Crap, crap, crap

We had a great time last night watching the super-bowl. There were friends, family, the kids - good snacks, and the Steelers won. But during the first quarter, there was some dog drama.

Murphy didn't like what one of the other dogs was doing and she went after the other dog, in this case - Gracie. Gracie is our 8 year old miniature schnauzer. She is a great little lap-dog, friendly and loving, but not much help in the field. Hawks seem to think she is a prey item. I think it has a lot to do with her demeanor. She's, ah- well, meek.


Well, Murphy got over excited or something and decided to take out Gracie. Murphy lunged across the room and took her by the back of the neck and started shaking her like Gracie was a groundhog. Gracie squealed and screeched, while three people dove in to separate them.

I was changing the garbage bag in the other room. I got there when I heard the noise. I pulled Murphy off the ground, choking her off of Gracie.

I put her in her crate. Gracie hid in the corner of the couch, bleeding from neck and ear. Rich's hand was gouged in two places. He looked like he needed stitches in the back of his hand, but we cleaned him up and bandaged him. Then we finished watching the game.

I had to take Rich to the medical center today for shots. Animal control needed to be alerted about the dog bite. Now Murphy is on house arrest (quarantine) and I don't know what to do.

If Murph' had grabbed the puppy, it would be dead. If the kids had tried to stop the dogs, what would have happened? My wife is nervous, and we are exploring our options.

This isn't the first time Murphy has done this. She used to do it a lot when she was a pup, but now it is less frequent, but more violent.

What if it happens when the kids are home by themselves? What the heck can I do?


Thanks for listening.

Workin' with Murph - more snow

And the snow keeps coming down.


I took Murphy and the kids out into the woods to work on her recall. She bolted out the door yesterday and off into the trees and wouldn't come when called. I want to say it was because she didnt' hear me, but I think she realizes when she is truly off lead.



I had her on a dragged line again today, with her shock collar. I did not have to make any corrections. Her recall was great. She stayed close. She climbed a tree after she sniffed at some squirrel tracks.


We are going to keep working at it.


But the woods were gorgeous.

Working with Murphy

Murphy is a Patterdale terrier, some would call her a Fell terrier.



Her breed is bred to go underground in search of groundhog, fox, and the like. Murphy loves to do that kind of work, but unfortunately, we don't have the right kind of terrain here on these barrier islands. There are no groundhogs here to dig the holes. So fox will shelter wherever they can, under tree roots, in crawl spaces, etc. Coon and opossum do the same. So having a hole dog here is sometimes tough.

The original thought was that I would use Murphy to bust rabbits and squirrels for the Harris'. But I honestly haven't done much of that. I get scared that the dog will run off.
I was one of those kids that never had a dog as a kid, so all the training I attempt doesn't come easily to me.

And Murphy likes to run deer.

So as breeding season for the hawks quickly approaches, I have decided that I need to spend more time training the dog.
Today was the first day in a long time that I took her out to walk. Not just the normal walk around the block, but out where she can run a bit
.
She was dragging a lead, and she had a low power shock coller on, but I rarely needed either.
I think I had to shock her once (hate doing it). Then she remembered real quickly what the COME command means - or more accurately - C'MON.



It was gray and cold. Just a few degrees above freezing, and the rain spit at us in bursts. It was the perfect day for it.

We wandered through the coastal dunes, and along the ridges next to where the sand is slowly swallowing the maritime forest as the dunes migrate towards the sound.
The wind blew, and the dog listened.



She did great.

We wandered into the pine forest, with the wet needles beneath our feet, holding the animal scent. She was more distracted, but she still listened.


It was a good day.