner!

I got yelled at…

I was just mindin my own business…

checkin peemail here and there….

when all of a sudden. Chattering. Angry chattering.

I looked up…

and saw this…

can you see him?

boy. I dont know what I did…but he sure was mad!!

Clues

Clue #1

Clue #2

Mystery solved…

What!?! Can I help it if my toy got in da grass, and every time I tried to pick it up, a little grass and dirt came with it?