Murphy and Me (Not Marley and Me)

Murphy is our hilarious neighbor, and yes, he is a dog. He is a beautiful brown and white husky who can't be older than a year. Now, I had never officially met Murphy--until today. I usually just see him in our back yard sniffing around and barking at me between the fence when I'm out doing yard work.

When I came home this morning from running errands I opened my car door and got a scare when I saw this animal looking at me. I didn't expect anything to be in the garage and I was caught off guard. My first thought was that it was a wolf. He immediately ran away and I realized it was the neighbor's dog. He started playing this game with me of hide and seek. I was in a hurry because I had someone coming over to appraise the house so I headed into the house with Isaac. I tried to close the garage door, but Murphy would not get out until I jumped and ran at him. Then he'd take off and run up and down the sidewalk and come right back into the garage. Every time I'd chase him off again and push the button to close the garage, he'd come back and trip the sensor and stop the garage door from closing. It took me about 10 minutes of this little dance to come up with a plan. I had to go out and distract Murphy while Isaac pushed the garage door button. It finally closed and I went inside the front door.

A few minutes later, the appraiser was ringing the door bell. I opened the door, forgetting all about my dog-encounter. I found Murphy wagging his tail, standing next to the appraiser who said something like, "I think your dog wants to come in." Before I could say, "That ain't my dog," Murphy was pushing his nose against my hands and arms trying to get by. I tried to grab his collar as he sped past me, running so fast around the corner that his paws slid across the wood floor. As I tried to chase and grab him, the appraiser laughingly said he'd start his work outside the house. Isaac was screaming and laughing (I think because it was funny how I looked) as I chased him around the downstairs. Soon, Murphy took off up the stairs three steps at a time. No sooner was he upstairs than I heard him run through every room, knocking things over and scaring Tinker half to death. As she hissed and spat I chased the dog from room to room. He was always just inches from my grasp. Finally, I cornered him in the bonus room (thank heaven for double doors) and shut the door. You'd be surprised how much that dog did not want to be caught. I grabbed his collar, cursing "bad dog" profusely and dragged him downstairs where Isaac brought me my shoes, still laughing.

I marched Murphy (by now I knew his name from his tags) and rang the doorbell. My poor neighbor opened the door in her night gown bewildered and was surprised and horrified to see Murphy. She immediately apologized, asking where I'd found him. She said, "He's a pistol, huh?" I replied in the affirmative. It was actually good, because before today, I hadn't met my neighbor, only Martin and the kids had. She was so embarrassed as I told her where he'd been. I assured her I liked dogs and laughed off her apologies. It was an insane 15-20 minutes, but it made me laugh.

When Martin got home tonight Isaac started to tell him the whole Murphy incident. Martin was laughing and said he'd had the same problem leaving work this morning. Murphy apparently wanted to take a ride in his car and Martin had a hard time getting him to back off enough to close his car door. What a funny dog. Usually Murphy never gets out, and I hope he doesn't any time soon.

I love dogs. I'm really a dog person, but can't get past the picking up poop part enough to actually get one. I have a trippy gag reflex. I grew up with dogs and think they are the funniest creatures on the earth. I also think they can be real pains in the butt. I choose to have cats because they are much easier to take care of (and not quite so hyper). But if I ever have a house in the country somewhere or a nice big backyard I might reconsider.

I dedicate this post to Ruffy, Max, Rumpy, Quigley, Sam, Dusty and Duffy and all the other dogs I've ever loved (even if they have peed on my sweater). And here's to you, Murphy!

No, this is not Murphy, but it resembles him and Tinker looks like that cat!