Murphy

WHEN LOOKING FOR A FOREVER HOME IN 2007.

Murphy, originally called Hector was a 3/4 yr old castrated Flat Coat Retriever x Collie who was being rehomed due to a change of family circumstances. His ideal home would be one where an experienced owner could continue with his agility training.

Hector is currently still with his present owner in Guildford, Surrey who says. “He is Microchipped and all vaccinations are up to date. He is fully house trained and quite capable of being left alone without fear of any problems.

He is not a chewer well not furniture only his toys.

He is a pretty good guard dog and will let you know if anything strange is going on. He definitely does not like cats.

He has been doing Agility for about 2 years now with my daughter and me. He is getting quite good now that the idea has sunk in, just got his weaving sorted.

He can be a little bit protective when on lead and possessive over food but only towards other dogs. He has never shown any aggression towards myself,  my daughter or any other human even when we take his food from him.

He has been a really good pet for the last 3 years and only a change in family circumstances has forced me to make this very difficult decision as I now find I can’t give him the time he deserves and needs. He will be missed very much but will make someone a really lovely pet.

Oh and he does love to have a bounce on the trampoline.”

REPORT FROM GEMMA 10.08.2010

My beautiful boy is back. This is one of those dogs that is stunning through and through. We felt it as soon as he was back with us that we didn’t want to part with him again, it all rested with how Tinka would take to him and after an initial misunderstanding and a firm word from Tinka that NO she did not want to share her bed with him they have gotten on very well together.

Hector has had a name change to Murphy (Karls choice NOT mine!!!!) and he is to be Karls agility dog 🙂 Murphy was very lucky indeed and got a space on an agility training weekend. the format was one I’d not experienced before but it meant that saturday was training all day and sunday the venue was opened up to the public and our new skills were put to the test against them in the form of a competition. Other clubs turned up to work their up and coming youngsters and it all got very competitive. Karl and Murphy did so very well indeed, not only was Murphy focussed and happy to work but they went clear!! I thought that was a huge achievement for them.
 
Murphy is reactive around other dogs which we have started work on and he has made improvements already and can be distracted now. We will of course continue with this work and help him develop coping mechanisms so he need not fly out at other dogs.

To help Murphy with this he has a place in training classes so he can work along side other dogs which start tomorrow and next Saturday he starts at agility training, next week when he is a little more settled we will start on Cani-x training.
 
It’s all systems go for this young man so next time we update on him there should be some lovely muddy dog pictures to go with it 🙂

MURPHY IS A VERY BUSY BOY

Gemma says “Murphy is coming on loads better with his basic training. He could do everything already but he wasn’t thinking for himself – he was getting loads of visual signals to help him –  so now he is being retrained to work on voice. On the flip side, he is being retrained in agility so he works on body language only like Tinka. This will mean that he has to watch more closely what his handler is doing and the only time we speak is to direct for the large equipment, on jumping sequences we run silently. He is doing very well at that so much so that he has his first Agility Competition on the 19th September.

At the end of September, he has a Canix training day and next year we will get him into  TDRally 🙂  

So it is fun, fun, fun for Murphy!”

HARRY’S STORY

When he first came to IRR, Harry was a charming, one year old retriever/collie cross male dog. He has a bouncy, fun-loving character and makes friends easily with people and most other dogs, especially his own age. His collie traits are evident in his high energy levels and fondness for long walks over the fields. However, he also likes to curl up on your lap in the evenings. He has a glossy black coat and is white underneath. He is 50cm high at the shoulders.

This dog would suit a family with older children who perhaps do not already have a dog. He has no problems with horses, but it is not known how he gets on with other pets.

UPDATE on HARRY

Well, when we got Harry, I wondered what we had taken on. He had a go at Duke and was just generally hyper, not doing anything we wanted. I was also told he was food possessive.

Soon after, my daughter came round and gave him a talking to, as she does to horses in horse whispering style, and we gave him his first training lesson.

He is now a different dog, calm most of the time, apart from across the field with like minded friends.

I now think all he needed was a lot of love, regular food and being told what was allowed. Unfortunately, he still tells Duke he is boss which Duke reluctantly accepts for a quiet life. Harry wants to play and gets quite frustrated because Duke prefers not to which, then, ends up with Harry telling Duke what he thinks of him.

Harry is not food possessive, he was just hungry. A few days ago, he did not want the last little bit of his breakfast and did not mind Duke checking it out (in case Harry had something Duke had not got).

A lot of people have said what a lovely dog he is and would adopt him if they did not already have their full quota of dogs but, nevertheless, poor Harry is still looking for the right family for him. Harry is a very lively dog and would do really well in an active home or one where he could do obedience, agility or flyball.

UPDATE from GEMMA (fosterer and trainer)

Harry is actually Hector according to his paperwork.

Hector was his name since puppyhood. He came with a vaccination record which shows he was with his owners at 7 weeks old. This tells us that he was probably taken away from his litter mates too early which explains just why he has no limits. In other words, basically, mistakes made by the breeder and owner left them with a boisterous teenager who seemed out of control and this is, no doubt, why he was abandoned at the pound. He is really a fab little man who just needed employment.

He enjoys heel work to music more than agility although he gives agility a good stab. He was doing great at the tunnel and learnt the tunnel faster than any others have ever done. I turned my back on him for a second and heard rustling and smiled to myself thinking awww he has gone through on his own but NO not quite. He only took it off for a walk across the lawn. There he was with the front end in his mouth dragging it behind him.

Today I have had him doing some heelwork to music moves and he can run bum first through your legs and will pause for his next direction and, at the moment, that is either back through or standard heelwork position. He is a smart cookie. Also today, I taught him the emergency stop which is part of the gold good citizens and he picked it up very quickly and can stop in the stand or the sit.

I taught him to give a paw but I called it tick and tock so when he has it nailed the left is tick and the right is tock and it will make a lovely party piece for him

He plays a lot nicer with the girls now and is beginning to recognise when enough is enough and he will either tone it down or leave (but not for long).

Off lead he is Mr Wonderful. He dives in bushes and weeds like there is no tomorrow and when you call him he comes bounding along with his tongue hanging out the side of his head.

When meeting dogs, he stops to look at them from afar and if they (the dog) says its safe to say hello he will approach but at an arc and only plays when invited and will come away every time. He, so far, has only had one dog give him the look that says don’t even think about it and he walked on by.

The only thing he can’t work out is where do the bunnies hide? He spends ages looking at the bushes as if to say come on then I am waiting.

We have had no messes and no puddles and he sleeps happily through the night in his crate.

His lead work is good and he is learning the difference between walk nice and go sniff. All in all, he is ready to go and he will make someone a smashing little dog