Nov 11, 2011 yesterday dave & i helped murray along to his next journey. i'm so thankful he's no longer in pain and feel very fortunate to have had him in my life. if you read this blog then you know what murray meant to me and will understand that i can't really say anything more right now. when i took this picture years ago i titled it "heaven sent murray" so it seems very fitting now...
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Nov 1, 2011 when we lost kody seven years ago (how has it been that long ago) he was two days shy of his 15th birthday and since then we have not had a dog live long enough to celebrate that milestone. although i do not want to disparage him, there’s a slight possibility that kody put a spell on us to ensure no one outlives his lifespan. i have no doubt this spell was not malicious, however, it has caused me quite a bit of pain and worry and i’ve been ready to find some eye of newt to whip up a potion and dispel the spell.
as of yesterday i can forget the eye of newt because murray singlehandedly kicked that spell’s ass as we celebrated his 15th birthday. this dog…oh this dog! murray has been much lauded on this blog and i'm sorry to say more is to follow. please indugle me as i'm celebrating him today...i’ll try to make it quick (if this isn’t enough for you i would suggest reading this or just click on “murray” on the right hand column and read it all).
it has always been my contention that murray has more spirit than the dallas cowboy cheerleaders but he’s actually blown them out of the water (and i’m a product of the seventies so i mean the real dallas cowboy cheerleaders). in 2008 after a very bad back diagnosis our vet told us we probably wouldn’t have too long with him but with acupuncture and chiropractic along with his steel iron will that was proven wrong. in 2009 he suffered a bout of “old dog” disease and we were told his condition might not improve or if it did he would likely get it again yet his strong like bull strength struck again and he was fine. in the last few months he had been slowing down and it seemed like what i have been dreading the most was imminent. add to that some growths we’ve been following for years were getting too big and would need to be taken care of and things were looking grim. a few weeks ago along with our vet we decided we had to take the chance of sedating him to remove the growths. fortunately he made it through the surgery fine and after a week of recuperating something magical happened and he experienced a murray renaissance. it’s like he rewound his life back a few months and seems vital again. whether the surgery actually awoke some healing vibes or his amazing spirit took over i don’t know but i thank whatever it was wholeheartedly. i don’t know how much time i have with him but you can be sure i will savor it…at this point i’ve gotten to spend 15 years with this amazing spirit and he’s broken a horrible streak so i’m thankful. i imagine years from now after he’s gone my heart will remain in the shape of him. i hope you’ll indulge me in a little photographic murray retrospective:
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celebrating his 15th!
Feb 5, 2010 not to be crass but december 2009 can go suck it - i have never experienced such a shit sandwich of a month as december 2009 in my life. sadly it wasn't even the type of crappy month that once you get past it you can look back and laugh - it was chock full of "only time will heal" moments. after demeter's diagnosis and the loss of astrid i couldn't shake that insipid "bad things happen in threes" idea and i really wish i was able to. the day after christmas we were enjoying some down time when murray started acting funny. he had gotten knocked over earlier and i thought he was having back pain because he was stumbling around and wouldn't sit down but then he vomited and then i looked at his eyes and 5 minutes later we were in the car heading for the emergency room. his eyes were darting from side to side and my thought was that he was having a stroke. after an interminable time in the waiting room we got to talk to the vet where finally we got the news that murray had idiopathic vertebral disease. ivd is also referred to as "old dog disease" - how the hell did we not see that one coming?* long story short it took a few weeks but murray has made a full recovery and lives on to slowly waddle through life. a few days ago dave let it slip that when we were in the er waiting room he didn't think murray would ever be coming home. i'm here to tell you that he is one lucky guy that he was wrong because, dear gravy, i would not have been able to come back from that.
so that was december 2009 and while i'm sure it meant well it sucked...bad...really bad. as you know we've since lost demeter and sadly it's time for us to try to move ahead. i hope for only joyous posts in the future but the reality is with the amount of dogs we have our chance of crud happening is exponentially larger and yet our chance of joy is also exponentially larger...so there you go.
here's a recent shot of murray...could you die???
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*a proud direct copyright infrigement of denis leary "lou gehrig. died of lou gehrig's disease. how the hell do you not see that coming?" and if you aren't familiar with denis leary get to be because he's hee-larious.
Oct 31, 2009 yesterday was murray's 13th birthday...can i get a "woot woot!" i'm sure by now you're all tired of my murray stories but if you'll permit me i'd just like to reiterate that he hurts my heart every day. if you're not tired yet you can read this or this or this...or you could just do a "murray" search over there to the right (sadly i've done it on my own blog several times - just to see what i've said about murray).
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May 22, 2009 shortly after we began fostering for the nashville humane society murray came into our house as a foster with his brother, van. he was a bottle feeder as someone had dropped he and his siblings off on the back stoop of the humane society one night when they were about 3-4 weeks old. i think i knew right when we picked them up that i was in trouble – i fell in love with murray at first sight. when it was getting close to the time to return them to the humane society for adoption i wasn’t sure i was going to be able to do it – it seemed as if this little creature was created to the exact specifications of my ideal dog – he made my heart hurt from the get go. christmas actually fell shortly before the boys were due to be returned and inside one of my boxes from dave was one of the greatest gifts i’ll ever receive – it was a very simple post-it note that said murray was mine and the rest is history. i’m proud to say that over all our years of fostering over a hundred dogs murray is the only one i was unable to part with (my mental fortitude is unparalleled). here’s a vintage shot of murray and the note that i’ve saved for 12 years.
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Apr 9, 2009 below is a video of one of murray’s chiropractic appointments with the great dr. triplett in nashville. it’s 7 minutes of a vet appointment so it might not be the most engaging video but i thought it would be interesting for people to see if they didn’t know what chiropractic on dogs looks like. if you can’t hang out for the full 7 minutes i strongly urge you to make it (or fast forward) to 2:39 where murray’s face first appears – i defy you not to smile at this stinking dog!
the most important thing to remember when viewing this video is this is the dog who historically has sprayed every vet’s office with unmentionables and bites me if i try to pick a string off of him. the night before this visit i was trying to cut a mat from his ear (that was so big i thought it might be blocking his hearing) and after him biting me and throwing a fit we finally had to resort to dave wrapping him in a towel while i deftly snipped the mat away. for some reason when he’s getting acupuncture and chiropractic he’s really relaxed, which i’m thrilled about as it has dramatically changed his quality of life.
Feb 9, 2009 for the last 8 months i’ve been taking murray for chiropractic adjustments and acupuncture and it has given him a quality of life that wasn’t predicted upon his original diagnosis. if you told me a year ago that murray would be receiving such care i would have guffawed right in your face. we’ve had murray since he was 4 weeks old and not once have we been able to take him to the vet without first slipping him a mickey. the sedation is not necessary to stop murray from being aggressive, if that were the case we’d employ a muzzle. in murray’s case he needs to be doped to stop large quantities of liquids from being rocketed from his orifices – creating a clearly messy and incredibly embarrassing scene. no rational person allows this to happen more than once before pharmaceuticals enter the picture – plus for murray’s sake it takes the edge off and allows him to relax (i use this word loosely).
when his back got to the point that the vet said he would probably soon be paralyzed i figured there was nothing to lose (other than mine and murray’s dignity) by trying the acupuncture – never in my wildest dreams did i think he’d tolerate it – and mickey-free no less. it tickles the crud out of me each and every time i look at him with the needles sticking out of him – seeing him with the chiropractor draped over him floors me. this is the guy who most of our friends and relatives have never gotten to touch – i’m pretty sure murray believes people are after his magic. i’m hoping to video his visit next month – if any of you have been considering acupuncture or chiropractic for your animals i highly recommend it and maybe seeing a video will help you make the choice. here are some shots of murray –the first two on the way to his appt and the last coming home.
Jun 3, 2008 
last week we took murray to the vet for what we thought was a problem with his hips. x-rays quickly revealed that his hips are perfect but his back is a mess. i could give you all the medical jargon (which i love) or i can just say his back is f**ed up. our vet gave us a very bleak prognosis and i’ve been dealing with the news fairly poorly since then. after all i often say my heart is in the shape of murray and i absolutely refuse to lose him before his time (which i’ve scientifically calculated to be no earlier than 20 years of age).
today i took murray to a holistic vet for a consultation to see if acupuncture was a possibility. i am ecstatically writing this to say that the holistic vet had a much, much brighter prognosis and with some acupuncture and a combination of herbs and wheatgrass murray should be on course for a long, fruitful life. his back may be a mess but fortunately the rest of him is strong like bull. he’s pretty wiped out from his first acupuncture treatment but there should be sunny skies ahead.
now i just have to hope that acupuncture will solve the problem dave’s back will have after carrying the 54 lb cinder block that is murray up and down steps for the near future (hopefully we will have a ramp built by the weekend). my shoulder feels like it needs to be removed after hauling murray around all weekend while dave was out of town so dave, in true dave awesomeness, is picking up all the slack (in this case the slack being murray). unfortunately murray & dave have always had a rather cantankerous relationship so there is a lot of grumbling that goes on, although i do have to say most of it is from murray’s end. oh, my man murman – you crazy nut!!!
Apr 21, 2008 
last month i ordered murray a tag from bella tocca tags. after i placed the order i emailed them because like a complete fruitloop i had to ask if murray’s tag could be engraved with all lowercase letters. just like joan crawford did not accept wire hangers, i refuse to tolerate capital letters. don’t worry, dave has the crackpot retirement home on speedial just waiting for “the” day. lowercase letters make me happy and uppercase ones make me anxious. anyhoo, i received this email back from the artist:
kym- thanks for your order! i'm honored to be doing murray's tag. you guys are my heroes!
i'll engrave "murray" (absent the quotation marks) in lower case…
thanks again-
kate
whatchoo talkin ‘bout willis? the woman who is making a tag for murray, my murray, that will hang in the vicinity of his heart for the remainder of his lifetime and at some point be my treasured keepsake is honored to be making it? can you hear the choir singing or is that just in my head? i’m still tickled just thinking about it!!
when i received the tag i was not disappointed – it’s beautiful and really well crafted and is an awesome compliment to murray’s magnificence. thanks kate – you’re one talented individual.
Mar 13, 2008
when we lived in a house with a smaller yard dave was constantly yelling at murray to quit digging. only making matters worse was the fact that i would generally tell dave to stop yelling at murray, citing that clearly murray was made for digging – it’s his job. while dave agreed, he couldn’t deal with our small yard being dug up…guess i can’t blame him for that. now that we have a few acres dave has relaxed on the digging thing and seems to understand that murray is a much happier dog when he’s allowed freedom to dig – plus he realizes that we would actually have a sizeable mole problem if not for murray. i, of course, revel in murray’s vindication!! i always knew he wasn’t digging indiscriminately. dave has asked nicely every spring that i fill in murray’s holes which, every year i happily agree to and, admittedly, have never done. i’m actually giving him the opportunity to tell me “i told you so” when i fall in one of the holes and break my ankle. these are the little gifts i give.
murray is our true “earthdog” – this dog was made for digging. just take a gander at his shovel-like paws; his low-to-the-ground, girthy body; his long, floppy ears providing flying dirt protection; and his course hair that makes him truly self-cleaning. he also, coincidentally, happens to be my idea of one of the greatest beings in the world. i often say that when i look at him he literally hurts my heart…i am truly enamored of this guy and i am certain that he was made just for me. probably because of my overzealous fondness for murray, dave isn’t as adoring of him – quite frankly murray drives him crazy.
